Читать книгу Straight Jacket - Adrian Deans - Страница 13

Bryan positioned the microphone between us and tapped it to make sure it was live. Then he said, for the benefit of posterity: ‘Morgen Tanjenz … psychometric review … Tape Two.’

He consulted his notes, then considered me a while in chthonic silence.

This wasn’t going well.

‘Tell me, Morgen … how would you define the law?’

‘Eh? What is this … a first year tutorial?’

‘You were provisionally appointed to a very senior legal position. I thought you might help me to understand exactly what it is that lawyers do. In return, I’m more than happy to explain any of the concepts of my profession.’

‘Bryan …’

I sighed heavily and dropped my head into my hands.

‘Don’t you think we’ve done enough? I’ve already told you … I’m very, very ordinary. I’m boringly, unexcitingly, unrelentingly normal. What else would you expect from a 42-year-old lawyer?’

‘I don’t know what to expect … that’s why I want you to define the law for me.’

Fuck him. He was going to have his way, so I might as well get it over with.

‘Okay Bryan, welcome to LAW 101 … what is the law? The law is society’s blueprint. It is the codification or delimitation of the myriad acceptable conducts which comprise all social, political and economic activity.’

Bryan had to think about that, like any first day student. But after a while he said, ‘So what makes people obey the law?’

Jesus Fuck!

‘I guess we’re conditioned as children to behave according to the examples we are set … and then as adults we have knowledge of the law to remind us of what is acceptable.’

Bryan was beaming with pleasure.

‘Fascinating, Morgen … it seems to me that this is where your field of expertise and mine begin to converge. Are you familiar with the theories of Sigmund Freud?’

‘Bit of a wacko wasn’t he? Like most psychiatrists?’

Bryan flashed a thin smile, and continued. ‘Freud believed that the native human creature … in its unsocialised state … is a savage and utterly selfish entity which pursues pleasure with no regard for … indeed, no concept of others.’

‘I see.’

‘Do you, Morgen?’ asked Bryan, getting a little excited. ‘Do you really see? Because there’s an important corollary to that theory.’

This was better. The more he lost his sangfroid, the more it would be his psyche under question.

‘What’s the corollary?’ I asked, flatly, trying to wind him up further.

‘The corollary of Freud’s theory is this: the savage within all of us is not tamed by socialisation. The savage remains … a black presence at the core of every soul. Every day we must maintain our socialisation to deny the subtle whisperings … the evil seduction of the savage within.’

Bryan was sitting forward in his chair, the tendons in his neck straining with conviction.

‘Subtle whisperings, Bryan? Are you telling me you hear voices?’

Bryan leaned slowly back and appeared to compose himself.

‘Are you telling me you don’t?’