Chapter eight

Words passed between us, some trivial, some not. And the whole time I watched Nicholas, looking for a hint that he was sitting there trying to keep the conformed smile back. But I think we had finally left that behind, and over time I became more relaxed.

“You must be tired and hungry, yes?”

I nodded, I was hungry. Son hadn’t moved.

"Well we'll soon get that sorted out." Nicholas rose and we followed him from the room, not hearing the click of the hinges behind us. "We have many people staying here, for various reasons. Some are permanent, some only hear for a while. Because of that we have most everything one would need to live. There's a dining hall and you can find some sort of food most every time of the day. There's a recreation room, you'll get your own room of course and that will have a bathroom. There's a library, do you like reading?"

"Ain't many good books floating around."
"You'll enjoy our library."

We had entered larger hallways, doors more common now. People passed us, each muttering a greeting to Nicholas.

A question came to my mind and I took the temptation to ask it. "You drink here?"

Nicholas replied with a laugh. "We do. Not in here, you won't find any here, but you won't be far from a pub out there. Where," he added, "you can go whenever you want."

We came across two open double doors, a few people milling about within. Long tables swept across its breadth, a long hole in the wall announcing a kitchen beyond.

"Nicholas!" A large man was poking out from behind a door next to the window.

"Ah Ian, lunch was delicious today, thank you." We walked towards him, stepping behind Nicholas.

"Better not spoil that appetite for dinner."

"You know I never do. Ah, Ian, this is Harry and Son, they're our new guests."

"Oh come come, you must be hungry, starving, and even if you're not, come eat anyway." He reached out and put an arm around Son. I saw him flinch, took a protective step forward, hoped my response wasn’t noticed. It wasn’t. I followed close behind them, ready to grab Son at the slightest move. But he had already released him, reaching for bowls and soup.

“Ian if Simon comes in tell him I want a word.”

“Can do.”

“I’ll get Claire to show you to your rooms once you’re done.”

“Thanks,” I said.

He left and I watched him walk out to a young women sitting at one of the tables. He hid my view of her. Ian was piling us high with soup and bread, chatting all the way.

“The food here, the best if I may say so… liking it here?... you only just got here though… where you from?” He didn’t wait for any answers, just continuing on to another sphere.

It was nice to get away from him to silence, to take myself and Son to the edge of one of the long tables. We sat together, an empty seat on the other side.

“Are we going to stay here?”  His voice was soft, weak. I wondered what made it so, he was probably tired.

“Maybe.”

“I don’t want to.”

“We won’t then.” I promised myself to keep that promise I made to him.

“Is it better here?”

Up until then, I would’ve answered yes with certainty. But now, with this boy beside me doubting it, I wondered if it really was better. I didn’t get a chance to voice my uncertainty, a women sidling up to sit across from us.

“Hi, I’m Claire.” A smile flashed across her lips. “Nicholas says your new here, don’t worry you’ll get your bearings soon enough.”

“I’m Harry,” I said, too busy eating to smile. Ian was right about it being good.

“Nicholas says your from Backland, are you really?” She was leaning forward, and attribute I had found common.

“Yep.”

“What’s it like? Sorry,” she hastily put in. “I shouldn’t have asked.” She leant back.

“S’okay. It’s different there. Lot of buildings all the same, everything nice n’kind. Lot of people all the same, too many people all the same.”

She was smiling, a smile that encouraged my words, made me want to continue.

“They think that anyone who’s different is a psychopath, bloody psychopaths themselves.” Was it a right moment to laugh, she didn’t.

“Interesting. It’s a very good thing you got out.” She slapped her palms against the table. “Done? Good, I’ll show you to your rooms.”

More passages, more rooms, more doors. She turned and must have seen my confusion. “Don’t worry, you’ll soon find your way around.” One more door, and a hallway with doors presented at even intervals.

“This is where all the temporary guests stay, of course, you can stay here as long as you like, forever if you want. But we’ll get that sorted out later. You’ll be in room 26 for now.” We walked until we saw the golden number 26 imprinted on a door. She opened it and stood aside for us to go in.

The room wasn’t highly decorated but still felt homey almost. Two beds, beneath a window, a dresser to one side, a door next to it that presumably led to the bathroom. A painting of a ship swam across the wall, mixing with the blue rug on the floor. Homey, really.

“Dinner starts at six, but you can go down earlier if you’re hungry. The phone there,” she pointed to the machine resting on the table between the beds. “If you call 3 it will direct you to someone down at the Home Affairs Office, they can sort out anything you need. We’ll send some fresh clothes up too.” She left us to ourselves.

“So what do you think?” I plonked myself onto one of the beds, watching Son sit meticulously on another.

He didn’t say anything, just shook his head. I watched this small boy as he sat there, this boy that 24 hours earlier I hadn’t known. Yet I felt closer to him than I had ever felt to anyone. He was more than just another boy.

“We can leave you know, they said we could. We can go now, we don’t need them.”

He shook his head again.

“What’s wrong Son?” I moved to beside him, easily slipping an arm around his shoulders. He didn’t flinch.

“You can’t call me Son anymore?” His voice was the quietest I had heard it, but still it came to my ears.

“Why not?”

“It’s not my name.”

I leant forward to face him, arm still slinked around his shoulders. “You gotta be called something.”

“I was named after my father.”

It was my turn to remain silent.

“My name is Nicholas.”