The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon [69]
And I stand in the surf and it comes up and over my shoes. And I don't go swimming in case there are sharks. And I stand and look at the horizon and I take out my long metal ruler and I hold it up against the line between the sea and the sky and I demonstrate that the line is a curve and the earth is round. And the way the surf comes up and over my shoes and then goes down again is in a rhythm, like music or drumming.
And then I get some dry clothes from the house of a family who are dead. And I go home to Father's house, except it's not Father's house anymore, it's mine. And I make myself some Gobi Aloo Sag with red food coloring in it and some strawberry milk shake for a drink, and then I watch a video about the solar system and I play some computer games and I go to bed.
And then the dream is finished and I am happy.
233. The next morning I had fried tomatoes for breakfast and a tin of green beans which Mother heated up in a saucepan.
In the middle of breakfast, Mr. Shears said, “OK. He can stay for a few days.”
And Mother said, “He can stay as long as he needs to stay.”
And Mr. Shears said, “This flat is hardly big enough for two people, let alone three.”
And Mother said, “He can understand what you're saying, you know.”
And Mr. Shears said, “What's he going to do? There's no school for him to go to. We've both got jobs. It's bloody ridiculous.”
And Mother said, “Roger. That's enough.”
Then she made me some Red Zinger herbal tea with sugar in it but I didn't like it, and she said, “You can stay for as long as you want to stay.”
And after Mr. Shears had gone to work she made a telephone call to the office and took what is called Compassionate Leave, which is when someone in your family dies or is ill.
Then she said we had to go and buy some clothes for me to wear and some pajamas and a toothbrush and a flannel. So we went out of the flat and we walked to the main road, which was Hill Lane, which was the A4088, and it was really crowded and we caught a number 266 bus to Brent Cross Shopping Centre. Except there were too many people in John Lewis and I was frightened and I lay down on the floor next to the wristwatches and I screamed and Mother had to take me home in a taxi.
Then she had to go back to the shopping center to buy me some clothes and some pajamas and a toothbrush and a flannel, so I stayed in the spare room while she was gone because I didn't want to be in the same room as Mr. Shears because I was frightened of him.
And when Mother got home she brought me a glass of strawberry milk shake and showed me my new pajamas, and the pattern on them was 5-pointed blue stars on a purple background like this
And I said, “I have to go back to Swindon.”
And Mother said, “Christopher, you've only just got here.”
And I said, “I have to go back because I have to sit my maths A level.”
And Mother said, “You're doing maths A level?”
And I said, “Yes. I'm taking it on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday next week.”
And Mother said, “God.”
And I said, “The Reverend Peters is going to be the invigilator.”
And Mother said, “I mean, that's really good.”
And I said, “I'm going to get an A grade. And that's why I have to go back to Swindon. Except I don't want to see Father. So I have to go to Swindon with you.”
Then Mother put her hands over her face and breathed out hard, and she said, “I don't know whether that's going to be possible.”
And I said, “But I have to go.”
And Mother said, “Let's talk about this some other time, OK?”
And I said, “OK. But I have to go to Swindon.”
And she said, “Christopher, please.”
And I drank some of my milk shake.
And later on, at 10:31 p.m. I went out onto the balcony to find out whether I could see any stars, but