Inside of the modern, but comfortable office, you only hear tic-tock, tic-tock in-between silence. Only 20 minutes left for this session and Shy feels that this might be his last since he hadn't cut himself in awhile.
"So since you become more comfortable in your skin you don't feel you need to cut yourself to numbness, well that's great. In addition, it's great that you have a good support system and those feelings that you felt about your family not accepting you isn't true. Your family loves you and want the best for you. Shy I want you to know that you will have people that is not comfortable and will try to make you feel bad about being you, so remember that you have to be strong and stay confident," the therapist, Dr. Emma said.
"Well I did what you told me and reached out. I found a support group online and I have what they call a cutting buddy. He is an older guy and he haven't cut himself for 12 years now. My parent's don't know about him, but Itt and Percy Jr, saw him one day after I left his house. I didn't want to tell them about him because they probably wouldn't understand. But when I feel the "need" I can go by his house and we talk and I forget about cutting," Shy informed Dr. Emma.
"Why wouldn't you share with your family the extra support you are getting?" Dr. Emma said and bites on the arm of her eyeglasses.
"I told you about Itt, he is very jealous of any male that I talk too and the fact that the guy is older, I don't want to give my parents the wrong idea," Shy said relieved that he told her.
"I think you should explain to them what's going on. You need to be more open to sharing with all of your supporters. I think they would understand. Now Itt, do you feel you have a healthy relationship with him?" Dr. Emma asked.
"No."
"Why."
"He has a lot of baggage and he pulls me into it which makes me call my cutting buddy often. I like Itt, I like Itt a lot, but since my moms was in her coma it made me think more about my life and realize how short it is, I wanna be happy. Itt doesn't make me happy all the time. But I love him and I know he can change. He will be going back to New York tomorrow to stay with his aunt."
"Will that allow him to be completely out of your life? Is that something you want?" Dr. Emma asked.
"I don't want him out of my life…so I made these rumors up about girls in the neighborhood just to see if he would confess to cheating on me…" Shy looks up at the doctor ashamed.
"Wait (she puts one finger up), cheating on you? You said you weren't in a committed relationship?" Dr. Emma said puzzled.
"It's not clear, but, I mean, I really don't know. We had sex only once and he lived with us for the whole summer," Shy said.
"So you think because you had sex you are in a relationship? But lets back up to the rumors…" Dr. Emma said while shifting in her chair.
"I wanted to see if he would confess to having feelings for someone else, especially girls, he like girls when he lived in New York
"Because he knows there isn't any truth to them," Dr. Emma said and the 1-hour alarm rung and she glances at the clock.
"I guess so. Was that the alarm?" Shy said looking at the clock, and getting up out of his seat.
"Yes, that was the alarm. Shy, have a seat (she points at the couch); I don't have another appointment until another hour. This time will be on the house, that is if you aren't in a hurry," Dr. Emma said.
"Thank you. I know that I said this would be my last session, but I think I may need more time. Not because of the cutting, so much, but because of Itt."
"Shy, in order for you to heal you have to get any toxics out of your body, out of your system. You say that you don't feel Itt is healthy for you. Why do you have the need to keep him in your life?"
"I love him, and I know he loves me. He came here to protect me and know one has ever done anything that big for me. I want to go to New York
"Well you said that he is in New York
"Jordan, my cutting buddy, is rich. He owns his own software company and I told him I would like to help kids who have been through the same thing I have in school, the bullying and sexuality acceptance. He said that he would help me. I want to find some way to help those kids, they can have some place to go and learn to stand up for themselves and I want Itt in on it too. I never told you this but Itt was a bully in his school and what turned him around is when he witnessed me being bullied. That's why he came to Minnesota
"That sounds like an excellent idea Shy, but if you bring Itt in on it you have to tell him about Jordan Jordan
"Yes."
"Is he a gay man?"
"Yes he is, and he is a really good guy. It not like that with him."
"Sometimes people want something in return when they help you and you have to be prepared to face that disappointment. I'm not saying that your friend is one of these people. Will it be okay if I spoke with him someday?" Dr. Emma asked.
"I'll ask him," Shy said and he started to stand and stretch. "I have to go now, and thanks for the extra time."
"No problem…same time next week?" Dr. Emma asked standing and reaching out to shake Shy's hand.
"Yes," Shy said.
"Okay, well take care and call me if you need to," Dr. Emma said with a smile.
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STACY, JACKIE
…Suddenly they all was startled at the loud banging at the door. The phone continues to play the theme from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, 'you can take a nothing day and certainly make it feel worthwhile…'
Tom tells Stacy to go to the kid's room to keep them calm. "Honey, I'm gonna answer the door," Tom tells Jackie.
Tom walks down the stairs and he hears chattering on the other side of his front door. He hears a rattling noise in the kitchen; he looks in the direction of the kitchen and sees a little boy. The door bell rings and all the lights in the house comes on at the same time; Tom hears the microwave beeping, a blender blending, random electronics operating, and the unknown people at the front door chattering. He looks in the kitchen and sees the little boy run and then vanished followed by hearing the basement door slamming.
"Hello! Is everything okay?" the concerned visitors asked through the door.
Tom opens the door and it's his neighbors, a couple from across the street dressed in their night clothes. "Hi, yes everything is fine. Thank you!" Tom yells over all the noise.
Tom didn't want to startled the neighbors with the darkness he feels that is going on inside his house. He really wanted to close the door on their faces and get back to his wife and kids.
"TOM! Who's at the door?" Stacy yelled over other noise that is deafening in the house. "And what's all that noise?"
Tom smiles at the neighbors and notice an astonishing looks on their faces. He turns around quickly and sees the little boy in the kitchen, looking about 7 years old, covered with red fluid. He turns back to look at the neighbors and they ask again in a cool tone, "are you sure everything is okay?" Tom doesn't answer instead he runs towards the kitchen only to find things are normal. The microwave stopped beeping; the blender was slowing down and then stopped, everything that was operating stopped.
The neighbors walked into the house as Tom was checking the kitchen. "Hi, Jackie! It's Rose and Peter from across the street. We heard lots of noise, so we came to make sure everything was okay," Rose yelled.
Stacy was holding Jackie's mouth so that she wouldn't say anything, "everything is fine, thank you," Stacy answered.
"That wasn't Jackie," Rose whispered.
Tom came back in the living room, "didn't you see that little boy?"
"No, Tom," Rose said and grabbed Peters arm and pulled him out of the house, "well we have to go now, glad everything is okay."
Tom closed the door after Rose and Peter left and ran up the stairs to his kids and wife. "Something is strange going on; I think we need to call a priest."
"Tom I thought you were an atheist? You think there is paranormal activity in our house," Jackie asked.
Rose and Peter walked fast across the street led by Rose all the while looking back at Jackie and Tom's house. "Peter, something is really dark in that house. We should call the police," Rose said.
"You think so?" Peter asked and they both stopped. (HORN BLOWS LOUDLY) "AGHHHHHHH!" Rose and Peter screamed as the tire squeals on the asphalt from a Ford Ram pick-up truck. The couple lay crippled in the street with blood spilling out of their mouth; the Ford Ram pick-up stopped in the middle of the road.
Tom, Jackie, and Stacey hears the commotion and looks out the window and see their neighbors in house coats and night clothes coming to the rescue of their fellow neighbors laying in the street only to find death.
It has only been about 1 minute; one of the neighbors walks over to the truck to see if the driver needs help but no one was in the truck. The truck had no key in the ignition and the neighbor, a big husky guy that looks as if he can pick up the truck, felt on the hood of the pick up and it was cold as if it has not been driven at all.
Suddenly the neighbor hood suffers a blackout.
_________________________________________________
LAYLA
Layla sits in her small kitchen eating a TV dinner. She looks at her watch and wonders what her next step will be. When will she receive further instructions? Her phone rings…
"Hello?"
"Hey Layla, did I catch you at a bad time?"
"No, just eating dinner. How are you?"
"Just a little stressed but I will be alright. I really enjoyed having dinner with you the other night. I can't wait till we hang out again outside of the store, ya know?" Percy said.
Layla stands up, walks into her living room, and flops down on her couch. "Yeah, I really enjoyed talking to you. And it was good to catch up."
Layla's phone signaled a call waiting and she sees on the caller ID that it's the call she was waiting for. "Hold on a sec…I have another call," Layla told Percy and pressed the 'flash' button.
" Ha, I got that sucker on the phone right now. The plan has worked. He so stupid; he is gonna be putty on my hand," Layla said.
"Layla?" a male voice spoke.
"Yes?" Layla said smiling and laughing.
"It's still me, Percy, you didn't click over." Percy hangs up the phone.
Layla stands up, looks at her phone, "Aw, shit!" She clicks the 'flash' button.
"Hello?" Layla said extremely nervous.
"What took you so long to answer?" Francesca said.
Layla just held the phone searching for an answer.
"Never mind. So you have the boy twisted around your finger huh?" Francesca said in her most seductive voice.
"Well we will see…" a now nervous Layla answered.
"What do you mean? Why the sudden change in attitude? Do you have him or not, girl?" Francesca said confused.
"I clicked over and I thought I was talking to you and…"
(THE PHONE GOES DEAD)
"Hello, hello, hello…" Layla said bursting in tears and rushing to lock her doors and window. Layla is panicked with fear as she sits in a corner in her apartment.
TO BE CONTINUED…
