Inconvenience

Chapter 6: Baby & Braille

Chapter 6

Max's first lesson with Walter didn't go exactly how he thought it would, but it was interesting to say the least. He'd started by having Max feel different types of surfaces, like tile, brick, wood and carpet. He said that;

"You'll need to train your sense of touch a bit before you'll be able to read braille properly."

Walter himself hadn't had any issue learning braille, at least not in this regard. Apparently, there was merit to idea that if you lose one sense the others are heightened. He had always had a keen sense of touch, something Max would need to pick up.

He didn't pay attention when he'd gone back to class, maths was extraordinarily dull after a lesson with Walter. In fact, he was so interested in what the man had to say that he'd forgotten to chew him out on having the lesson fall during recess. It didn't matter much though. Walter had brought food with him, sandwiches with ham and cheese or coleslaw. He'd even had biscuits and tea, as typical as it was for an Englishman.

When he went back to that office for the after-school lessons he was greeted by the sound of classical music, accompanied by Walter's soft humming.

"I find that music helps to relax me, especially Bach. Have you ever listened to any of his works, Max?"

Max hadn't, at least not knowingly, but Walter didn't seem surprised. Walter even made the point of saying that music sounded much better on vinyl that it did on tape or digital. Max only knew what vinyl was after Walter described them as;

"Those big rough disks on turn-tables, with the scraping needle. Very old-fashioned things, but my mother always had one in good nick, and always put it by my bed if I was sick. I'm told the difference in sound is noticeable, especially to those who turn blind."

Walter had spent half that lesson just talking with Max as they listened to the songs play one after another. Walter admitted that today the music was coming from his phone, but that he'd get the vinyl player in for one lesson and show Max the improvement in sound quality.

This kind of music wasn't really Max's cup of coffee, not typically, but Walter spoke about with such reverence that Max couldn't help but be engrossed too. By the end Max had only felt more surfaces and was given the homework of feeling around as many different things as he could and defining their textures in his own head.

A sudden burst of a rooster's cry made Max jump and pull his hand away from a swatch of what felt like gravel.

"Ah, that'll mean it's half 4, the end of our session for today, Max." Walter said, pulling the swatch away. "Same times tomorrow."

"Oh, okay." Max said, feeling like that hour-and-a-half didn't last long at all.

There was someone already waiting to pick him up when he left the school. He smelled her smoky scent before she even spoke. He followed the sounds of her footsteps, making sure to keep a healthy distance between himself and the woman.

The car-ride home was accompanied by the sound of that ruddy exhaust again, as it always was. Max reflected on the complete shift of mood he had from when he left Walter's lesson to now. Not 15 minutes ago he was laughing and chatting with a person who understood what he was going through, and who was genuinely trying to help him. Now all he had was this bitch, who wouldn't even ask him how his first day back was.

It wasn't that he cared about what her thoughts were, or that he was surprised or disappointed by her lack of interest, he just thought that in her streak of trying to lure him in to a false sense of security, she'd have asked.