The Mute and the Liar (37 page)

*****

4:06
PM

Jayce
took
me
to
a
café
after
that.
He
said
he
didn’t
have
a
lot
of
money
to
buy
me
food,
but
said
he
knew
a
place
that
made
a
'm
ean
cheesecake.
'
We
are
sitting
opposite
one
another
on
a
small
table
outside.
It
stopped
raining
a
while
ago
and
the
sky
has
really
cleared
up,
leaving
the
sun
peeking
through,
so
we
decided
to
sit
outside.
The
rest
of
the
world
carries
on
rushing
past
us,
but
it
feels
so
comforting
to
know
that
at
least
for
a
moment,
we
are
still,
just
breathing
everything
in.
Jayce
is
going
on
about
something,
but
he’s
talking
to the menu rather than to me.

“
See,
I’ve
always
wanted
to
die
real
Oscar
movie
montage
style,
after
defending
some
chick
from
mutant
ninja
zombies.
Or
gingers.
They’re obviously
going
to
conquer
the
world
one
day.
Oh,
I
knew
this
ginger
girl
once.
She
was
so
rich
that
her
parents
didn’t
get
her
a
card
for
her
birthday.
No,
they
said:
‘stuff
that
unoriginal
crap!’
and
just
got
her
a
whole
post
box
instead.
You
know,
so
she
can
send
and
receive
all
the
cards
she
wants.
Oh!
”
Jayce
exaggeratedly
throws
out
his
arms,
in turn
knocking
over
the
ashtray
on
the table.

And
of
course,
right
now,
in
this
moment
of
chaos,
the
waiter
decides
to turn up, greeting us with a
heavy
Irish
accent.

“
Erm…
One
coffee,
one
hot
chocolate
and
two
cheesecakes
please.
”
The
waiter nods and heads back into the building.
“
I
love
coffee.
It’s
the
best
drink
in
the
world.
I
might
even
like
i
t more
than
alcohol.
”

A
light
breeze
caresses
my
cheeks
and
ruffles
my
hair.
I
look
up
and
see
that
Jayce
is
watching
me
intently,
but
somehow
softly.
There
is
something
akin
to
sympathy
in
his
eyes.
If
I
didn’t
know
any
better,
I
would
say
that
he
feels
sorry
for
me.
Then
the
spell
is
broken
and
he
waves
his
hands
flamboyantly
and
carries
on
sprouting
nonsense.
I
get
the
feeling
he
realised
he
was
watching
me
differently
and
so
started
speaking
again
deliberately
to
let
the
moment
pass.
I
think…
I
think
he’s
scared
of
silence.

“
Anyway,
what
was
I
saying?
Oh
yeah!
I
remember
now!
Oh!
Do
you
know
what
else
is
weird,
right?
You
know
polar
bears,
yeah?
They
put
their
paws
over
their
noses
while
they
hunt
to
help
them
camouflage
in
the
ice,
because
their
noses
are
black
and
so
would
stand
out.
But
how
on
Earth
do
they
actually
know
their
noses
are
black?
Are
they
like
super
intelligent?
Are
they
aware
of
their
own
existence?
Can
they
think?
What
is
up
with
that?
Forget
mutant
ninja
zombies
and
gingers.
The
human
race
is
going
to
become
extinct
because
of
polar
bears;
mark my
words.
”

There
is
a
short
pause
as
the
waiter
brings
us
the
drinks
and
the
cakes.
Jayce
thanks
the
waiter
and
pushes
the
hot
chocolate
to
me
and
pulls
the
coffee
in
for
himself.
He
then
digs
in
to
the
cheesecake,
raining
crumbs
all
over
the table as
he
shovels
it
down.

“
It’s
just
stupid
really.
Some
fluffy
hairy
monster
thing
that
somehow
knows
stuff
is
just
roaming
around
freely
on
this
Earth
and
no
one
has
thought:
‘you
know
what?
This
creature
could
actually
conquer
the
world
one
day!’
Man,
we
are
stupid.
Maybe…
No
way!
”
he
suddenly
gasps
and
throws
his
hands
over
his
mouth.
“
Maybe….
maybe
humans
already
know
this,
and
there’s
been
some
secret
government
organization
running
for
centuries
to
start
global
warming
as
a
way
of
killing
all
the
polar
bears!
Maybe
it’s
some
huge
conspiracy
to
save
us
from
what
will
surely
be
the
polar
bear
revolution!
”

He
then
laughs
and
says
that
the
government
would
never
be
clever
enough
to
think
up
such
a
plan.
He
looks
down
at
his
phone.
In
that
moment
I
realise
something
isn’t
quite
right
–
his
eyes
widen
and
his
mouth
parts
a
little,
as
if
he
is
about
to
let
out
a
gasp.
Is
it
a
text
message?
I
wonder
what
he
says.
He
continues
staring
at
it,
and
if
it’s
a
text
message,
he
isn’t
responding
in
a
hurry
to
it.