The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon [72]
And I said, “What do you mean?”
And she said, “Now I need you to be quiet for a while.”
And I said, “How long do you want me to be quiet for?”
And she said, “Jesus.” And then she said, “Half an hour, Christopher. I need you to be quiet for half an hour.”
And we drove all the way to Swindon and it took 3 hours 12 minutes and we had to stop for petrol and Mother bought me a Milkybar but I didn't eat it. And we got caught in a long traffic jam which was caused by people slowing down to look at an accident on the other carriageway. And I tried to work out a formula to determine whether a traffic jam would be caused just by people slowing down and how this was influenced by (a) the density of traffic, and (b) the speed of the traffic, and (c) how quickly drivers braked when they saw the brake of the lights of the car in front coming on. But I was too tired because I hadn't slept the night before because I was thinking about not being able to do my maths A level. So I fell asleep.
And when we got to Swindon Mother had keys to the house and we went in and she said, “Hello?” but there was no one there because it was 1:23 p.m. And I was frightened but Mother said I would be safe, so I went up to my room and closed the door. I took Toby out of my pocket and I let him run around and I played Minesweeper and I did the Expert Version in 174 seconds, which was 75 seconds longer than my best time.
And then it was 6:35 p.m. and I heard Father come home in his van and I moved the bed up against the door so he couldn't get in and he came into the house and he and Mother shouted at each other.
And Father shouted, “How the fuck did you get in here?”
And Mother shouted, “This is my house, too, in case you've forgotten.”
And Father shouted, “Is your fucking fancy man here as well?”
And then I picked up the bongo drums that Uncle Terry had bought me and I knelt down in the corner of the room and I pressed my head into the join between the two walls and I banged the drums and I groaned and I carried on doing this for an hour and then Mother came into the room and said Father had gone. And she said Father had gone to stay with Rhodri for a while and we would get a place to live of our own in the next few weeks.
Then I went into the garden and I found Toby's cage behind the shed and I brought it inside and I cleaned it and put Toby back in it.
And I asked Mother if I could do my maths A level the next day.
And she said, “I'm sorry, Christopher.”
And I said, “Can I do my maths A level?”
And she said, “You're not listening to me, are you, Christopher.”
And I said, “I'm listening to you.”
And Mother said, “I told you. I rang your headmistress. I told her you were in London. I told her you'd do it next year.”
And I said, “But I'm here now and I can take it.”
And Mother said, “I'm sorry, Christopher. I was trying to do things properly. I was trying not to mess things up.”
And my chest began hurting again and I folded my arms and I rocked backward and forward and groaned.
And Mother said, “I didn't know we'd be coming back.”
But I carried on groaning and rocking backward and forward.
And Mother said, “Come on. This isn't going to solve anything.”
Then she asked if I wanted to watch one of my Blue Planet videos, about life under the Arctic ice or the migration of humpback whales, but I didn't say anything because I knew I wasn't going to be able to do my maths A level and it was like pressing your thumbnail against a radiator when it's really hot and the pain starts and it makes you want to cry and the pain keeps hurting even when you take your thumb away from the radiator.
Then Mother made me some carrots and broccoli and ketchup, but I didn't eat them.
And I didn't sleep that night either.
The next day Mother drove me to school in Mr. Shears's car because we missed the bus. And when we were getting into the car, Mrs. Shears came across the road and said to Mother, “You've got a fucking nerve.”
And Mother said, “Get into the car, Christopher.”
But I couldn't get into the car