The Alcoholics by Jim Thompson Page B

and no. "Well, thuch friends as I had , Doctor…"
    "I see," said Doctor Murphy. "And those friends, I suppose, included boys?"
    "Well… Ath many boyth ath girlth..
    "Uh-huh," said Doc, and his eyes narrowed slightly. No friends at all? And was that her choice or theirs? Had she, being unable to accept the company of males, tried to rationalize the abnormality by also rejecting females? Well, skip it. Hit the center of the target and the rest would crumble. "You had no childhood sweethearts, Miss Baker?"
    "No, thit"
    "Have you ever had a date with a young man?"
    "No, thir."
    "Why not?"
    "Well, I juth-well, I thuppoth there wath juth never anyone I cared-"
    "Oh, come now," said Doctor Murphy. "We can't be too exacting in these things. People who might not appear too prepossessing at first glance can be very attractive when you get to know them better. All you have to do is give them a chance to let you like them."
    There was a small but very disconcerting smile on the rose-pink lips. She shifted a little in the chair, her legs still crossed, absently arching her breasts, smoothing the uniform over them, before she settled down again.
    "Yeth, Doctor?"
    "Yes," said Doctor Murphy. "You're not living a normal life. Because you're not-well, when we suppress and ignore our normal instincts too long they become twisted. Permanently twisted, if we don't take decisive counter-action. You're young. You won't have too much of a job on your hands if you tackle it now. So tackle it, Miss Baker, and don't lose any time about it. Will you do that?"
    "Well… juth how do you mean, Doctor?"
    "Men. You know what a man is, don't you?" Doctor Murphy tapped himself on the chest. "I'm one, believe it or not… Well, what do you say, then? Let's get started on the job, huh? Will you do that?"
    "Well… I hardly know how…"
    "It doesn't matter about hows or whys. Just make yourself available, get out to a show or a lecture or some such thing-and if you handle yourself right-don't act standoffish or cold or frightened-well, the rest will take care of itself. You'll be surprised how easy it will be. Will you try it, just once, even though it does go against your grain? Do it for my sake?"
    "Well"-Miss Baker hesitated-"I gueth I could ."
    "Good. That's the spirit."
    "What time… when would you like to go, Doctor?"
    "Oh"-Doctor Murphy shrugged-"Why don't you-what? When would I like to?"
    "Yeth, thir," said Miss Baker demurely. "You did thay leth , didn't you? You thaid I should do it for your…"
    "Why, you"-Doc stammered-"you know damned good and well I-"
    His mouth snapped shut, tightened into a thin white line. It was always this way, by God.
    "Miss Baker," said Doctor Murphy, "uncross your legs!"
    " Well!" said Miss Baker, and her own mouth snapped shut. "I'll have you know-"
    "You'll do what I tell you, that's what you'll do. You'll sit there until I'm through talking to you, and you will not try any more of the nonsense you pulled a moment ago. Do you understand me, Miss Baker?"
    She was frightened, shamed, on the point of tears. But when there is nothing to do but fight, that is what you do. "I understhand I've taken just about all I'm going-"
    "Oh, no, you haven't," said Doctor Murphy grimly. "You haven't begun to. Why did you lie to me about Jeff Sloan? Why did you let me go on thinking he'd taken that antabuse, pretend that he was reacting to it, when you knew damned well that he hadn't and wasn't?"
    "I didn't thay he-!"
    "You did it by implication. You did it deliberately to make me worry-to give me some trouble, as if I didn't have enough already. And why did you do that? I'll tell you. Because of what you'd done. You knew I knew about it, and you were afraid all hell was going to pop. So you screwed me up at what you thought would be your last opportunity."
    "I will not," said Miss Baker, starting to rise. "I will not lithen to thuch vulgar-"
    "So I'm vulgar, am I? Well, let me tell you what you are. A dirty, sneaky little sadist. Binding