Chapter 36 Beth

As fate would have it, Nana was in the kennel¹ office when Keith stormed into the house and closed the door behind him, acting² as if he owned the place. Even from the kitchen, Beth could see the veins³ on his neck protruding⁴. His hands balled into fists when his eyes locked on hers. When he marched through the living room, Beth felt some' thing give way inside her; fear filled its place. Never once had she seen him like this, and she backed away, following the angles of the cabinets. Keith surprised her by stopping at the entrance to the kitchen. He smiled, but his expression was off somehow, a grotesque⁵ and demented caricature of what it was supposed to be. "Sorry for barging in like this," he said with exaggerated courtesy, "but we need to talk." "What are you doing here? You can't just walk in here—" "Cooking dinner, huh?" he said. "I remember when you used to cook dinner for me." "Get out, Keith," she said, her voice hoarse⁶. "I'm not going anywhere," he said, looking at her as if she didn't know what she was talking about. He motioned toward the chair. "Why don't you sit down?" "I don't want to sit down," she whispered, hating how frightened she sounded. "I want you to leave." "That's not going to happen," he said. He smiled again, but It was no better than his first attempt. There was a vacancy⁷ in his gaze she'd never seen before. She felt her heartbeat speed up. "Would you get me a beer, please?" he asked. "It's been a long day at the office, if you know what I mean." She swallowed, afraid to look away. "I don't have any more." He nodded, glancing around the kitchen before fixing his gaze on her again. He pointed⁸. "I see one right there, by the stove. There's got to be another one somewhere. You mind if I check the fridge?" He didn't wait for an answer. He walked to the fridge and opened it before reaching for the bottom shelf. He came out with a bottle. "Found one," he crowed. He looked at her as he opened it. "Guess you were mistaken, huh?" He took a long pull and winked⁹. She forced herself to stay calm. "What do you want, Keith?" "Oh, you know. Just wanted to catch up. See if there's anything I should know." "Know about what?" she asked, her stomach clenching¹⁰. "About Thigh-bolt," he said. She ignored the mangling¹¹ of the name. "I don't know what you're talking about." He took another drink, swishing the beer in his mouth as he nodded. He swallowed, the sound loud. "Driving over here, that's what I thought you might say," he said, sounding almost conversational¹². "But I know you better than you think I do." He gestured at her with his beer bottle. "There was a time there when I wasn't sure I knew you at all, but that's changed in the past few years. Raising a son together really bonds a couple, don't you think?" She didn't respond. "That's why I'm here, you know. Because of Ben. Because I want the best for him, and right now, I'm not sure you're thinking all that clearly about things." He stepped toward her and took another long pull of his beer. The bottle was already nearly empty. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before going on. "See, I've been thinking that you and I haven't always had the best relationship. That's not good for Ben. He needs to know that we still get along. That we're still close friends. Don't you think that's an important lesson to teach him? That even if your parents get divorced, they can still be friends?" She didn't like the sound of his rambling¹³ monologue¹⁴, but she was afraid to cut him off. This was a different Keith Clayton… a dangerous one. "I think it's important," he continued. He took another step toward her. "In fact, I can't think of anything more important." "Just stay back," she said. "I don't think so," he scolded her. "You haven't been thinking all that clearly in the last couple of days." As he neared, she slid farther down the bank of counters, trying to keep him in front of her. "Don't come any closer. I'm warning you." He kept closing the distance, staring at her with those vacant eyes. "See what I mean? You're acting like you think I'm going to hurt you. I'd never, ever hurt you. You should know that about me." "You're crazy." "No, I'm not. A little angry, maybe, but not crazy." When he smiled again, the vacancy in his eyes vanished and her stomach did a flip-flop. He went on. "Do you know that even after all you've put me through, I still think you're beautiful?" She didn't like where this was going. Not at all. By then, she'd reached the corner, with no place left to go. "Just leave, okay! Ben's upstairs and Nana will be back in a minute—" "All I want is a kiss. Is that such a big deal?" She wasn't sure she'd heard him right. "A kiss?" she parroted. "For now," he said. "That's all. Just for old times' sake. Then I'll go. I'll walk right out of here. I promise." "I'm not going to kiss you," she said, stunned¹⁵. By then, he was standing¹⁶ before her. "You will," he said. "And you'll do more, later. But for now, a kiss is fine." She arched her back, trying to keep away. "Please, Keith. I don't want this. I don't want to kiss you." 'You'll get over it," he said. When he leaned in, she turned away. He took hold of her upper arms. As he moved his lips toward her ear, Beth could feel her heart begin to hammer. "You're hurting me!" she gasped¹⁷. "Here's the thing, Beth," he whispered. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her neck. "If you don't want to kiss me, that's fine. I'll accept that. But I've decided¹⁸ that I want to be a little more than friends." "Get out!" she hissed¹⁹, and with a laugh, Keith let her go. "Sure," he said. He took a step back. "No problem. I'll leave. But I should let you know what's going to happen if we don't work something out." "Just leave!" she shouted. "I think we should go on a… date every now and then. And I'm not going to take no for an answer." The way he said "date" made her skin crawl. Beth couldn't believe what she was hearing. "After all, I warned you about Thigh-bolt," he added, "but where were you today? At his place." He shook his head. "That was a big mistake. You see, it's pretty easy for me to make a case that he stalked you and that he's obsessive²⁰. Both of those things make him dangerous, but you're obviously ignoring it. And that makes it dangerous for Ben to be forced to live with you." His expression was neutral. Beth was paralyzed by his words. "I'd hate to have to go to the courts and tell them what you're doing, but I will. And I'm sure they'll grant me full Custody²¹ this time.” "You wouldn't," she whispered. "I will Unless." His obvious enjoyment²² as he spoke²³ made it, much more horrifying²⁴. He paused, letting it sink in, before speaking like a professor again. "Let me make sure you understand. First, you tell Thigh-bolt that you never want to see him again. Then you ask him to leave town. And after that, we'll go out. For old times' sake. It's either that, or Ben's going to live with me." "I'm not going to live with you!" a small voice shouted from the kitchen doorway²⁵. Beth looked past Keith to see Ben, his expression horrified²⁶. Ben started to back away. "I'm not going to do it!" Ben turned and ran, slamming the front door behind htm as he raced into the storm.

1 kennel   

n.狗舍，狗窝

参考例句：

• Sporting dogs should be kept out of doors in a kennel.猎狗应该养在户外的狗窝中。
• Rescued dogs are housed in a standard kennel block.获救的狗被装在一个标准的犬舍里。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 protruding   

v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸

参考例句：

• He hung his coat on a nail protruding from the wall. 他把上衣挂在凸出墙面的一根钉子上。
• There is a protruding shelf over a fireplace. 壁炉上方有个突出的架子。 来自辞典例句

5 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

6 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

7 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 clenching   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I'll never get used to them, she thought, clenching her fists. 我永远也看不惯这些家伙，她握紧双拳，心里想。 来自飘（部分）
• Clenching her lips, she nodded. 她紧闭着嘴唇，点点头。 来自辞典例句

11 mangling   

重整

参考例句：

• If not, then give up. This is a profound problem in and multicultural mangling. 这也是生活在多文化社会所要面临的重大问题。 来自互联网

12 conversational   

adj.对话的，会话的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a conversational style.该文是以对话的形式写成的。
• She values herself on her conversational powers.她常夸耀自己的能言善辩。

13 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

14 monologue   

n.长篇大论，（戏剧等中的）独白

参考例句：

• The comedian gave a long monologue of jokes.喜剧演员讲了一长段由笑话组成的独白。
• He went into a long monologue.他一个人滔滔不绝地讲话。

15 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

16 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

17 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

19 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

20 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

21 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

22 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

23 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

24 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

25 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

26 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。