The First Lesson

Grace arrived at six fifty, five minutes earlier than Frank ever had, because she was afraid that if she arrived at six fifty-five, she would turn around and go home.

The back room was empty and smelled of onions. She put the chairs in a half circle, the way Frank did. She wrote on the chalkboard, under TODAY'S SPECIAL: TASK 1 — GIVING ADVICE. Her hand was shaking so much that the T looked like a tree in the wind.

Then she sat down in the broken leather office chair, the one nobody wanted, and it rolled slowly toward the onions with her in it. She let it. It was easier than standing up.

Marco put his head through the kitchen door.

"You look like a person at the dentist," he said.

"I feel like a dentist who has never seen a tooth."

"You've seen many teeth," said Marco. "You just never opened your own mouth." He put a cup of tea next to her. "With honey. For the voice."