Jenny Downham

103
That slow smile again. I love that smile! Did I think he was ugly just
now? No, his face is transformed.
In the shed. Ive got a spare jacket too.
I cant help smiling back. I feel brave and certain. Come on then.
Before it rains.
He shuts the door behind him. Its not going to rain.
We go round the side of the house and get the stuff from the shed.
But just as he helps me zip into the jacket, just as he tells me his bike is
capable of ninety miles per hour and the wind will be cold, the back door
opens and a woman steps into the garden. Shes wearing a dressing gown
and slippers.
Adam says, Go back inside, Mum, youll get cold.
But she keeps walking down the path towards us. She has the saddest
face Ive ever seen, like she drowned once and the tide left its mark there.
Where are you going? she says, and she doesnt look at me at all.
You didnt say you were going anywhere.
I wont be long.
She makes a funny little sound in the back of her throat. Adam looks
up sharply. Dont, Mum, he says. Go and have your bath and get dressed.
ll be back before you know it.
She nods forlornly, begins to walk up the path, then stops as if she
remembered something, and turns and looks at me for the first time, a
stranger in her garden.
Who are you? she says.
I live next door. I came to see Adam.