"Jackson broke a lot of things. He was never one to be very careful."
Dr. Shrew said nothing. I hadn't shared enough to ease his appetite.
"I can remember, once, we were up in one of the rooms. He told me it was his favorite room, and he said it was because that one had the best view. I don't know, all those rooms and their views seemed the same to me, but Jackson was convinced. He pulled me over to that window to see his incredible view, but all I could see was snow. You remember, it snowed very hard that year."
"I remember" Dr. Shrew replied, cold and curt as ice. He wrote down a note on his clipboard.
"Well, that's what I told Jackson, I told him 'i can't see anything, all that's there is snow.' and he said "I know."'
I paused for a moment, wanting to get Jackson's exact words correct. "He said 'I know, it's like the whole world disappears, and there's only me, and you, and this room, and nothing else. Don't you wish you could make the whole world disappear sometimes?"
I stopped, but Dr. Shrew didn't seem amused. He grunted "Then?"
"Then he kissed me, I guess, and he pushed me up against the wall, only it wasn't a wall behind me but an end table with a vase on it, and he shattered the vase. Jackson was mortified, but I just laughed."
"Did you two have sex?" Dr. Shrew asked, not looking up from his clipboard.
I blinked. "That's hardly an appropriate question." My memory no longer seemed funny.
"I think that's enough for today." Dr. Shrew stood. He didn't bother to wave goodbye, or shake my hand. He never had offered me such a courtesy. I waited inside while Dr. Shrew explained to my mother once again that I had gone off the rails. That I was crazy and needed help. I waited inside while my mother ignored him once again, even though she was the one paying him. I waited inside until I heard Dr. Shrew's well polished shoes click along the tile floors away from the office. Only then did I rise from the couch and pull open the door.
I rode in the car beside my mother in silence, as we always did. I only spoke to ask if we could go to a drive-thru. Wendy's had always been Jackson's favorite. And besides, it was closer to the hotel. And from where we drove up, I could just make out the faint silhouette of Jackson's window through the thick, torrential snow.
