I Am the Cheese

The transcript gives Brint’s voice only. He notes the “beautiful day” and mentions that Adam looks better. “They” have told Brint that Adam ate breakfast. After a pause, Brint asks Adam if he wants to speak. After further silent pauses, Brint ends the session.

A couple, Arnold and Edna, stop their station wagon. Edna, recovering from a strike, doesn’t want Arnold to check on Adam. She thinks people should stick to their “own business,” but Arnold wants to help Adam get out of the ditch and give him a ride to Hookset—they can keep his bike in the wagon. The car smells like sickly liniment, and Edna feels uncomfortable with a stranger. Adam tries to relax, but he feels carsick. Quietly, he sings “The Farmer in the Dell.” Time passes quickly, and Adam wonders if they’re already in Hookset. Edna says they’re not liars.

In the tape transcript, Adam complains that needles hurt his arms. Brint says the needles countered Adam’s “retreating” into silence, and Adam admits he knows about “the gray man.” Now, Adam thinks he “knows everything.”

Adam connects “the gray man” to the murder story his dad told him of “The Invisible Man.