The Comfort Of The Knife Dialogue 3

Interrogator F: And what was your answer?

Nadia T.: My answer…to what?

Interrogator F: Her question.

Nadia T.: Whose question?

Interrogator F: Alls below, Nadia, don't fuck with . I know it's been two days since our last session, but I know your mory is better than that.

Nadia T.: How can I be fucking with you when you're the one lying? It hasn't been two days.

Interrogator F: It…Nadia, how long have we been talking?

Nadia T.: Maybe a couple hours…a day, at most, but not days. I rember—

Interrogator F: Everything happening in one unbroken continuum?

Nadia T.: Yeah…

Interrogator F: If that was true, then how'd you forget where you left off in your own story?

Ms. Temple is silent. It stretches for an unbroken minute.

Nadia T.: How long have we been eting?

Interrogator F: Six hours…if we only count the ti when you're recollecting.

Nadia T.: And when you don't…

Interrogator F: It's been two weeks, verging on three. Nadia, if you need a mont to gather yourself—

Nadia T.: Don't. Don't pretend like you care about . Remind , properly, where we were, so I can give you your answers.

Interrogator F: An unknown woman you t during the Body Love Festival had just offered you tea.

Nadia T.: Rita; I rember her now. To her question, Nadia answered, "Yes."

Interrogator F: Would your answer have been different?

Nadia T.: I don't know; it's been a long ti since I had tea. Nadia Temple was a composite then—a na shared by no one, and so unaware. My dad loved coffee, but Mom chose tea, joking that "caffeine is an addiction, but tea is a lifestyle."

Interrogator F: I know a few people who'd argue that point.

Nadia T.: Dad would've liked them then—he enjoyed anyone who appreciated a good cup of coffee, but I digress. I never cared why Mom loved tea; I only knew she did, and so, for what must've been ten years, I'd gift her a brick of it for her birthday. Dad would pay for it, balking initially, having defend my choice to make sure I'd properly considered Mom's tastes, but no matter my answers he'd buy it. Co her birthday, she'd rip the gift open and demand we drink a pot of it together…

Interrogator F: For my own amusent, which do you love more: coffee or tea?

Nadia T.: Neither. I loved my parents who loved them.

Interrogator F: Noted. Now that you rember where we left off, what happened next?