Swift as a Coursing River | Ongoing

21. Dawn

The hall is already bustling with people when Edwin arrives. People are sitting around tables, drinking and talking, and the stage is full of empty chairs and music stands. Edwin stalls just beyond the rows of tables, no doubt blocking the way for people coming in, but he doesn't know where else to go. Should he just pick a seat? Vincent said he'd find him, that some of his friends would be there.

He almost regrets that he came. It's the Christmas concert of Vincent's orchestra, which means the audience is full of friends and family members of the musicians. It's not the type of concert you go to on your own, where you sit in neat rows of chairs and it doesn't matter who your neighbour is. If you pick a seat here, it's inevitably at a table with other people. He doesn't want to sit with strangers, waiting for Vincent to find him after the concert. It's the kind of thing he might have done for Ellen, but if you go to a friend's concert, you take mutual friends with you.

"Hey, Edwin! Over here!" Edwin's gaze stutters over the crowd and he catches someone waving and jogging towards him. Kim. He starts smiling when they stop in front of him.

"Nice to see you."

"Vincent will be so happy you came," they say. "It means a lot to him, you know. He doesn't say it, but his music is the only hobby he's never dropped since he was a child. He had to stand up to his parents to take lessons, too. Come on, Sumaya and I are over there. We saved you a seat." They slip through the crowd before Edwin can say anything. They knew he was coming? Vincent hadn't asked him, but he'd mentioned the concert and Edwin had offered. He likes concerts, and it's almost Christmas, and he knows what it's like to be on the other side, to be one of the musicians. But he wouldn't have known it was important to Vincent, that people came, that he came. Vincent's glee had been no different than when he's teasing Edwin, watching a movie he enjoys, when Edwin likes one of his cocktails.

Edwin had liked seeing him happy. Vincent had been sombre and stressed all week after the leak in his bathroom, when they went on their usual runs. They had still watched Paris Is Burning, and Kiki another evening, after a run, and Vincent had provided his usual commentary, but Edwin could tell his heart wasn't in it. Or rather, Vincent's mind was occupied by different matters, with less to spare on Edwin's education. But when Edwin suggested they watch something just for fun, even if it was just The Ideal World or some other mindless TV show, Vincent balked and insisted they didn't need to change their plans.

As soon as Edwin notices Sumaya, it's clear she's related to Vincent. There are not that many people from southern Asia in Belgium, but something in the build of her face reminds Edwin of Vincent. And she's just as obviously gay, except she's a masculine woman instead of a feminine man. She has very short hair and she's wearing a sort of casual suit that outlines she has some muscle on her arms. Edwin spots a tattoo on the back of her neck and she has one dangling earring in, and a small nose piercing.

She stands up when he approaches and holds out her hand. "Hi, you must be Edwin. Vincent has told me about you. I'm Sumaya, his cousin."

"He mentioned you," Edwin says. "Not your name, or that you'd be here, but that he had a cousin he's close with." Soul siblings, Vincent had said. Edwin can see why. Sumaya has only uttered some polite phrases, but he suspects she shares a love for teasing with Vincent. If Vincent joins them later ... Well, maybe he should conveniently take a very long bathroom break while those two are together because he would not survive attacks from all sides. He definitely can't count on Kim for support either. All three of them are cut from the same wood.

Edwin orders a drink and leafs through the program booklet while Kim and Sumaya chat about their lives. The orchestra is playing the Nutcracker, in true Christmas atmosphere. It's still at least half an hour before the concert starts and he resigns himself to listening to Kim and Sumaya, talking about people and events he doesn't know. It still beats sitting alone with a bunch of strangers.