Page 4 of A Simple Mistake
Nico shook his head.“That’d be claustrophobic.But I can print out sheets of it and tack them up on the wall, so we can see what it looks like.”
“Good idea,” Jack praised.“It will help us pick paint, too.”He moved pizza boards out of the way and slid their book of paint samples into the middle of the table.“I have some free time this weekend.If we can agree on the colours for the downstairs bathroom and the hallway, I can get on with that.”
Gareth swallowed his grin with the last bite of pizza.He knew Jack loved to decorate.But watching him come home carrying paint pots or toting the latest discovery from a thrift store or architectural salvage yard was something else.Not that Gareth complained.He had little interest in plastering, plumbing, or wielding a paint brush and preferred to leave the renovating to Jack.
They debated shades of green, talked about matching colours for the hallway, and bit by bit, the normality of their evening settled the boys’ unease.Gareth drew a breath of relief and sent a smile in Jack’s direction.Whatever was going on in their lives, Jack had it covered.
It lacked ten minutes to one o’clock when Gareth stepped from the bathroom, towel-drying his hair.Jack was already under the covers, but not yet ready to call it a night.What little Nico had told him about their trouble at school had rung an alarm bell in Jack’s mind, and he swiped through screen after screen, skimming Barrington Manville’s social media accounts.
“Did they tell you what happened?”he asked as Gareth slid into bed.
“Daniel refused to follow orders, Nico was rude, and the dance teacher told them it was his way or the highway,” Gareth summarised what he’d learned after Jack had gone upstairs.“That was Nico’s take.Daniel didn’t say a word and barely looked at me.”
“He’s feeling guilty even though there’s no reason for it.”
“I got the same impression, so I didn’t push.”Gareth settled into the mattress and offered Jack a shoulder to lean on.
Jack took it, having long since learned that it soothed them both.“Nico was rude on Daniel’s behalf.Manville kept touching Daniel and blocked his attempts to step out of reach.Nico intervened.And Carol told me he touches the girls, too.”
“And nobody’s mentioned it?”
Jack shrugged.“It’s not an easy thing to talk about.Especially at that age.For one, it’s embarrassing.For another…”
“They’re worried nobody will believe it.”
“Quite.”Jack exhaled, grateful that Gareth understood without the need for a lengthy explanation.Though, seeing what his mother did for a living, maybe that wasn’t surprising.“This is hearsay, okay?According to Carol, Manville’s behaviour is nothing new.When a girl in a previous year threatened to report him, he asked how she was going to prove that she didn’t lead him on.Teenage hormones, crush on the teacher, asking for it…”
“The usual.”
“Yeah.The girls don’t want that kind of grief, so they stick together, protect each other as best they can, and put up with.”
“That’s the trouble with boys,” Gareth mused as he turned on his side, yawning and eyes already half shut.“They tend not to run in packs.Not at this age.”
“And they want to solve all their problems themselves, of course.”Jack abandoned his search, parked his tablet on the bedside table, and slid deeper into the bed.“I’m glad they told you.I’m damned glad Nico asked me for help.”
“They know they’re safe with us.”Gareth snuck an arm around Jack’s waist and nodded at the tablet.“Got anywhere?”
“Not yet.I’m just doing the basics.Website, Twitter, Facebook… Website and Twitter are clean.Facebook has the odd image of the classes he teaches.If I had more data—”
“You wouldn’t be in bed at all right now, but settled in your turret, stalking the dance teacher until he hasn’t a single secret left.”
“You know me too well.”
“And you’re worried.”
“Maybe.I didn’t like what Carol told me.”
“Not Nico?”
“Of course, but Nico has my kind of radar, including the overreactions.Carol, though… I can’t discount that.”
Gareth tensed and his question, when it came, betrayed his uncertainty.“Which bothers you?”
“Let it go, Gareth.”Jack sighed as he turned out the bedside light.“I don’t live in blissful ignorance, so yes, it bothers me.Doesn’t mean it amounts to anything.”
“You’re done looking?”
Jack snuggled in, not complaining when Gareth pulled him closer.“In your dreams.”
