The Trouble With Eden - Lawrence Block [94]
“Oh, come on, Gretchen.”
“‘Come on, Gretchen.’ I am too dying.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you.”
She looked up at him for the first time. “Right,” she said. “Nothing wrong with me. Picture of fucking health. I mean who are we kidding. Who are we kidding.” She plucked at the skin on her thighs. “Glowing pink complexion. Firm muscle tone. Here she is, ladies and gentlemen—Miss Dachau of 19—”
“That’s because you don’t eat.”
“So I’m dying of not eating, Petey.”
“That’s not a disease, for God’s sake. All you have to—”
“All my teeth are going to go. I’m losing my teeth.”
“That’s not what the dentist said.”
“He’s my fucking dentist, I ought to know what he fucking said. He said—”
“He said you have great teeth and sound gums but you have to take care of them or you’ll have problems. That’s not the same as saying you’re going to lose your teeth.”
“It’s exactly the same because I am not going to take the vitamins and have the balanced diet, so what do you mean it’s not the same thing?”
“Whatever you say.”
“Also I think my hair is getting thin.”
“It is not.”
“I really think it is.”
“All right, you’re dying, and your teeth and hair are falling out. Whatever you say.”
“When I’m dead you can marry Linda and adopt Robin and you’ll have everything you ever wanted.”
“You’re completely rational.”
“That’s right.”
“Uh-huh. Whatever you say.” He got out of his clothes, used the bathroom, returned to the bed.
“Are you going to sleep now, Petey?”
“That’s exactly right.”
“You’re tired, huh.”
“Right.”
“Okay. I’ll sleep too.”
He stretched out, closed his eyes. After a few moments he said, “Why don’t you lie down, Gretch?”
“Yeah, in a minute.”
“I mean you can’t sleep in the lotus position.”
“Don’t you think I know that? Just don’t rush me, will you? I’ll lie down in a minute.”
“All right.”
“It’s a question of working up to it.”
He let that one pass, gave up, willed everything out of his mind. She was still sitting with folded arms and legs when he dropped off to sleep, but when he awoke in the morning she was lying at his side, one thin arm draped across his chest.
“It’s actually quite simple,” Warren Ormont told him. “On the one hand, you have to take Robin away from Gretchen. On the other—”
“I don’t see how I can do that.”
“Exactly. That’s precisely what’s on the other hand. On the other hand, you cannot take Robin away from her. Gretchen is the child’s natural mother—and if that isn’t a semantic absurdity I’ve never encountered one. Unnatural mother is rather more like it.” He waved a hand impatiently. “Neither here nor there. Gretchen is Robin’s mother. You are not Robin’s father, whose name seems to be legion. Or God, if Gretchen’s most recent outburst is to be believed.”
“She didn’t know what she was saying.”
Warren sighed. “No, and she rarely does. Still, she is Robin’s mother. Which gives her certain rights, the most among them being that of custody of Robin. If you took the girl and vanished into the wilderness, you would be guilty of kidnapping. I doubt you’d have to worry seriously about criminal charges but you would have to worry that at any point Gretchen could have you arrested and retrieve Robin, none of which would come under the heading of positive experiences for impressionable young female children. So as things shape up—”
“Suppose I had her committed?”
“Yes, you could do that. It’s more than possible you ought to. If it weren’t for Robin, that’s exactly what you ought to do.”
“Gretchen gets completely paranoid if I so much as mention a psychiatrist.”
“She’s had bad experiences in that area.” Warren hesitated for a moment, then shook his head shortly. “No, that’s not even a consideration, is it? To hell, for a moment, with what Gretchen wants or doesn’t want.”
“If it would help her—”
“To hell with that, too. I think it’s illusory to think of hospitalization as potentially helpful. In cases like Gretchen’s, the rate of failure is beyond belief. No, the important