“Oh, yeah?” I asked playfully, as he bent down and pressed his lips against my forehead. He breathed in deeply before pulling back.
“You have no idea, Bird.” His forehead rested against mine, and I let my eyes fall closed. “No idea.”
The music stopped, and I blinked myself awake. Abel held my phone in his hand, and he placed it next to me and picked up a picture of Brock.
“Mystery solved.”
I sat up and snatched the picture from his hand. “Go home.”
“I was just leaving. I wanted to say bye. I’ll see you Tuesday.”
“I won’t be here.”
“Where will you be?”
“Not here,” I snapped, as I rolled away from him.
“All right. I’ll see you around then, I guess.”
I didn’t say anything, and his eyes danced over the mementos one last time before he left. It took only a moment for his annoying presence to be replaced with Trish’s.
“Oh, my God!” she squealed, and I stared down at the picture of Brock so she couldn’t see how much what she’d said in the living room had hurt me. It didn’t matter anyway. She wouldn’t care. “Abel’s fucking hot, right? I mean, like, epic fucking hotness.”
“Yeah, if you can get past his horrible personality.” I glanced up at her, and her hands were on her hips. “Right. He’s perfect for you.”
“I know! I mean, come on. He’s like sex on a freaking stick.”
“I’m happy for you. You guys deserve each other.”
“Thanks, Lie.” She squealed again and left my room so I could sulk in private. I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to Marie.
I put everything back in my box and hid it in the closet before Marie responded and told me she’d be at her office in half an hour.
I forced myself to shower and make myself presentable. I wasn’t the biggest fan of makeup, but it was all part of the new and improved Delilah.
The walk to Marie’s office was quick, and there was hardly anyone around since church hadn’t let out yet. The door to her office was locked, so I knocked and waited for an answer. She pulled it open with one hand as the other secured a barrette in her hair.
“Sorry it took me so long,” she said. “I slept in this morning, and traffic was hectic.”
“No worries. Sorry to bug you on your day off.” I stepped inside and waited for her to lead me to her private room.
“It’s no problem, Lie. I’m glad you want to talk.”
Marie took her usual seat, and I walked over to the window, not wanting to look her in the eye as I spoke.
“What happened?”
“I don’t like it here.”
“I thought you liked Florida better than Mississippi.”
“Things change.” I glanced over my shoulder at her, and her eyes were on me, a notepad in her lap and a pen between her fingertips.
“What changed?”
“I obviously didn’t. I’m still me on the inside no matter what I do.”
“You can’t judge your self‐worth by the opinions of others.”
“Sometimes I wonder if it all ever happened, ya know? Maybe I made it all up. Maybe I’m the crazy one.”
“Most people with mental illness don’t know they have it, so the odds are in your favor.”
I looked back again, and Marie was smiling. “Are you allowed to make jokes?” I asked her. “Isn’t that against the therapist superhero code?”
“I won’t tell if you don’t.”
“Secrets are what I’m good at.” I looked out the window to the palm tree just outside. The bright‐green fronds hid the dead brown ones below. It was kind of like me. The makeup and stylish clothes hid the ugliness underneath. “Brock thought it brought us closer, keeping secrets from the world.”
“What did you think?”
“We didn’t have much of a choice.” I shrugged as I dragged the pad of my index finger down the glass. “I think it was a positive way to look at things.”
“Was Brock a positive person?”
“That depends on who you ask.”
“I’m asking you.”
I made my way to my seat, noting the chessboard was gone, replaced with checkers. I snorted. “I take it none of your patients knew how to play?”
“Tell me a positive memory about him,” Marie prodded.
“He was my first kiss.” I smiled as I drifted back to that day in the shelter.
“Why are you sitting over here all by yourself?” Brock asked, as I stared at the floor of the main lounge, not wanting him to see my face. I knew my skin was blotchy and my eyes swollen from crying. He crouched in front of me with his arms resting on his knees for balance. “Have you been cryin’?”