The Glass House by David Rotenberg

Author:David Rotenberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Touchstone

24

THE INSTITUTION—WJ AND SETH

WJ WATCHED DR. CHUMLEY LOSE HIS balance as he walked towards his car. Somehow he managed to get in and drive away in the direction of I-5.

Alone, WJ reviewed his situation one more time before he took the next huge step.

He couldn’t continue to live this nonlife. He couldn’t. So he’d take the leap.

He knew that most people thought that he was a mathematician, and he let them think that, but it wasn’t true. What he was, was an arithmetician. At the heart of mathematics is an elegance—a “feel.” He didn’t have that. He was an arithmetician—a detail man.

Also a successful seducer. Long ago he’d used his arithmetic sense to break down the pickup into its component parts.

That’s how he had looked at his initial attack on Seth Roberts back at the Wellness Dream Clinic in San Francisco—like a pickup in a bar. A very private, very special bar—for a very special pickup.

Step One: Can I stand near you? If you don’t move away, then the answer is yes.

The boy had been eating—nibbling actually—at a vegetable sandwich in the cafeteria, which WJ had stocked with actors who were paid to have lunch and not talk to anyone. It wouldn’t be right for Seth to realize that he was the only patient in the institution.

There were actor patients, actor nurses and of course his paid doctors who asked the questions WJ wanted asked—and performed periodic cystoscopies to make sure that Seth felt he was actually getting medical care.

WJ entered with a tray of food—exactly what Seth had on his plate—and took a seat at the end of the long metal table. He chewed around the edges of his sandwich, removed the tomato, which he loathed, and looked up at Seth.

The boy’s body canted away from WJ, but the boy didn’t move—didn’t get up and leave—so the answer was yes.

Step Two: Can I talk to you? If you talk back, the answer is yes.

“Food’s better today,” he said.

Seth nodded, then said, “Couldn’t be much worse.”

Step Three: Can I mention something a bit off-colour? If you don’t object, then the answer is yes.

“This place sucks. It’s not doing me any good,” he said.

Again, Seth nodded. “I’m giving it time.”

Step Four: Can I buy you a drink? If you accept, then the answer’s yes.

“Can I get you a refill?” WJ said, pointing at Seth’s empty Perrier bottle.

“Sure,” Seth said and held out the bottle, wondering when he had started drinking Perrier. It was his father’s favourite.

WJ almost touched his hand—if it were a pickup he would have—but this was way more important than any pickup, and the answer was yes.

WJ made his way to the front of the room, gave the counter person Seth’s empty bottle and pointed towards him, then left.

Oh, yes, WJ had been pleased—pleased with how things were going and how easy it had been.

He’d used Craigslist to recruit people to populate his Wellness Dream Clinic. What they’d been told was that it was a reality television show called The Institution.

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