Мариам Петросян - The Gray House

“OK, that's enough,” Sphinx cuts in immediately. “Dinner, everyone. Leave him alone.”

I am not about to leave Noble alone, no way. I climb on his lap, to have better access to his ears, because right now it's important to tell him stuff, like how I missed him. I don't care if he listens or not. When he drops the cigarette, six more are thrust at him from all directions.

“Look at your hair,” Humpback says, ruffling the ugly ’do. “Horrible. Who would do something like that?”

“How's my vest been treating you?” I ask. “Because if you like it, I'm not going to ask for it back. Especially now that I have this brand-new one.”

“Are you... staying?” Sphinx says carefully.

Noble nods.

“Yay!” Humpback shouts, tossing Nanette in the air.

Blind feels Noble's head and whistles sadly.

“And we have this new Law, imagine that,” I begin, but Sphinx cuts the story short.

“Dinner! On the double!” he shouts testily.

They pry me off Noble and carry me away, even though I struggle valiantly. In the hallway I catch up with Humpback, who's apparently talking to himself.

“I knew he was a solid character.”

That would be Ralph, obviously. A bit farther away are Sphinx and Blind, and Sphinx is saying, “Smells of the nuthouse.”

That would be Noble.

I put on some speed and bump into their heels. I don't give a hoot what Noble smells like as long as he's back, and all this talk is perfect nonsense. The only thing to do now is sing and rattle things. So I sing. I sing, I run rampant, I throw cutlery. I make a huge sandwich for Noble and douse it in syrup. It, the plate, the tablecloth, and myself. I fish meatballs out of the soup, also for Noble. Two end up on the floor for each one I salvage and I stuff them into a second sandwich. Soon I'm swimming in the syrup-and-soup lake. Sphinx gives me a furious eye but doesn't say anything. It's Lary who speaks.

“If anyone asks, I'm not from the same pack. ’Cause that's just embarrassing.”

Then we drive back. I rush ahead, but then fall behind because I remember about Ralph and start searching for him. I guess I wouldn't have asked him anything even if I saw him, but until I do I can't be sure. For example, where did he bring Noble from? It's very intriguing, and you can't just go and ask Noble, because you can’t. Not done, not allowed, not polite—in a word, forbidden. Unless Noble tells me on his own, which he won’t, that much I gathered. That's why I keep looking for Ralph, but he's nowhere to be found, so I go and catch up with the others, who got distracted receiving high-fives from those who already heard the news.

I gladly would have joined in, except the damn sandwiches keep oozing and staining everything, so I am confined to waving my hand as I drive by. It appears that I spot a couple of girls among the well-wishers, but I have no time to investigate further because I’m in such a hurry.

Watching Noble the next morning, I notice a lot of strange things. He gets a coffee stain on his sweater and doesn't rush to change out of it. Drops his pillow on the floor and doesn't even notice, and when he does, neglects to change the pillowcase. Gives Lary two of his nicest shirts. When I, purely by accident, put on a pair of his socks, he doesn't make a scene and seems genuinely surprised by my sincere apologies. Tiny trifles, sure, but it's those trifles that composed the significant part of the Noble I knew, and it's strange to see him not doing things he used to do, and the other way around—doing things he never would have done. He seems to have left a lot of other stuff in the Outsides along with his hair, and I have no idea what that is so I'm undecided if I should be happy or sad about it.

“See, people, here's the deal,” Lary imparts on the way from the canteen after breakfast. He's got on Noble's blue shirt with white egrets on the front, and he looks gorgeous in it. “I say to him, ‘Sorry, Noble, I've been using some of your stuff while you were away. You know how it is, taking a girl out, can't do that in the rags I had.’ So I say that to him and I wait for the fireworks. And he's like, ‘Sure, take them, they're yours now. And take these too.’ Dumps it all out in front of me, and goes, ‘Take whatever you want, come on.’ So I took some. And then he gave me his lighter. ‘Have it,’ he says. You know, the one with the dragon. And all I did was say to him, ‘That's a really nice lighter you have, Noble.’ I didn't mean anything like that, honest, and he's like—bang, stuffs it in my pocket. ‘You have it, if you like it,’ he says.”

“Next thing you're going to beg the underpants off him,” Humpback grumbles. “Have you no shame? Leave the guy alone.”

“I didn't mean nothing. Just said how nice it was.”

Humpback and I shake our heads. Lary reddens and goes quiet. When we reach the classroom he steps in front of us, barring the way.

“All right. Screw the lighter. So I did figure he'd give it to me if I mentioned it. But you tell me this. Would I have, like, even considered that he might do that? I mean, before? No way. So you tell me, what's wrong with him and why is he behaving like he's not himself? I mean, he looks like our Noble and stuff. But he behaves kind of alien. doesn't that bother you? You know what I’m saying?”

“Go to hell,” Humpback says, shoving him in the chest. “Get out of the way. I don't have time to stand here listening to your garbage. How's that lighter doing, burning your butt yet?”

Lary carefully studies the egret in the center of his shirt, the biggest one, afraid that Humpback might have stained it. Then fingers the fabric.

“What's with the shoving?” he says. “I call them as I see them, if you don't want to listen—fine, don't. Still no reason to go shoving. You think I'm not happy they brought him back? I too am happy! But there is this concern, you see, and I'm just saying. Because all those stories about changelings, they're not for nothing, you know. Food for thought is all I'm saying.”

Humpback moves for his collar, but Lary wiggles away and runs into the classroom. Humpback and I exchange glances.

“Pitiful excuse for a human,” he says. “I should have smacked him one.”

I fiddle with my earring, turning it around and around.

“Probably. He's always asking for it. But there is something in what he's babbling. I noticed too. Noble did change. A lot.”

Humpback frowns, surprised.

“Of course he did. Grown up, that's all. And also he missed us. Lary is a nitwit, he doesn't get it, but I would have expected more from you. Where're your eyes? And ears and everything else?”

He pushes me inside and retreats to his seat. I sidle up to the desk and take out my notes. The ear is burning because I tugged at the earring, but the cheeks do because of Humpback's words. I stare at Noble. He's right here, at the next desk, and I can stare to my heart's content. He's already hard at work over my notebook, correcting something in my scribbles. I hadn't asked him to, but he did that before, too, without being asked. Refined aquiline face, unnaturally beautiful, bent over the grubby pages. Even the bald spots and the entire disgusting haircut are powerless to ruin the impression. The hair is not yellow like before, but more on the milk-chocolate side, the way it used to show near the roots. And a barely suggested shadow of a beard. A ghost of a beard. Because of it, or maybe because Humpback's words are starting to have an effect, I can see that Noble has indeed grown up. Is that all it is? Only this and nothing else? I spend the whole class thinking about it.