Читать книгу Klick, the Dick - Milam Smith - Страница 6

Rivkin hadn’t heard anything quite like this the five years he’d been practicing psychiatry. He felt nauseous, and for a moment he thought he was going to toss his lunch. Then he remembered the $400 suit he was wearing. Maybe if he just talked. Concentrate.

“How did you feel after shooting that man? You seem almost flip about it.”

“Would that be so bad? He shot first. It ain’t like he was Jesus Christ, either.”

“But if your friend had not put rock salt in the weapon, you would have blown the man’s head off.”

“Oh yeah? Well, that same friend nearly blew the other guy’s leg off. Besides, is it better one man’s blind rather than dead? Wonder how he feels about it.”

“Yes, I see. How do you think he feels about it?”

“Doc, I’m here for me, not him.”

“Yes, but you began to reason how that man might feel about losing his eyesight.”

“Well, he didn’t, but that was later I found that out. I don’t know. I’ve always been a bit empathetic. I mean, there’s two sides to every coin, it’s been said. So I’ve always—”

“Stood in the middle so you could see both sides?”

“Well…. That’s weird, Doc. How do you do that? I just call it being fair.”

“But you reacted instinctively.”

“No, everything seemed to flash in my head a split second, way down deep. The upshot was, the guy fired first, and would’ve fired again. So…. Look, Doc. I doubt myself enough now as it is. That’s why I’m here. Somehow now, looking back at everything in my life, I feel I must be making the wrong decisions or my life wouldn’t crash around me. You’re just making me wonder more about whether or not I’m right or wrong.”

“Ah.”

“Ah what?”

“Does it always have to be right or wrong? Never an in-between?”

“Is the sun hot?”

“What? I don’t see—”

“Ah!”

“Ah what?”

“The sun is hot, that’s all it can be. See, everything is something or it’s something else.”

“Mr. Klick, this will be an expensive philosophy course if this keeps up. Let’s go on to what happened next, after the incident in the warehouse.”

“The incident in the warehouse? Look, you sound like a book. Anyway, see, what happened next was Life twisted the blade a bit. I didn’t know the blade was there. Like a delayed reaction.”

“What exactly are you getting at, Mr. Klick?”

“Well, I believe there’s a true love for everyone, you know? And what happened next was I met mine.”

“But Mr. Klick, you said you were already married.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was telling you. Life was wiggling its toes after sticking its foot up my…well… you know…”