I blushed and said, “Okay, let’s go for it.”
“Then let’s go relax and have some fun,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me out the restaurant.
Our last stop of the evening turned out to be anything but relaxing. We ended up at The Punchline, where Sir Laughs-a-Lot was performing. He was one of my all-time favorites. I fell in love with his humor way back when he used to star on Bet You I Can Make You Laugh. Mason had called ahead and made reservations so our little wooden table was close to the front. I almost lost my drink when he told a joke about a woman running into her doctor’s office screaming and complaining about having too much hair on her breasts. When the doctor asked her how much the hair was growing, she said from her breasts down to her penis. That was too funny.
We spent a couple of hours laughing so hard that we were brought to tears and then Mason asked, “Ready to go home?”
I eyed him seductively. “Your home or my home?”
He kissed my forehead. “Choose.”
“Well, since you treated me to a bubble bath last time, reciprocity is in order. Want to christen my tub?”
“Absolutely.”
That’s exactly what we did.
38
marcella
It was time. I was determined not to let Jonquinette and her parents leave my office until I exposed the truth. I had grown to care about Jonquinette, as I did all my patients. But there was something fragile about her that I felt the need to shield. It was actually ironic. I was beginning to identify with the reasoning behind Jude’s actions. Jonquinette was the kind of spirit that people would naturally be drawn toward to shelter.
They all arrived at the same time, instead of separately like the previous session.
“Come on in and have a seat,” I said as they walked in single file. I went to the outer office and told my receptionist to put the phones on night and go ahead and leave for the day. There was no point in her staying since I had no more patients scheduled and I was not going to take any calls.
When I came back in, they were all seated: Jonquinette on the chaise and her parents on the couch.
I sat in the armchair and placed a tape recorder in the middle of the coffee table. I hit Record.
“Is this really necessary?” Meredith Pierce asked sarcastically.
“Who’s going to end up hearing that?”
“No one will hear it, unless I have your permission. This is simply for me to take notes with and possibly to play back for Jonquinette.” I glanced at Jonquinette and added, “Just in case she misses something.”
Jonquinette nodded. “I understand what you mean. You plan to call Jude out, don’t you?”
I didn’t hesitate to answer. “Yes, I do.”
Henry started panicking. “Say what? You’re going to summon that wench? This is crazy!”
“Please, Daddy!” Jonquinette exclaimed. “You promised you would help me.”
“And I will, but I’m not so sure about this,” he replied. He eased back on the couch and seemed to calm down some. “All right, if this is the way it has to be, then let’s get it over with.”
I decided to let them know right away that, “There’s a possibility that Jude won’t come out at all. She revealed herself to Mason once that we know of and to me once, but that’s about it. She was obviously around when Flower was visiting but she pretended to be Jonquinette and not herself.”
Henry shook his head. “I still can’t get over that. Something tragic could have happened.”
Jonquinette glared at him and looked irritated. “Well, I hope that never happens again.”
Meredith spoke up. “It won’t happen again, Precious. Your daddy and I have already discussed that at length.”
“Why don’t we all just relax,” I suggested. I turned to Jonquinette. “Jude, I know that you can hear me. You’re always around.”
Meredith sighed loudly. I looked at her and put my index finger to my lips. “Please, remain perfectly quiet for now. We don’t want to irritate her.”
“Who gives a shit if we irritate her?” Henry lashed out suddenly. “This entire situation is that wench’s fault.”
Jonquinette jumped up off the chaise, walked over to the couch and slapped Henry across the face. “I’ve had just about enough of you calling me a wench, you motherfucking bastard!”
Both Henry and Meredith were shocked. Henry rubbed his face and looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t. Instead he glanced at me like he was searching for answers and I nodded for him to remain quiet.
I stood up. “Jude, it’s nice to see you again.”
“Save the bullshit, you bitch! I told you before that I wasn’t going anyplace so all this therapy shit is a waste of time. The Queen Bitch and her flunky can’t make me go away either.”