Chapter 9 chapter eight

They walked down the dark corridor toward the dormitory area, Goring's tall figure following closely behind Thomas; in Thomas's blind spot, his face was as blurred as a bowl of soup.They came to an area where students were forbidden to enter during school hours. Goering was like a personal bodyguard. His appearance was well-intentioned, but it was a harbinger of disaster. Thomas tried to think of nothing, just walk, one foot, then the other, open a door, one foot, and then his father hanging from a tree, a woman's private parts, scarlet blood spattering to Squeak On his chin, rounding a corner, opening a fire door, crushing a nose with one heel, scarlet spots like bleached cartilage.He wanted to stop and focus on his breathing, he wanted to take a scalding hot bath to get rid of this oil slick on his body, but he couldn't stop thinking about "standing up", "standing up" in the bath, what he thought of was not his An erection, but his face, the young, acne-ridden, depressed face.The momentary rubbing of weakness is imprinted on the body, which cannot be washed away for a lifetime.Thomas should hurry home, endure it all, and think of nothing until he gets home.

The connecting corridors to the dormitories were long, with cold concrete floors and windows on both sides.He looked up and saw the science lab, where a group of boys wearing safety glasses surrounded Mr Harshall.A child looked at him, mouth open, eyes distorted by thick plastic lenses.Toby was a class later than them, but he was altar boy assisting the priest at Mass with Squeak.Toby's dilated eyes moved from Thomas to Goering: it looked as if Thomas was being escorted back to the dormitory with his arms twisted. Thomas walked through the fire door, entered the code for the security door, stepped on the nylon carpet that generated static electricity with the soles of his shoes, went up three floors, and passed the doors of four bedrooms, which was his own room.He opens the door.

There is a strange smell in the dormitory.Every time he opened the door, there was always a smell like this, and he realized that it was his own smell, his body, his hair, his living habits.He usually still liked the smell, but now that Goering was here, he suddenly realized that the smell was disgusting and pitiful.The cleaners hadn't come, and the bin was full of used tissues that looked like he'd masturbated.He glanced back as he walked in, turned on the light, Göring had no expression on his face, but he must have seen it all. "Just grab some basic necessities, Thomas, the plane will take off in half an hour."

Göring grabbed the door and held it wide open.The school stipulates that if there is more than one person in a dormitory, the door must be opened. Failure to comply means that the class will be suspended immediately, and no matter whether it is a faculty member or a student, it will be treated equally.They are constantly watching. The room was tidy, the bed made, nothing was outside that shouldn't be, but Thomas still had a sense of being naked.He pulled out the chair under the table, stood on it, reached to the top of the wardrobe, tugged at the straps of the canvas duffel bag, and dragged it to the edge of the wardrobe, dust drizzled over him.He got out of the chair and threw the duffel bag on the bed.

Göring leaned over to unzip the zipper, and thoughtfully held up the pocket for Thomas. "Now you can just put things in there," he said. Suddenly Thomas couldn't remember what they were here for or what they were supposed to take.Why is it so quiet in the dormitory?He looked at Göring for instructions. "Get your underwear out of the drawer." Following Goering's instructions, Thomas put in a pile of trousers and vests, which were a bit stiff from fresh laundering, and the name tags on the front still had traces of ironing. "Now put the toiletries."

The bathroom was next to the end of the bed. Thomas pushed open the door and fumbled for the light switch. The light bulb above his head was emitting a blinding white light. Thomas was startled, as if he had just woken up from the darkness. He came in to pee, and the strong light made him close eyes.He came to the mirror, opened his eyes, and there was a fat kid, a frightened red-eyed kid, vulnerable, like "upright."He hasn't looked in the mirror this morning.It wasn't psychological, it was his inability to look up at himself.But now that Lars was dead, he was watching himself.He blinked, looked again, and saw that his stance had improved: harder, more grim, with his mouth shut, more handsome.

"Toiletries." The sharpness returned to Goring's voice. Thomas grabbed the toothbrush, the soap, the acne cream, and the respirator he never used, walked out of the toilet, and threw it in a duffel bag. "Where are the books?" "No." Thomas said firmly. Göring was surprised by his change, "What about the game? The address book?" "No need to." Goring hesitated for a moment, "Okay, take a closer look and see if there is anything else you want to take away. I'll go to the administrator and get your mobile phone." He walked out of the room, took out his mobile phone, and walked Call up.He's booking a vehicle, making some arrangements.Thomas wished he hadn't gone.The fire door closed behind him, and Thomas was left alone in dead silence, a hissing silence.He looked at the duffel bag and remembered the jumper in the library.

His home clothes are in the closet.He heard his father angrily order him to put on his house clothes.Thomas stood still, staring at the floor.Lars had committed suicide, and he could no longer give orders to anyone. Thomas looked up out the window, a small squeal of joy escaped from his throat. In the gray concrete front yard, Squeak stood in the solemn darkness.Thomas eagerly put his hands to the window, adjusting his eyes to see him more clearly.Squeak's expression was stern and determined, his fists hanging on both sides were clenched tightly. It must be recess time now, and he slipped out quietly.He must have heard about Thomas being taken out of the library—Thomas was escorted out of the library and then taken to the dormitory by Goering—that was all he knew.He must be worrying about himself.

Without a signal, Squeak stooped, kept below the height of the corridor window, and galloped on all fours like a slender monkey.He kept his low profile along the edge of the dormitory and slipped under Thomas' window. Thomas saw the top of Squeak appear in the rectangle of light projected on the concrete floor, and stopped, looking up.Thomas immediately broke eye contact with him, but reached up and opened the window's snap lock, opened only a tiny crack, and flicked the lock back on, letting Squeak know he couldn't get in. "Goering is near." Thomas took a stack of books from the shelf under the windowsill, put them on the windowsill, and divided them into two piles at random, pretending to choose between them.

Then the two immediately started whispering. "My father hanged himself and I'm going home." "I won't tell what you did to her." Thomas looked up in amazement. Squeak crouched under the window, weight on his fingertips, looking up at Thomas like a dog about to jump up suddenly.His lips were moist and slightly parted in what appeared to be a smile. Thomas suddenly realized that he didn't know the other person. Squeak was no different from an ordinary acquaintance, and he didn't know him at all. Now, Thomas stood there with a book in each hand, hovering over the two piles of books, looking down into the corner of the window.Squeak stayed outside the rectangle of light from Thomas's room, craned his neck, and met Thomas's gaze.

Thomas looked out and saw the dog tied to him, licking its lips, smiling up at him in the dark.