You know what, I appreciate your concern with my safety, I really do, but I think we need to have a conversation about boundaries. Okay, you've given me this incredible window into what you do, and you know what? It is fascinating. But at the end of the day, I am not your apprentice, I am your sober companion.
No, you're not! No, you are not. You haven't been for quite some time.
I know that you lied to me several weeks ago, when you said that my father had renewed your contract. I found out when I telephoned him last week. I'm not angry. If anything, I am grateful. You saw that I was in a raw state and you stayed to see me through it. Now when I learned of the lie, however, I deliberately adopted a more sanguine mood. I wanted you to see that I was well again, so that you could move on. But the most curious thing happened: you stayed. Days passed, then a week. It became clearer and clearer that you were not staying for me, but for yourself.
It's difficult for you to say aloud, I know. So I won't ask you to. Rather, I would ask you to consider a proposal: stay on permanently. Not as my sober companion, but as my companion. Allow me to continue to teach you, assist me in my investigations. In return you will receive a stipend that will, at least, equal the salary my father was paying you.
You don't even have a source of income.
I have certain funds set aside. You may continue to reside at the brownstone. You may reside elsewhere. You may also consider yourself relieved of any and all confidentiality burdens with regards to my sobriety. This is an important decision and I encourage you to discuss it with others. Explain what you have been to me, and what I believe you can be to me... a partner.
(He puts on his coat and starts to leave, but then turns back.)
Oh, and lest you think this is an act of charity, a gift from a grateful client, let me assure you it is not. I am better with you Watson. I'm sharper, I'm more focused. Difficult to say why, exactly. Perhaps in time I'll solve that as well.
I gotta ask. The note you left, "was not Marcus".
AAndre
You told me someone tried to frame you for a shooting, I don't know, I just figured maybe it was the same guy.
No, I know, but we fought yesterday. You were shot in the back. No way you saw who did it, no way you could have known for sure it wasn't me.
AAndre
But I did know. I know you. And you gotta look out for family, even when they disappoint you.
The human face, Watson, is like the penis, or so said the great personality theorist Silvan Tomkins. The point being, the face, like the male member, has a mind of its own. It betrays us on an almost daily basis, advertises our secrets to those who know what to look for.