The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon [67]
And then I heard someone opening the door of the flat and there was a strange man's voice outside, so I locked the bathroom door. And there was an argument outside and a man said, “I need to speak to him,” and Mother said, “He's been through enough today already,” and the man said, “I know. But I still need to speak to him.”
And Mother knocked on the door and said a policeman wanted to talk to me and I had to open the door. And she said she wouldn't let him take me away and she promised. So I picked Toby up and opened the door.
And there was a policeman outside the door and he said, “Are you Christopher Boone?”
And I said I was.
And he said, “Your father says you've run away. Is that right?”
And I said, “Yes.”
And he said, “Is this your mother?” and he pointed at Mother.
And I said, “Yes.”
And he said, “Why did you run away?”
And I said, “Because Father killed Wellington, who is a dog, and I was frightened of him.”
And he said, “So I've been told.” And then he said, “Do you want to go back to Swindon to your father or do you want to stay here?”
And I said, “I want to stay here.”
And he said, “And how do you feel about that?”
And I said, “I want to stay here.”
And the policeman said, “Hang on. I'm asking your mother.”
And Mother said, “He told Christopher I was dead.”
And the policeman said, “OK, let's . . . let's not get into an argument about who said what here. I just want to know whether—”
And Mother said, “Of course he can stay.”
And then the policeman said, “Well, I think that probably settles it as far as I'm concerned.”
And I said, “Are you going to take me back to Swindon?”
And he said, “No.”
And then I was happy because I could live with Mother.
And the policeman said, “If your husband turns up and causes any trouble, just give us a ring. Otherwise, you're going to have to sort this out between yourselves.”
And then the policeman went away and I had my tomato soup and Mr. Shears stacked up some boxes in the spare room so he could put a blowup mattress on the floor for me to sleep on, and I went to sleep.
And then I woke up because there were people shouting in the flat and it was 2:31 a.m. And one of the people was Father and I was frightened. But there wasn't a lock on the door of the spare room.
And Father shouted, “I'm talking to her whether you like it or not. And I am not going to be told what to do by you of all people.”
And Mother shouted, “Roger. Don't. Just—”
And Mr. Shears shouted, “I'm not being spoken to like that in my own home.”
And Father shouted, “I'll talk to you how I damn well like.”
And Mother shouted, “You have no right to be here.”
And Father shouted, “No right? No right? He's my fucking son, in case you've forgotten.”
And Mother shouted, “What in God's name did you think you were playing at, saying those things to him?”
And Father shouted, “What was I playing at? You were the one that bloody left.”
And Mother shouted, “So you decided to just wipe me out of his life altogether?”
And Mr. Shears shouted, “Now let's us all just calm down here, shall we?”
And Father shouted, “Well, isn't that what you wanted?”
And Mother shouted, “I wrote to him every week. Every week.”
And Father shouted, “Wrote to him? What the fuck use is writing to him?”
And Mr. Shears shouted, “Whoa, whoa, whoa.”
And Father shouted, “I cooked his meals. I cleaned his clothes. I looked after him every weekend. I looked after him when he was ill. I took him to the doctor. I worried myself sick every time he wandered off somewhere at night. I went to school every time he got into a fight. And you? What? You wrote him some fucking letters.”
And Mother shouted, “So you thought it was OK to tell him his mother was dead?”
And Mr. Shears shouted, “Now is not the time.”
And Father shouted, “You, butt out or I'll—”
And Mother shouted, “Ed, for God's sake—”
And Father said, “I'm going to see him. And if you try to stop