Bram’s mother locked the flat herself.
He had offered to carry the key. She closed her hand around it and put it into the inner pocket of her coat. They did not know whether the housing desk would deactivate it by evening. For now it was still hers, and she would decide when to surrender it.
His sister stood on the landing with her school folder tucked against her ribs. Kellan took the heavier bag only after she gave it to him. The small photograph traveled with Bram’s mother, wrapped in a towel among her clothes.
Nobody came to stop them on the stairs.
The simplicity of reaching the pavement made Bram feel foolish for the fear that had kept his mouth dry throughout the descent. A child rode past on a small bicycle. Someone shouted from an upper window about a missing shopping bag. Their transport waited in the legal loading space, engine off, looking like any vehicle that might be helping a household move too little furniture.
Tessa checked the medicine arrangement before they boarded. The charity volunteer had collected the sealed refill and was heading to the separate rendezvous. Bram’s mother asked to see the confirmation, read it and nodded.
