Chapter 5

Saw Michaela for three more sessions. She spent most of the time driftingback to a childhood tainted¹ by neglect and loneliness. Her mother’s promiscuityand various pathologies enlarged with each appointment. She recalled year afteryear of academic failure, adolescent slights, chronic² isolation³ brought on by“looking like a giraffe with zits.”
Psychometric testing revealed her to be of average intelligence with poorimpulse control and a tendency to manipulate. No sign of learning disability orattention deficit⁴, and her MMPI Lie Scale was elevated, meaning that she’dnever stopped acting⁵.
Despite that, she seemed a sad, scared, vulnerable young woman. That didn’tstop me from asking what needed to be asked.
“Michaela, the doctor found some bruising⁶ around your vagina.”
“If you say so.”
“The doctor who examined you said so.”
“Maybe he bruised⁷ me when he was checking me out.”
“Was he rough?”
“He had rough fingers. This Asian guy. I could tell he didn’t like me.”
“Why wouldn’t he like you?”
“You’d have to ask him.” She glanced at her watch.
I said, “Is that the story you want to stick with?”
She stretched. Blue jeans, today, riding low on her hips⁸, midriff-baringwhite lace V-top. Her nipples were faint gray dots.
“Do I need a story?”
“It could come up.”
“It could if you mention it.”
“It has nothing to do with me, Michaela. It’s in the case file.”
“Case file,” she said. “Like I did some big crime.”
I didn’t answer.
She plucked at lace. “Who cares about any of that? Why do you care?”
“I’d like to understand what happened up in Latigo Canyon⁹.”
“What happened was Dylan getting crazy,” she said.
“Crazy physically¹⁰?”
“He got all passionate¹¹ and bruised me.”
“What happened?” I said.
“What usually happened.”
“Meaning…”
“It’s what we did. ” She wiggled the fingers of one hand. “Touching eachother. The few times.”
“The few times you were intimate.”
“We were never intimate. Once in a while we got horny and touched eachother. Of course he wanted more, but I never let him.” She stuck out hertongue. “A few times I let him go down on me but mostly it was finger timebecause I didn’t want to get close to him.”
“What happened in Latigo Canyon?”
“I don’t see what that has to do with…what happened.”
“Your relationship with Dylan is bound to—”
“Fine, fine,” she said. “In the canyon it was all fingers and he got toorough. When I complained he said he was doing it on purpose. For realism.”
“For when you were discovered.”
“I guess,” she said.
She looked away.
I waited.
She said, “It was the first night. What else was there to do? It was soboring, just sitting up there, getting talked out.”
“How soon did you get talked out?” I said.
“Real soon. ’Cause he was into this whole Zen silence thing. Preparing forthe second night. He said we needed to cook images in our heads. Heat up ouremotions by not crowding our heads with words.”
Her laughter was harsh. “Big Zen silence thing. Until he got horny. Then hehad no trouble telling me what he wanted. He thought being up there would makethings different. Like I’d do him. As if.”
Her eyes got hard. “I pretty much hate him now.”
 
I took a day before writing an outline of my report.
Her story boiled down to diminished capacity combined with that time-honoredtactic, the TODDI Defense¹²: The Other Dude Did It.
Wondering if Lauritz Montez was her new acting coach, I phoned his office atthe Beverly Hillscourt building. “I’m not going to make you happy.”
“Actually, it doesn’t matter,” he said.
“The case settled?”
“Better. Sixty-day continuance, thanks to my colleague who’s representingMeserve. Marjani Coolidge—know her?”
“Nope.”
“She’s scheduled on a roots trip to Africa,asked to put everything off. Once the sixty days are up, we’ll get anothercontinuance. And another. The media scrutiny’s faded and the docket’s jammedwith serious felonies, no problem keeping trivial crap at bay. By the time weget to trial no one will give a shit. It’s all pressure from the sheriffs, andthose guys have the attention span of gnats¹³ on smack¹⁴. I’m figuring the worstthe two of them will get is teaching Shakespeare to inner-city kids.”
“Shakespeare’s not her thing.”
“What is?”
“Improvisation.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure she’ll figure it out. Thanks for your time.”
“No report necessary?”
“You can send one but I can’t tell you it’ll ever get read. Which shouldn’tbother you because turns out all I can get you paid for is straight sessiontime at forty bucks¹⁵ per full hour, no portal-to-portal, no write-up fees.”
I kept silent.
“Hey,” he said, “budget cuts and all that. Sorry, man.”
“Don’t be.”
“You’re okay with it?”
“I’m not much for showbiz.”

1 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

3 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

4 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

5 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。

6 bruising   

adj.殊死的；十分激烈的v.擦伤(bruise的现在分词形式)

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• He slipped and fell, badly bruising an elbow. 他滑倒了，一只胳膊肘严重擦伤。 来自辞典例句

7 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

8 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

10 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

11 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

13 gnats   

n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He decided that he might fire at all gnats. 他决定索性把鸡毛蒜皮都摊出来。 来自辞典例句
• The air seemed to grow thick with fine white gnats. 空气似乎由于许多白色的小虫子而变得浑浊不堪。 来自辞典例句

14 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。

15 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》