Читать книгу Our Collective Life - JD Kennedy - Страница 25

Shift, switch. “What the fuck, doc?”

David sat back in his chair, immediately noticing Linda was gone and Sam was in her place.

“Why the fuck are you pushing Linda?” Sam demanded, her eyes narrow and the fists balled up.

“I wasn’t aware I was pushing her too far. I apologise if she or you felt I was.”

“Well, I’m here, so obviously you were. Fuck, this is such bullshit!” Sam said, angrily turning the neck until it gave a satisfying crack.

“I apologise,” he said, looking chastened. “I didn’t mean to upset Linda.”

“Fuck doc, you know she doesn’t cope with all of this shit.”

“I apologise again. I am merely concerned about Jo.”

“Jo? Why the fuck are you concerned about her?”

David looked at her, meeting her steely gaze. “You know why I am concerned about Jo.”

Sam just glared at him, daring him to debate the issue of Jo being/not being a member of the Collective.

“Will Jo be ok?” David asked, gently.

“How the fuck should I know? And more to the point, why the fuck should I care?”

“Sam, I think you know more than you are saying. You know a lot about what goes on in the Collective, more than many of the others, I think.”

“Don’t blow smoke up my ass, doc. You know it’ll ruin my autopsy.”

“I am not blowing smoke, Sam. And I think you are deflecting.” David calmly replied with a raised eyebrow.

“You do, do you?” Sam met his gaze, defiantly.

Avoiding the confrontation, he merely asked “Will Jo be ok?”

“Jo will be fine,” Sam said, waving off his concern.

“Are you sure?”

“She needs to learn her place. She needs to learn the rules. Fuck, she put us all at risk, don’t you get that?”

“I do get that. I know where you are coming from. But the violence, is it really the answer?”

“Well she won’t fucking listen! She can’t do that, she’s gotta learn!” Sam’s voice was becoming more and more agitated as she spoke and her fists were clenched so tight the fingernails dug into the palms of the hands.

“And the only way she would learn that is by Demise beating her up?”

“Well, she didn’t listen the time before that, did she? Trudi wouldn’t let Demise do anything the last time other than smack her around a little and look what happened. She went out and tried it again, the stupid fuck.”

David sighed, obviously frustrated. He seemed to be going over the same ground again and again, yet getting nowhere fast.