The Brothers' Lot - Kevin Holohan [65]
It was only a matter of time before Mr. Devlin dozed off. He had done it before and all the signs were there. There were the red eyes, the one day’s worth of stubble shading his cheeks, and the general hungover delicacy with which he moved. All they had to do was wait.
Finbar was surprised by the care with which the boys conducted themselves. He would have expected any hungover teacher to get the noisy treatment: the squeaking of boots on the floor, the crashing Geometry sets. It was not until Devlin actually dozed off and began to snore softly that Finbar understood: they were in a science lab with unlocked cupboards.
The first to go was McDonagh. All the others seemed to know what to do. They huddled over their experiments looking like they were working while McDonagh got on his hands and knees and made his way to the back of the lab. Lynch was the alarm giver and sniffed twice in quick succession when Devlin appeared to be waking. When the danger passed, Lynch gave one long sniff and the sounds of creeping among the workbenches resumed. Finbar watched one of the cupboards open as if by remote control and then McDonagh’s hand reached inside. There was a short fumble and then the boy’s arm withdrew, the cupboard door closed, and he crept back to his place. He put something inside his jacket and resumed his part in the tableau vivant of Young Boys at Science Experiment.
Scully got up next and slid down to the floor. He waited for Lynch’s all-clear sniff and then crawled silently toward the back of the lab. Finbar glanced round the class to see the intentness with which the boys were all cooperating. It was something he had not witnessed since he’d come to the school.
Again the cupboard door opened, but this time Scully emerged from behind the last workbench. He took a careful look at Devlin, then turned to look inside. When he shifted back he had his hands carefully cupped; instead of crawling, he tiptoed silently back.
As the boy slid onto the stool, Finbar could see the shiny liquid in his palm. Scully rested his hands on his knees and carefully cradled his precious cargo of mercury.
After that Egan went and seemed to take ages searching in a second cupboard before returning with a test tube filled with clear liquid. Then Lynch himself went while McDonagh kept watch. Finally, with five minutes to go before the end of class, all activity ceased and the boys waited patiently over their bogus unfinished experiments.
Devlin woke with a start when the bell rang and was foolishly reassured to see the boys all bent studiously over their experiments.
“Okay, that’s enough, we’ll write up the results on Thursday. Mr. Scully, you can clean the blackboard.”
“Fuck!” breathed Scully under his breath. “Take it,” he hissed to Finbar, and poured the mercury into his helpless hands. “Don’t drop it or you’re dead,” Scully added, and went to clean the blackboard.
Finbar sat uneasily with the heavy shiny liquid in his palms. He had heard mercury was poisonous but reckoned it was still safer to hold on to it than drop it.
“I need three volunteers to help me tidy up,” announced Mr. Devlin. It was a cursory, almost ironic nod toward encouraging participation that he knew would elicit no response. “Right then: Bradshaw, Clark, Hennessy, you’re all volunteered. The rest of you can go.”
“I’ll cover you,” said Ferrara to Finbar, and picked up Finbar’s bag.
With no time or inclination to argue, Finbar followed slightly behind the other boy and left the lab. Behind him he heard Scully’s low voice: “Slow down when you get to the door.”
At the door leading out of the lab and into the yard, Finbar slowed down. In front of him he saw the boys pause when they passed the first window. As he got closer he saw McDonagh lean toward a massive bowl sitting on the windowsill. He dropped what looked to Finbar like a piece of phosphorous into the bowl. McDonagh quickened his pace and moved on into the yard. Without slowing down much, Egan emptied the contents of his test tube into the bowl. “A colorless, odorless,