He wrote k = 5m + 3. He substituted. His arithmetic was visible and therefore brave. Seven times 5m was 35m. Seven times three was twenty-one. Twenty-one plus the original two was twenty-three. He sat back.
“n = 35m + 23,” he said. “All the numbers that are two more than a multiple of seven and three more than a multiple of five look like that. Now the four has to be allowed in.”
“Now the four,” Emily said.
She was aware of Toni again, a presence at her shoulder like a change in air pressure. Toni was twenty-six, with a nose ring and a kindness that did not waste itself on speeches. She held the turkey club on a tray and did not sigh.
“I ran your soup,” Toni said. “Table nine is doing the thing with the crackers. You good?”