Symes’s efforts to befriend them than Ren was.
‘Do you know where Mum is?’ Neil asked, backing up slightlyto stay closer to Ren and his sister, almost as if he felt the need for their protection.
‘I believe Kerry is doing the laundry, Neil,’ Symes said, placing his coffee on the granite countertop. ‘Why don’t you and your sister run along and show her what you bought, while Ren and I talk?’
There was no need to ask Neil twice. He fled the kitchen in the direction of the utility room without any further encouragement. Hayley hesitated, spared Ren a sympathetic glance, and then followed her brother out of the kitchen.
‘Have a seat, Ren.’
There wasn’t much point in refusing. Ren’s main job now was to ensure Symes didn’t realise he had an eight-inch-long cut on his left side, another injury certain to be attributed to his low self-esteem. He walked over to the island bench, pulled out a stool, and sat down opposite the psychiatrist.
‘I think we need to have a little chat, Ren,’ Murray said, watching Ren closely. ‘Don’t you?’
‘Not particularly. Is Kiva up yet?’
‘She’s been up for hours.’
‘Ah,’ Ren concluded. ‘That’s why you’re here.’
Murray smiled. Ren unconsciously clenched his fists under the counter.
‘I’m here, Ren, because you did something very disruptive at your mother’s film premiere last night.’
Disruptive was code for naughty. Murray Symes would never dream of telling a child he was naughty. That might have a negative effect on his self-esteem.
‘I didn’t mean to embarrass Kiva by saying fuck on TV,’ Ren lied. ‘It just slipped out.’
‘Why do you call her Kiva?’ Murray asked, using his favourite tactic of abruptly changing the subject to keep his patient unbalanced. ‘You hardly ever refer to her as “mum” or “mother”.’
‘Well, technically, Kiva’s not my mother,’ Ren said.
Murray smiled even wider, as if provoking Ren was the aim of the discussion, rather than finding out what might have caused this latest embarrassing manifestation of Ren’s ODD. ‘Do you resent the fact that Kiva is not your birth mother?’
‘Only when she tries to drag me down the red carpet to increase her award chances, by reminding everyone what a fucking great humanitarian she is because she adopted the poor kid who washed up on her film set.’
The doctor nodded, not reacting to Ren’s obscenity. ‘I see. So you set out to undermine her chances at professional success because …?’ Murray let the sentence hang.
Ren was too wily to fall into the trap of completing it.
‘Kiva can have all the professional success she wants,’ he said with a shrug. ‘Just don’t try to make me a part of it. Are we done? I want a shower before dinner.’ Actually, he wanted to get up to his room and clean the bloodstain from the light switch before Kerry spotted it and reported it to Kiva. With Patrick’s offer to smuggle them out the front gate in the Bentley this morning, he never got a chance to get rid of it before they left.
‘Not quite. Take off your jacket.’
‘What?’
‘This house is air-conditioned and climate-controlled, Ren. Winter or summer, it’s shirt-sleeve temperature in here and yet there you sit, sweating in a tracksuit jacket.’
‘I like my jacket.’
‘And a very nice jacket it is, too. Now take it off.’
It occurred to Ren that Kerry may have already found the blood on the light switch, and Murray knew he was hiding something. That, and not last night’s faux pas on national television, may even be the reason Kiva had called him. If Kerry decided to do the laundry today, she would have checked every hamper in the house. Ren had ditched the bloodstained T-shirtat Jack’s place, but his clothes hamper was in his bathroom and Kerry was meticulous, with a nose like a bloodhound for the minutest speck of dirt. A blood-smeared light switch had no hope of escaping her attention.
Still, there was a remote chance
‘Do you know where Mum is?’ Neil asked, backing up slightlyto stay closer to Ren and his sister, almost as if he felt the need for their protection.
‘I believe Kerry is doing the laundry, Neil,’ Symes said, placing his coffee on the granite countertop. ‘Why don’t you and your sister run along and show her what you bought, while Ren and I talk?’
There was no need to ask Neil twice. He fled the kitchen in the direction of the utility room without any further encouragement. Hayley hesitated, spared Ren a sympathetic glance, and then followed her brother out of the kitchen.
‘Have a seat, Ren.’
There wasn’t much point in refusing. Ren’s main job now was to ensure Symes didn’t realise he had an eight-inch-long cut on his left side, another injury certain to be attributed to his low self-esteem. He walked over to the island bench, pulled out a stool, and sat down opposite the psychiatrist.
‘I think we need to have a little chat, Ren,’ Murray said, watching Ren closely. ‘Don’t you?’
‘Not particularly. Is Kiva up yet?’
‘She’s been up for hours.’
‘Ah,’ Ren concluded. ‘That’s why you’re here.’
Murray smiled. Ren unconsciously clenched his fists under the counter.
‘I’m here, Ren, because you did something very disruptive at your mother’s film premiere last night.’
Disruptive was code for naughty. Murray Symes would never dream of telling a child he was naughty. That might have a negative effect on his self-esteem.
‘I didn’t mean to embarrass Kiva by saying fuck on TV,’ Ren lied. ‘It just slipped out.’
‘Why do you call her Kiva?’ Murray asked, using his favourite tactic of abruptly changing the subject to keep his patient unbalanced. ‘You hardly ever refer to her as “mum” or “mother”.’
‘Well, technically, Kiva’s not my mother,’ Ren said.
Murray smiled even wider, as if provoking Ren was the aim of the discussion, rather than finding out what might have caused this latest embarrassing manifestation of Ren’s ODD. ‘Do you resent the fact that Kiva is not your birth mother?’
‘Only when she tries to drag me down the red carpet to increase her award chances, by reminding everyone what a fucking great humanitarian she is because she adopted the poor kid who washed up on her film set.’
The doctor nodded, not reacting to Ren’s obscenity. ‘I see. So you set out to undermine her chances at professional success because …?’ Murray let the sentence hang.
Ren was too wily to fall into the trap of completing it.
‘Kiva can have all the professional success she wants,’ he said with a shrug. ‘Just don’t try to make me a part of it. Are we done? I want a shower before dinner.’ Actually, he wanted to get up to his room and clean the bloodstain from the light switch before Kerry spotted it and reported it to Kiva. With Patrick’s offer to smuggle them out the front gate in the Bentley this morning, he never got a chance to get rid of it before they left.
‘Not quite. Take off your jacket.’
‘What?’
‘This house is air-conditioned and climate-controlled, Ren. Winter or summer, it’s shirt-sleeve temperature in here and yet there you sit, sweating in a tracksuit jacket.’
‘I like my jacket.’
‘And a very nice jacket it is, too. Now take it off.’
It occurred to Ren that Kerry may have already found the blood on the light switch, and Murray knew he was hiding something. That, and not last night’s faux pas on national television, may even be the reason Kiva had called him. If Kerry decided to do the laundry today, she would have checked every hamper in the house. Ren had ditched the bloodstained T-shirtat Jack’s place, but his clothes hamper was in his bathroom and Kerry was meticulous, with a nose like a bloodhound for the minutest speck of dirt. A blood-smeared light switch had no hope of escaping her attention.
Still, there was a remote chance
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