Page 111 of Creeping Beautiful

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Indie, I’m not judging you. I’m really not. You’re a good mother. You’re a very sweet girl.

But? There’s a but in there, right?

But… you do have to admit your life is far from normal. And you have done things—

Things you guys made me do!

I understand that. It’s about the things you do, but also the way you react after you do these things.

Because I’m mad at you right now? Because Adam took Maggie and I don’t know where she is?

You know where she is. He took her to the fuckin’ zoo.

Oh, God. The zoo. That’s perfect. Take her to the fuckin’ zoo. Maybe he’ll put her in a cage and wrap a snake around her too.

Uh… OK. Let’s talk about that for a moment. Why would Adam do something like that to Maggie? He wasn’t the one who put you in that cage, Indie. He didn’t wrap that snake around you. He saved you.

Did he? Do I look saved?

He brought you here. He gave you McKay and me.

To keep me sane.

So what? Does it matter why we’re here? We are here, right? We never left.

You left.

I did not. You knew where I was. You knew what I was doing. And any time you asked me to come see you, I did.

It’s not the same.

Well… I can’t take that back, Indie. The Company told me to become a doctor and—

PSYOPS!

I know that. I was there. But that’s not what I am now. You know that. You know I walked away from it as soon as the Company went down.

And you could’ve come home after that and you didn’t. You went to LA.

For my residency. Indie, it’s not fair. OK? I don’t live for you. None of us do. I have a life of my own.

Well… so do I. That’s what I was doing for those two weeks. I was living my own life.

It’s different.

No, it’s not. You get to be you and I get to be me. And Adam gets to be Adam and McKay—

It’s not the same and you know it. You know how I know it?

I’d love to hear your theory.

Look here. Do you see what’s in this bag?

Tapes. So what?

Your tapes, Indie. I have recorded one hundred and seventy-eight sessions with you, including this one right now. This is why it’s different. And you can play dumb all you want, but somewhere, deep in that head of yours, you know it’s different. This is just you being pissed off and making me work for the answers, that’s all. You feel in control when you fight me. You feel in control when I have to drag the answers out of you.