The History of Luminous Motion by Bradfield Scott

Author:Bradfield, Scott [Bradfield, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Thriller
Publisher: Red Rabbit Books
Published: 2013-04-10T22:00:00+00:00

18

“PHILLIP?”

“What?”

“Are you in there?”

“Of course I’m in here.”

“Don’t talk back to me, son. I just wanted to see if you were all right.”

“I’m all right.”

“Do you want anything?”

“I don’t want anything.”

“Did you fix yourself some dinner?”

“I fixed my dinner.”

Dad went silent for a moment. His voice seemed to be gauging things like mass, humidity and weight. “Your mom and I were worried about you.”

I refused to dignify his duplicity with a response, and wondered about life on other planets. Perhaps it was only microscopic and stupid. Perhaps it wasn’t even self-conscious.

“You’re spending a lot of time alone in there, Phillip. What do you do in there all day?”

I poured more Jim Beam into my ceramic mug. The ceramic mug said SON and was part of a family set Dad had purchased at the mall a weekend before. “I read,” I said. I reached under my bed for my Marlboro carton. “I’m trying to get some reading done.”

“All right, son.” Dad stood quietly out there for a moment, like some primitive landmark, or guards outside a condemned prisoner’s cell. “I’ll leave you alone.”

Dad’s footsteps beat loudly in the hall. I heard dishes clattering in the kitchen. The television started up in the living room. It was as if my house were inhabited by disembodied sound. Then, after a while, Dad’s footsteps returned down the hall. Very softly this time. Then his pocket screwdriver began investigating the lock of my bedroom door. Tick tick. The doorknob rattled slightly. Tick. Tick tick. A flashlight skittered underneath the door a few times.

The locking mechanism on my side of the door was fastened with heavy black electrician’s tape. My bureau was braced against it. On the bureau in a small brown bag was the new bolt lock I had purchased at Walgreen’s just that morning. I would install it later that night, after Dad was firmly asleep.

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