Gavin and Me

The day I met Gavin he came into the small glass room where i was with an ice-blended mocha with extra whipped cream. His tear-streaked face was already dry, painting two icy rivers down each cheek, ending at the corners of his small pouty mouth.

"Hi", he said in a strong Brit accent, while plonking down his cuppa, spilling cream on the bass amp.

"I'm Ezra, your new teacher", I said, extending a hand. He grabbed mine and pumped it up and down.

"Gavin. You're teacher number three."

"Well, yeah, the other teachers have left so I'll teach you instead. Do you mind?"

He grabbed the drumsticks. "Nope. Can I tell you a secret?"

"Yeah, sure."

"My brother, he fell down just now, and, and, he loves to cry, and, he went, Uuuh Uhhh Uhh..." Gavin then proceded to make loud wailing noises that I swore made everyone in the adjacent bowling alley stare. I suspected he was talking about himself from the tear-streaks on his wailing face. It was very convincing.

"Er, so Gavin, how many siblings do you have?"

"Huh?"

"Brothers and sisters. Do you have any brothers and sisters?"

"I've a brother. He's Aaron. And you want to know another secret?"

"Uh yeah, sure." I looked around to see whether his mom was nearby and staring angrily at me for making her son "cry".

"I had another brother. But he..." He hung his head and pouted.

"He...?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you. It's a secret. Only my dad, my mom and my family knows. I'm not supposed to tell you."

"Well, that's why they call secrets secrets. You don't have to tell if you..."

He looked up and chirpily said, "I'll tell you next week though."

I had no heart to tell Gavin that this would be our first and last class together.