The walk home with Kai was silent, with a few pops of chatter from his side, all of which danced around tomorrow. With each car that passed brought with it a cool breeze and a look of confusion from its driver. Charlotte isn’t a walking town, but for as long as we’ve lived here I found myself walking. My grandfather loved walking, he told me before every big decision you should take a lap. To him walking was about listening, it was a chance to hear the noise, and to see what actually matter to him.

Ed’s Note: The Secret History of Genius is a new novel by Jamal Bilal. It’s being written and published in real time, page by page. Subscribe to the blog to receive new pages via email or follow along here.