Ray’s mum liked to tell people that he’d started drawing before he could speak. Most people took it to mean he’d been precocious; but it could mean the exact opposite as well. Whatever it meant, it was still true: Ray preferred drawing to speaking one hundred percent of the time. It was slower, for one, and he needed that time. He didn’t know why, but the world felt harsh to him, too much and too fast and too careless. He managed, because he had to. Meals had to be prepared,