The Shadow House(24)
Renee shook her head. ‘Not really my son’s thing,’ she said. The sound of the shopping mall pulsed around her, a stark contrast to the silence of the farm. ‘I need something more … computer related. But something new. Do you have anything really cutting edge?’
The shop assistant brushed a lock of curly hair from her eyes and gave her a blank look.
‘He’s a gamer,’ Renee explained.
‘Oh, I see,’ said the assistant, her eyes widening. ‘Well, then let me show you our consoles and accessories.’ She led Renee over to a different area. ‘Sony’s new PlayStation wireless headphones are pretty exciting. The audio quality probably isn’t the best on the market, but the surround sound adds depth to gameplay and the mic is great for in-game chat. Or what about the iPad 2? It has a front-facing camera and a faster A5 dual core processor, and it matches up nicely with some of the more popular games like Ticket to Ride and Ascension, if that’s the kind of thing he’s into?’
Renee stared at the endless array of bizarre objects, searching in vain for something Gabriel did not already have. When she saw the price tags, her jaw fell open.
‘Or maybe a gift card?’ said the shop assistant, hurriedly. ‘Then your son can put it towards something he really wants.’
Renee smiled weakly. Last year had been just as challenging; in the end she’d gone for a pair of computer glasses with specially tinted lenses; the year before that had been the adjustable laptop stand. She’d been assured by other similarly chirpy store employees that they were good gifts. Gamers, they said, were notoriously hard to buy for; they were very particular about their hardware and often bought products directly online, so it was best to let him decide. But Renee couldn’t stand the idea of just giving her son a piece of paper in an envelope. The magic of birthdays was in the rip of shiny paper and the sharp intake of breath when the wrapping was peeled back. So, every year she went to the same shop to choose yet another in a long line of ‘bestselling’ products that she hoped would knock Gabriel’s socks off.
This year, though, Gabriel had done something he’d never done before; at least, not since he was a child. He’d given her a list. She’d nearly fallen over backwards with shock when she found the little scrap of paper sitting on the kitchen table. At first, she’d assumed it belonged to Michael – but upon examination, she recognised the spidery handwriting as Gabe’s.
Pursing her lips, she held the list in her hand and squinted at the words. Mini LED torch, it said. Phillips screwdriver. Cable ties. Tweezers. Grounding strap.
Gabriel’s passions had once been much less difficult to fathom. From an early age he’d shown an interest in art, and over time he’d developed a talent for drawing: portraits, still life, landscape, animals – he had a real eye for natural beauty. He’d never left his room back then, either, but at least the reasons had seemed somewhat more noble. The constant scratch of lead on paper, his head always bent over a sketchbook; Renee had told everyone who would listen that her son would be a famous artist one day. But as far as she knew, he hadn’t picked up a pencil since he’d transferred his interest to computers a few years back.
She looked again at the items on the list. Machine maintenance tools, she guessed. Gabe had built his own gaming rig and the results were mindboggling: gunmetal grey cubes, circuit boards, colourful wires and flashing lights, all painstakingly fitted together to create something that actually worked. It was impressive … but the new items he’d asked for were hardly ‘gifts’. She couldn’t imagine wrapping up these banalities and presenting them to him on his birthday. She wanted to find something special.
But a smarter, more rational part of her knew from experience that whenever she spent money on something expensive, it just disappeared into Gabe’s room like a rock thrown into a deep, dark well. They never saw him enjoying anything, which pretty much defeated the point of the giving.
Then again, all she really wanted was to please her son. The distant memory of his smile was almost enough to bring her to her knees right there in the aisles of TechHeaven. And a part of her still hoped that, if she bought the right presents, he might one day share a little of their meaning with her. She wanted so much to understand him.
Oh, for the days when all he’d asked for were pencils and paper.
‘I think,’ Renee said, ‘I’ll just go for the camera thing. The GoPro. Nice and easy.’
‘Great choice,’ said the assistant, visibly relieved. ‘I’m sure he’ll love it.’
‘Gabriel?’ Michael’s deep voice rang out from the hallway, followed by the sound of a fleshy fist pounding on a door. ‘Gabriel, open this door right now.’
In the kitchen, Renee positioned the GoPro in the centre of a thick sheet of wrapping paper. She brought the top and bottom edges together, securing them with a strip of Sellotape, then set about folding in the side sections.
‘Gabriel!’ Michael was getting louder.
Without saying a word, Renee turned the gift the right way up, carried it over to the dresser and stowed it in the cupboard. She’d learned over time that her husband was like a thunderstorm; you just had to wait until the black clouds passed. Unfortunately, his moods seemed to be getting darker and more intense with every passing year, and the gaps between them fewer and further between.