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62.

Willy asked for a meeting. He wanted to talk about everything, the whole rolling catastrophe¹.

Just him and me, he said.

As it happened, Meg was out of town, visiting girlfriends, so his timing² was perfect. I invited

him over.

An hour later he walked into Nott Cott, where he hadn’t been since Meg first moved in. He

looked piping hot.

It was early evening. I offered him a drink, asked about his family.

Everyone good.

He didn’t ask about mine. He just went all in. Chips to the center of the table.

Meg’s difficult, he said.

Oh, really?

She’s rude. She’s abrasive³. She’s alienated⁴ half the staff.

Not the first time he’d parroted the press narrative⁵. Duchess Difficult, all that bullshit. Rumors⁶,

lies from his team, tabloid⁷ rubbish, and I told him so—again. Told him I expected better from my

older brother. I was shocked to see that this actually pissed him off. Had he come here expecting

something different? Did he think I’d agree that my bride was a monster?

I told him to step back, take a breath, really ask himself: Wasn’t Meg his sister-in-law?

Wouldn’t this institution be toxic⁸ for any newcomer? Worst-case scenario⁹, if his sister-in-law was

having trouble adjusting to a new office, a new family, a new country, a new culture, couldn’t he

see his way clear to cutting her some slack? Couldn’t you just be there for her? Help her?

He had no interest in a debate. He’d come to lay down the law. He wanted me to agree that

Meg was wrong and then agree to do something about it.

Like what? Scold her? Fire her? Divorce her? I didn’t know. But Willy didn’t know either, he

wasn’t rational. Every time I tried to slow him down, point out the illogic of what he was saying,

he got louder. We were soon talking over each other, both of us shouting.

Among all the different, riotous¹⁰ emotions coursing through my brother that afternoon, one

really jumped out at me. He seemed aggrieved¹¹. He seemed put upon that I wasn’t meekly¹² obeying

him, that I was being so impertinent as to deny him, or defy him, to refute his knowledge, which

came from his trusted aides. There was a script here and I had the audacity¹³ not to be following it.

He was in full Heir mode, and couldn’t fathom¹⁴ why I wasn’t dutifully playing the role of the

Spare.

I was sitting on the sofa, he was standing¹⁵ over me. I remember saying: You need to hear me

out, Willy.

He wouldn’t. He simply would not listen.

To be fair, he felt the same about me.

He called me names. All kinds of names. He said I refused to take responsibility for what was

happening. He said I didn’t care about my office and the people who worked for me.

Willy, give me one example of—

He cut me off, said he was trying to help me.

Are you serious? Help me? Sorry—is that what you call this? Helping¹⁶ me?

For some reason, that really set him off. He stepped towards me, swearing.

To that point I’d been feeling uncomfortable, but now I felt a bit scared. I stood, brushed past

him, went out to the kitchen, to the sink. He was right on my heels, berating¹⁷ me, shouting.

I poured a glass of water for myself, and one for him as well. I handed it to him. I don’t think

he took a sip¹⁸.

Willy, I can’t speak to you when you’re like this.

He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So

very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I

landed on the dogs’ bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for

a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.

Come on, hit me! You’ll feel better if you hit me!

Do what?

Come on, we always used to fight. You’ll feel better if you hit me.

No, only you’ll feel better if I hit you. Please…just leave.

He left the kitchen, but he didn’t leave Nott Cott. He was in the sitting room, I could tell. I

stayed in the kitchen. Two minutes passed, two long minutes. He came back looking regretful and

apologized.

He walked to the front door. This time I followed. Before leaving he turned and called back:

You don’t need to tell Meg about this.

You mean that you attacked me?

I didn’t attack you, Harold.

Fine. I won’t tell her.

Good, thank you.

He left.

I looked at the phone. A promise is a promise, I told myself, so I couldn’t call my wife, much

as I wanted to.

But I needed to talk to someone. So I rang my therapist.

Thank God she answered.

I apologized for the intrusion, told her I didn’t know who else to call. I told her I’d had a fight

with Willy, he’d knocked me to the floor. I looked down and told her that my shirt was ripped, my

necklace was broken.

We’d had a million physical fights in our lives, I told her. As boys we’d done nothing but fight.

But this felt different.

The therapist told me to take deep breaths. She asked me to describe the scene several times.

Each time I did it seemed more like a bad dream.

And made me a bit calmer.

I told her: I’m proud of myself.

Proud, Harry¹⁹? Why’s that?

I didn’t hit him back.

I stayed true to my word, didn’t tell Meg.

But not long after she returned from her trip, she saw me coming out of the shower and

gasped²⁰.

Haz, what are those scrapes and bruises²¹ on your back?

I couldn’t lie to her.

She wasn’t that surprised, and she wasn’t at all angry.

She was terribly sad.

1 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

2 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

3 abrasive   

adj.使表面磨损的；粗糙的；恼人的

参考例句：

• His abrasive manner has won him an unenviable notoriety.他生硬粗暴的态度让他声名狼藉。
• She had abrasions to her wrists where the abrasive rope had scraped her.她的手腕有多出磨伤，那是被粗糙的绳子擦伤的。

4 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

6 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 tabloid   

adj.轰动性的，庸俗的；n.小报，文摘

参考例句：

• He launched into a verbal assault on tabloid journalism.他口头对小报新闻进行了抨击。
• He believes that the tabloid press has behaved disgracefully.他认为小报媒体的行为不太光彩。

8 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

9 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

10 riotous   

adj.骚乱的；狂欢的

参考例句：

• Summer is in riotous profusion.盛夏的大地热闹纷繁。
• We spent a riotous night at Christmas.我们度过了一个狂欢之夜。

11 aggrieved   

adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• He felt aggrieved at not being chosen for the team. 他因没被选到队里感到愤愤不平。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is the aggrieved person whose fiance&1& did not show up for their wedding. 她很委屈，她的未婚夫未出现在他们的婚礼上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 meekly   

adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地

参考例句：

• He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时，他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 audacity   

n.大胆，卤莽，无礼

参考例句：

• He had the audacity to ask for an increase in salary.他竟然厚着脸皮要求增加薪水。
• He had the audacity to pick pockets in broad daylight.他竟敢在光天化日之下掏包。

14 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。

15 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 berating   

v.严厉责备，痛斥( berate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He deserved the berating that the coach gave him. 他活该受到教练的严厉训斥。 来自互联网
• The boss is berating those who were late for work. 老板正在呵斥那些上班迟到的员工。 来自互联网

18 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

19 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

20 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

21 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》