“Really?” Logan asks.
“Absolutely.”
The kids smile at me, then go back to their dinner.
“Mason?” I call him, and I need his eyes to tell me.
“Mmm?”
“You know I’m trying, right?”
“I know, Uncle Seth. All three of us know. And I’m sure they know, too.”
* * *
“THERE'S A PLATE of pasta for you in the oven,” I tell Mr Yang as he enters the living room.
He gives me an eloquent look.
I laugh and shake my head.
“The kids are getting ready for tomorrow.”
“I’ll put the kettle on.” He walks past me to the kitchen.
“Just a game of Monopoly, then off to bed. And no poker. I already got a warning from the school for that.”
“They have to learn to be in the world.”
“I mean it, Mr Yang.”
He rolls his eyes, then picks up a couple of teacups.
“I’m sorry I have to leave again tonight,” I say anxiously.
“Don’t worry about it. You know I like to be with them.”
Mr Yang has been living alone for too long now. He was already here when I rented this apartment but wasn’t keen on making new friends, especially with me. Let’s just say that I must not have made a good impression on him. It took years for us to greet each other on the landing. He looked at me suspiciously, especially when he found my late-night conquests on the doorstep, looking for a pot of milk for coffee.
Everything changed when I lost Mark. It was grief that brought us closer. He had lost his wife five years earlier; he knew what I was going through, and he knew I needed a friend. The kids’ arrival did the rest.
“Thank you.”
“You’re doing the best you can, Seth. You’re working for your children; you don’t have to blame yourself."
“I hope to find something more suitable soon.”
“The most important thing is their serenity. Everything else will fall into pieces. I can feel it.”
“I wouldn’t know what to do if you weren’t here.”
He nods at me, then returns to his tea.
“I should be back around three o’clock."
“You know I don’t sleep anyway.”
“There are blankets and pillows in the hall wardrobe.”
