The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon [71]
And in the afternoon Mother took me to Hampstead Heath in a taxi and we sat on the top of a hill and looked at the planes coming into Heathrow Airport in the distance. And I had a red ice lolly from an ice cream van. And Mother said she had rung Mrs. Gascoyne and told her that I was going to take my maths A level next year, so I threw my red ice lolly away and I screamed for a long time and the pain in my chest hurt so much that it was hard to breathe and a man came up and asked if I was OK and Mother said, “Well, what does it look like to you?” and he went away.
And then I was tired from screaming and Mother took me back to the flat in another taxi and the next morning was Saturday and she told Mr. Shears to go out and get me some books about science and maths from the library, and they were called 100 Number Puzzles and The Origins of the Universe and Nuclear Power, but they were for children and they were not very good so I didn't read them, and Mr. Shears said, “Well, it's nice to know my contribution is appreciated.”
And I hadn't eaten anything since I threw away the red ice lolly on Hampstead Heath, so Mother made me a chart with stars on it like when I was very small and she filled a measuring jug with Complan and strawberry flavoring and I got a bronze star for drinking 200 ml and a silver star for drinking 400 ml and a gold star for drinking 600 ml.
And when Mother and Mr. Shears argued I took the little radio from the kitchen and I went and sat in the spare room and I tuned it halfway between two stations so that all I could hear was white noise and I turned the volume up really loud and I held it against my ear and the sound filled my head and it hurt so that I couldn't feel any other sort of hurt, like the hurt in my chest, and I couldn't hear Mother and Mr. Shears arguing and I couldn't think about not doing my A level or the fact that there wasn't a garden at 451c Chapter Road, London NW2 5NG, or the fact that I couldn't see the stars.
And then it was Monday. And it was very late at night and Mr. Shears came into my room and woke me up and he had been drinking beer because he smelled like Father did when he had been drinking beer with Rhodri. And he said, “You think you're so fucking clever, don't you. Don't you ever, ever think about other people for one second, eh? Well, I bet you're really pleased with yourself now, aren't you.”
And then Mother came in and pulled him out of the room and said, “Christopher, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry.”
The next morning, after Mr. Shears had gone to work, Mother packed lots of her clothes into two suitcases and told me to come downstairs and bring Toby and get into the car. And she put the suitcases into the boot and we drove off. But it was Mr. Shears's car and I said, “Are you stealing the car?”
And she said, “I'm just borrowing it.”
And I said, “Where are we going?”
And she said, “We're going home.”
And I said, “Do you mean home in Swindon?”
And she said, “Yes.”
And I said, “Is Father going to be there?”
And she said, “Please, Christopher. Don't give me any hassle right now, OK?”
And I said, “I don't want to be with Father.”
And she said, “Just . . . Just . . . It's going to be all right, Christopher, OK? It's going to be all right.”
And I said, “Are we going back to Swindon so I can do my maths A level?”
And Mother said, “What?”
And I said, “I'm meant to be doing my maths A level tomorrow.”
And Mother spoke very slowly and she said, “We are going back to Swindon because if we stay in London any longer . . . someone was going