Page 35 of Never Lie
EJ holds up his hands. “That’s all I want. Just an hour of your time once a week so I can get better. I won’t ask for anything else. I promise.”
As he says the words, the muscle under his right eye twitches.
Chapter 21
Transcript of Recording
This is session 138 with EJ, a 29-year-old man suffering from narcissistic personality disorder.
“It’s nice to be back on your sofa, Doc.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I appreciate you taking me back.”
“Well, it’s not like I had a choice, did I?”
“Don’t be like that, Doc. Look, you should be flattered. You were really helping me. That’s all I wanted. You’re so good at what you do.”
“Yes, well… what did you want to discuss today?”
“I don’t know. Lately, I’ve been feeling bored with everything. Like, there isn’t anything exciting going on in my life.”
“Maybe that’s a sign you should look for work.”
“I guess. But it seems like it’s pointless. Eventually, my parents will die and leave me all their money. So why bother looking for work when I’m going to be rich either way?”
“Don’t you want to earn your own money and contribute to society?”
“Not really.”
“You told me you thought about becoming a sommelier, didn’t you? You love wine.”
“Yeah, I thought about it. But I started looking into the training and it’s a lot of work, you know? It takesyearsto get a degree.”
“Something else then. Don’t you want your own money? Do you want to rely on your parents for everything until they’re gone?”
“Well, they’re pretty old.”
“…”
“And my mother is a terrible driver. One of these days, she’ll probably be driving with my father in the car, and she’ll just drive right into a Mack truck and they’ll both be killed.”
“You think your mother would drive into a truck? She’s that poor of a driver?”
“Well, maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe the brakes would fail.”
“I see…”
“What’s wrong, Doc? You look pale.”
“You’re telling me you would tamper with your parents’ brakes…”
“No! Hey, come on. I wouldn’t do that, Doc. I love my parents, even if they’re a pain in the ass. I’m just saying. It could happen. Brakes fail.”
“I… I’m not sure what to say.”
“Anyway, I got a plan to make some money this weekend.”
