The Skeptic Page #7

we can have a moment alone.

Hey.

Riley said you're acting'

all funky in court.

What the hell is going' on

with you, huh?

Huh?

And don't say "nothing'."

And don't say, "It's personal,"

"We don't go there,"

'cause today we're going to go there.

- You want to go there today, Sully?

Want me to open up?

Tell you everything?

- Yes, I do.

- I've been having' a little

trouble concentrating

since I started having these

unsolicited flashbacks

of being severely abused as a child,

locked in a closet,

beaten with a curtain rod till I bled.

- What?

- And all this on no sleep.

Sheppard gave me some pills for it,

but they've proved to be totally worthless.

Except when you mix ' with scotch,

they tend to, you know,

sort of enhance the scotch.

But no.

I can't concentrate on getting dressed,

much less a court case.

And about the only thing keeping'

me going' these days

is a morbid curiosity

of where exactly it'll be

that I totally f***ing' lose it.

So how do you like

our new relationship so far,

the opening up thing?

- I like it better.

- Well, bless your heart, partner.

I think it rots.

- Hey.

- Hey, Sully.

What's happening'?

- Where is he?

- He's in the back, man,

and he looks like sh*t.

- Thank you.

- Want a beer?

- Yes.

- I have an idea.

Why don't we go back

to my office for a nightcap?

- I have a better idea.

Why don't you sit down

and spill all the sh*t

you've been keeping from me

all these years,

and I won't sue you

for medical malpractice.

- All right.

What have I been keeping?

- That I lived there

and she abused me there.

- True.

- And you let me go back

when I didn't know.

- You knew, Bryan.

Some part of you knew.

That's why you went back,

tried to heal yourself.

- And you're certain of this problem

that needed healing, right?

- How do you mean?

- That I lost touch with reality

when she died,

that I was so young and traumatized

that I couldn't grasp

that she was really dead.

So I blocked memories,

hallucinated her.

- Yes.

Something like that.

- And what if I told you

that you are so blind with psychiatry

that you have totally

missed the boat on this one?

- Which is?

- That I am truly being haunted.

- You don't really believe that.

I am seeing things

in that house, Doctor,

and hearing things all the time.

You think I'm that crazy

all by myself?

- Yes, I think you're quite ill.

- You are wrong.

There's something supernatural

going on in there.

And I have all kinds of corroboration.

- Well, let's have it, Counsellors.

Let's try this thing.

- My Uncle Chester, to start with...

- Your Uncle Chester was a fool.

He was superstitious, gullible.

Did you know

he reported so many

UFO sightings in the '50s,

the police wouldn't take

his calls any more.

- No, I didn't.

But my aunt was no fool.

And in the last year of her life...

- The last year of her life,

she was suffering

from progressive dementia

due to advanced

cerebral atherosclerosis.

I have people who will swear

that she was lucid...

- She was lucid part of the time.

That's how it works.

Father Wyoming at Saint...

- You're going to quote me a priest?

They think they're dealing

with the supernatural 9:00 to 5:00.

You want to stake your sanity on that?

- Do all kids who are abused

crack up so bad that they see things?

Or am I just weak?

- I don't think you're weak, Bryan.

I think you're carrying more.

- More.

- What is the last memory you

have of your mother,

not including her death?

- My last memory.

Hmm.

She was cooking, I think,

in the kitchen.

- What was she cooking for?

- A picnic.

We were going on a picnic.

- Yes.

And what happened with the picnic?

- Well, I don't remember.

We wound up not going

for one reason or another.

- What was the reason?

- I don't know.

Maybe it rained.

- No, it didn't rain, Bryan.

It was a beautiful, sunny day.

- Then why didn't we go?

Because that morning,

when you cleaned your room,

you left a sock on the floor.

So instead of going on a picnic,

you were locked in the closet

for the remainder of the day

and half the next.

- A red sock.

- Yes.

- I remember.

Hmm.

God, how sad is that?

- Sad?

It's infuriating, don't you think,

to be locked in the closet for a sock?

And you were angry, Bryan, very angry.

You wanted to lash back.

So you left some toys

you were playing with

on the stairs

near the top.

- What?

- Some toys.

A toy truck

and an antique doll

of your mother's.

You were five years old.

She had abused you for five years.

No one knew about it, no one.

- Mom, no!

[retching]

- Press up against my hand.

- What did I do?

- Press up.

- What did I do?

- Easy.

- What did I do?

- Any dizziness still?

- No.

I had to make a judgment call

in there, Bryan.

You were in a form of crisis.

- I'm glad you told me.

- What are you going to do right now?

- I'm going to go check into

the Gloucester,

get my stuff

and get out of the house.

- That's exactly what you should do.

I'll call you later on.

We'll set something up

for tomorrow.

All right?

- That's what was wrong with her face.

- What's that?

- That's what was wrong

with my mother's face.

She was looking at me.

[phone ringing]

This is Bryan Becket.

Please leave a message.

Oases, it's Bryan.

Pick up.

What the hell are you still doing in there?

Didn't you tell me you had to leave?

Oases, pick up.

Oases.

Oases.

[answering machine beeps]

Oases?

Oases!

Oases?

[phone beeping]

- Hello?

- Oases?

- Bryan?

- Oases, where are you?

Why'd you leave your car here?

- I didn't.

- What are you talking about?

It's right out in the driveway.

- Bryan?

Bryan.

- Very good, Mother.

You got me back in.

Why?

Do you want to punish me again?

Is that it?

[crashing]

I'm not five anymore!

[screaming]

Come on!

Come on!

You know what you can do, Mother?

You can go straight to hell.

[crashing]

[screaming]

[clicking noise]

[wind whistling]

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