"Barker, Clive - Books of Blood 02" - читать интересную книгу автора (Barker Clive)

СIТve got images,Т said Steve. СPictures from childhood that make me think of -С He stopped, regretting this confessional already.
СWhat?Т said Cheryl. СYou mean things to do with bad experiences? Falling off your bike, or something like that?Т
СPerhaps,Т Steve said. СI find myself, sometimes, think-ing of those pictures. Not deliberately, just when my concentrationТs idling. ItТs almost as though my mind went to them automatically.Т
Quaid gave a little grunt of satisfaction. СPrecisely,Т he said.
СFreud writes on that,Т said Cheryl.
СWhat?Т
СFreud,Т Cheryl repeated, this time making a perf-ormance of it, as though she were speaking to a child. СSigmund Freud: you may have heard of him.Т
QuaidТs lip curled with unrestrained contempt. СMother fixations donТt answer the problem. The real terrors in me, in all of us, are pre-personality. DreadТs there

before we have any notion of ourselves as individuals. The thumb-nail, curled up on itself in the womb, feels fear.Т
СYou remember do you?Т said Cheryl.
СMaybe,Т Quaid replied, deadly serious.
СThe womb?Т
Quaid gave a sort of half-smile. Steve thought the smile said: СI have knowledge you donТt.Т
It was a weird, unpleasant smile; one Steve wanted to wash off his eyes.
СYouТre a liar,Т said Cheryl, getting up from her seat, and looking down her nose at Quaid.
СPerhaps I am,Т he said, suddenly the perfect gentleman.
After that the debates stopped.
No more talking about nightmares, no more debating the things that go bump in the night. Steve saw Quaid irregularly for the next month, and when he did Quaid was invariably in the company of Cheryl Fromm. Quaid was polite with her, even deferential. He no longer wore his leather jacket, because she hated the smell of dead animal matter. This sudden change in their relationship confounded Stephen; but he put it down to his primitive understanding of sexual matters. He wasnТt a virgin, but women were still a mystery to him: contradictory and puzzling.
He was also jealous, though he wouldnТt entirely admit that to himself. He resented the fact that the wet dream genius was taking up so much of QuaidТs time.
There was another feeling; a curious sense he had that Quaid was courting Cheryl for his own strange reasons. Sex was not QuaidТs motive, he felt sure. Nor was it respect for CherylТs intelligence that made him so

attentive. No, he was cornering her somehow; that was SteveТs instinct. Cheryl Fromm was being rounded up for the kill.
Then, after a month, Quaid let a remark about Cheryl drop in conversation.
СSheТs a vegetarian,Т he said.
СCheryl?Т
СOf course, Cheryl.Т
СI know. She mentioned it before.Т
СYes, but it isnТt a fad with her. SheТs passionate about it. CanТt even bear to look in a butcherТs window. She wonТt touch meat, smell meat -С
СOh.Т Steve was stumped. Where was this leading?
СDread, Steve.Т
СOf meat?Т
СThe signs are different from person to person. She fears meat. She says sheТs so healthy, so balanced. Shit! IТll find
СFind what?Т
СThe fear, Steve.Т
СYouТre not going to . . .?С Steve didnТt know how to voice his anxiety without sounding accusatory.
СHarm her?Т said Quaid. СNo, IТm not going to harm her in any way. Any damage done to her will be strictly self-inflicted.Т
Quaid was staring at him almost hypnotically. СItТs about time we learnt to trust one another,Т Quaid went on. He leaned closer. СBetween the two of us -С
СListen, I donТt think I want to hear.Т
СWe have to touch the beast, Stephen.Т
СDamn the beast! I donТt want to hear!Т
Steve got up, as much to break the oppression of QuaidТs stare as to finish the conversation.

СWeТre friends, Stephen.Т
СYes...Т
СThen respect that.Т
УWhat?Т
СSilence. Not a word.Т
Steve nodded. That wasnТt a difficult promise to keep. There was nobody he could tell his anxieties to without being laughed at.
Quaid looked satisfied. He hurried away, leaving Steve feeling as though he had unwillingly joined some secret society, for what purpose he couldnТt begin to tell. Quaid had made a pact with him and it was unnerving.