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 me. I know it's been two days since our last session, but I know your memory 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 remember—
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 meeting?
Interrogator F: Six hours…if we only count the time 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 moment to gather yourself—
Nadia T.: Don't. Don't pretend like you care about me. Remind me, properly, where we were, so I can give you your answers.
Interrogator F: An unknown woman you met during the Body Love Festival had just offered you tea.
Nadia T.: Rita; I remember 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 time since I had tea. Nadia Temple was a composite then—a name 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 me defend my choice to make sure I'd properly considered Mom's tastes, but no matter my answers he'd buy it. Come her birthday, she'd rip the gift open and demand we drink a pot of it together…
Interrogator F: For my own amusement, which do you love more: coffee or tea?
Nadia T.: Neither. I loved my parents who loved them.
Interrogator F: Noted. Now that you remember where we left off, what happened next?