They drove to the cemetery in a big black car. The minister, a tall skinny man with a funny nasal voice, talked about peace and heaven and Gran cried. Nick looked down the green slope towards the freeway. The grass was speckled with white markers like stone sheep. The lanes of traffic shimmered in the smoggy sunlight and on a distant billboard, a man and woman embraced against a giant cigarette package.

The minister picked up a handful of dirt and poured it into Nick’s hand. He told Nick to throw it into the grave. Nick pressed away from the grave, afraid that if he went too close to the edge he would fall in and be locked in the earth forever. The minister took his hand and tried to make him throw the dirt. Nick’s snub-nosed face became contorted and he bared his teeth like a wolf cub. He threw the dirt in the minister’s face. The minister stood there blinking stupidly as Gramps took Nick’s hand and led him back to the car.

From then on he lived with Gran and Gramps. Esmeralda the maid took him to the nursery every day. At dinner he had to sit still and not speak until spoken to. One night Gran said she wouldn’t have that man in her house and Nick’s heart began to pound. He somehow knew, although he didn’t know how, that they were speaking about his father.

Gran didn’t like his father. She said his neck was red and he made loud noises when he ate. She looked disgusted when she said that, like the time when he had found a garter snake in the garden. It was a question of breeding, Gran said, looking pointedly at Nick. You were supposed to keep your mouth closed and chew each bite properly. That showed you had good manners.

That night Nick lay awake for a long time, wondering what his father looked like and whether he really had a red neck. Rain pattered against his bedroom window and he wondered if it would flood and carry his mother out to sea forever. He began to cry. Then Gran came in and told him about heaven until he began to yawn and fell asleep.

In the morning a strange man came to the house. They were having breakfast in Gran’s “breakfast nook” when Esmeralda came in and said there was a Mr. Tim Curry at the door. Nick smiled. That was funny, because Curry was his name too. He was Nick Curry. Gran looked at Gramps.

The man came into the breakfast room. Esmeralda looked at Gramps, who dismissed her with a wave of his hand. The man had very broad shoulders, dark curly hair and gray eyes. His face was dark as an Indian’s from the sun and Nick craned his head to see if the man’s neck was really red like Gran said.