Page 37 of Better the Devil

Little Jack looked momentarily concerned, but then shrugged his worries away. ‘We can just get more at a shop.’

Tyler couldn’t argue with the logic.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own wee worlds as they slotted and clicked bricks together. The boy’s castle was of an architectural style unlike anything Tyler had ever seen. It was all random jutty-out bits with a big stack of two-by-two square blocks in the middle.

Had he been shown it without knowing what it was meant to be, Tyler would’ve guessed “octopus with an erection,” but he decided to keep that thought to himself.

‘What are you building?’ the boy asked.

Tyler held up his work in progress. He’d already used almost all of the yellow blocks, and was soon going to have to move on to orange.

‘It’s a dog,’ he said, which drew a peal of sharp laughter from little Jack.

‘That’s not a dog!’

‘It is so a dog,’ Tyler insisted.

He turned the half-built model towards the boy, barked, then made a series of slobbering sounds.

‘See? It’s a dog!’

Jack giggled. ‘It’s rubbish!’

‘Oh, aye? Well, your castle’s shite,’ was what Tyler almost said.

Thankfully, he fought the urge.

‘Just wait and see it when it’s finished. It’ll be so good, you’ll think it’s a real dog.’

This earned another fit of giggles from the boy.

Tyler fished around and found another yellow brick. A tiny, one-by-one piece that would work for an ear. He clicked it into place, and stole a glance in little Jack’s direction.

‘You like dogs?’

The boy nodded, not looking up from his work.

‘You got a dog?’

Jack shook his head. ‘No. Mummy says they’re too messy.’

‘They can be, aye,’ Tyler said.

The boy raised his eyes. ‘Do you have one?’

‘Me? No. But did you see that big man I was with? He’s got a dog.’

Jack looked in the direction of the living room, his mouth forming a little circle of surprise.

‘What’s its name?’

‘Taggart,’ Tyler told him.

This was met by another giggle and a cartoonishly exaggerated frown of confusion. ‘That’s not a name for a dog!’ he cried. ‘A dog’s ’upposed to have a dog name. A dog’s ’upposed to be called Goldie.’

Click. Something snapped into place in Tyler’s hands.

‘That’s a great name for a dog,’ he agreed. ‘That’s a really nice name.’