Kaden closed his eyes. How could Jalis be trying to escape from Lixian? That made no sense. Was there something shady about the lab? Had Jalis been experimented on? He opened his eyes and tried a different tack. “So…the name Jalis.”
“Our construct. I came up with it. I have no papers, no passport, no ID that would enable me to stay in the UK and work. You had the idea of me pretending to have come over the Channel in a small boat. I’m not from Afghanistan but that was where we decided I should come from. I’m gay, like you, and it’s dangerous to be gay there. That’s the basis for my claim for asylum.”
That explained the letter Kaden had written and signed, and the utility bill Jalis had shown him. Proof that Kaden was offering him a place to live while his claim was considered.
“I can’t ask for asylum before you remember,” Jalis said quietly. “Well, I could but I don’t want to. If you don’t remember offering to help me, I’ll be transported to the north of this country to be detained in accommodation provided by the government. I want to be with you. You wanted me to be with you. You told me you wanted to remember.”
The last few words were whispered but Kaden heard them.
“Have… Have we fucked?”
Jalis’ eyes widened and his cheeks reddened. He floundered for a moment. “Well… We’ve… We’ve messed around a bit.”
“Oh God, I wish I could remember.”
“I think the more time we spend together, the better the chance of you remembering.”
“Or you just need somewhere to stay.”
“That’s true but if at any time you want me to leave, I’ll leave.”
Kaden nodded.
“It’s stopped raining. Can we go for a walk? I’d like to walk in the countryside.”
“Okay. You can wear a pair of my dad’s boots and his anorak. We could head towards the next village and have lunch in the pub.”
Jalis looked more excited than he should have been. The pub was okay but nothing special.
As Kaden fastened his boots, he sensed Jalis watching him. When Jalis tried to tie his own, he messed up. Something clicked in Kaden’s head.
“I can’t tie them,” Jalis said.
Kaden bent to help him. What adult couldn’t tie a shoelace?
As they walked, Kaden had the feeling that much of this was new to Jalis. He seemed to want to touch everything, and yet knew to avoid nettles.
“You fell in a patch of nettles when you were nine,” Jalis said. “You were running to catch a ball and tripped. The stings leave little raised white bumps on your skin. They hurt. Your dad washed them with soap and water.”
Kaden couldn’t remember the last time he’d thought about that. And why would he have told Jalis?
Jalis bent down and picked a buttercup. “Do you like butter?” He held it under Kaden’s chin.
Kaden chuckled. “That never made sense to me. Everyone gets a yellow shadow from a buttercup. I used to think it was a ruse by the butter marketing people.”
“The buttercup’s this lovely colour because of the petal structure. The epidermal layer of cells has not one but two extremely flat surfaces from which light is reflected. One is the top of the cells, the other exists because the epidermis is separated from the lower layers of the petal by an air gap.”
Kaden stared at him. He knew this. He remembered reading it.
“Reflection of light by the smooth surface of the cells and by the air layer doubles the gloss of the petal, so buttercups are much better at reflecting light under your chin than any other flower.” Jalis walked on. “Plants are so interesting.”
“They are.” Though most people didn’t know that scientific detail about buttercups, and most people didn’t say it as if they were reading an extract from a reference book.
The stile into the next field was coming up and when Jalis put his hand on the top and jumped over it in the way that Kaden always did, the breath caught in his throat.
“Oh cows,” Jalis said. “They’re bigger than I— You could talk about cows in your comedy routine. How everyone always seemsto point out a cow when they see one. I mean they’re not rare, are they?”
“No, they’re not.” And Kadenhadbeen thinking of a piece on the way people pass long car journeys. Playing eye spy and spotting cows.
