Page 110

Carl sighs. “Fine.” Blair marks something on the page, then gets to the section about the deposit.

“Kell, this part matters.”

“I’m listening.”

By the time she finishes, I know what I owe, when I owe it, what happens if I leave, what Carl can charge me for, and what he can’t.

Carl taps the deposit number. “I’ll need this before I can give you the key.”

“I have the money. I have a card.”

Blair looks at me. “Then you can pay him now.”

Carl nods. “Deposit and first month’s rent, and I’ll give you the key.”

Blair puts the papers down. “Do you still want it?”

“Yes.”

She doesn’t ask whether Laura agrees. She asks me, waits for my answer, and moves on as if there was never anyone else she needed to consult.

“Then you can sign.”

“I don’t know how to write my name.”

“You can learn now.” Blair takes a pen and a blank piece of paper from her bag. “You know the letters in it?”

“K. E. L. L.”

“Good.” She prints KELL in large block letters, then hands me the pen. “Copy it here first.”

I study the four letters and copy them onto the blank paper. The K takes the longest. The two Ls are easier because they match, and by the time I finish, the word looks enough like hers that I recognize it.

“Kell.”

“That’s your name.”

She turns the lease toward me and places my finger beside the signature line. “Write it here. It means you understand the agreement and you’re agreeing to it.”

I put the pen to the paper and write the four letters again, slower this time. Blair writes something beside them.

“What did you write?”

“That I witnessed your signature.”

Carl takes the lease. I use the card Laura gave me to pay the deposit and first month’s rent. He signs his copy, gives me the key, then makes me a copy of the lease. Blair folds it before handing it to me.

“This is yours.”

I slide it into my pocket and pick up the cushion I had set on the floor.

Blair looks at it, then at me. “Are you opening a studio or stealing furniture one piece at a time?”

“I got paint on Laura’s chair.”

“Ah.”

“What?”