Disturbed

Chapter 7

Before her next session with Christian, Dr Thelma had been able to arrange her rumbling thoughts. She knew that she had been extremely myopic in her views.

She had assumed so many times when dealing with the boy which was one of her rules. She never ever assumed.

She cursed herself for not seeing the signs when she met his father. Even the first time she'd met his mother when she brought him over for therapy, she had noticed some bruises on the woman's arm.

The boy was not from a happy home so it was foolish of her to have assumed so much about his feelings.

Christian shuffled into the room while she was lost in thoughts. He passed her the paper and took his seat on the plushy chair so he could lie down and feel more comfortable.

He looked like he wasn't in the mood to draw or in the mood to talk. He was obviously exhausted.

That was just fine.

She was in the mood to talk.

She looked at his new drawing once again amazed at how good he was.

As usual it looked like a grotesque demon terrorizing a swarm of little creatures. All his drawings were always the same.

They were a cry for help.

Placing the picture aside, she watched Christian for a while.

"You mentioned previously that you used to feed birds. Remind me again how they were killed." Dr Thelma asked.

Christian blinked
"They were killed by a neighborhood cat." He droned on in a low even voice.

"What about your dog? What happened to him?" Dr Thelma asked.

"He ate a poisonous mushroom and died." His voice sounded dead and flat.

Like it was rehearsed.

"Tell me what happened the day Caitlin died." Dr Thelma said.

"We were met by bullies on our way home. One shoved me down and the other hurled a stone at her head. When she fell, they ran off with the stone in their hands." He said in the same dead flat voice. He reminded her of a voice recording.

"You mentioned something in one of our sessions. We were talking about family and you said 'you of all people should know that'. What did you mean? Dr Thelma asked.

"I expected you to have read my file. I thought you knew about my family." He said.

"You expected me to have read your file? Just like you'd read mine?" She asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said weakly.

Dr Thelma sat in silence amazed by how she had been so blind before.

How was it possible that she was even a psychologist?

She hadn't even been able to read the writing on the wall!

For five minutes the silence in the room was deafening then Dr Thelma opened her mouth.

"I'm not sure if you know this Christian but usually, you're allowed to lie to everyone—your parents, your friends, your teachers—virtually everyone." She said.

As she spoke, the boy sat up and looked at her wondering where her words were going. He looked genuinely perplexed. When she looked closer, she could see an emotion she couldn't quite place.

"However, there are two people you should never lie to. No matter how awful the truth is because if you do, things will end up badly for you. Do you understand that?" She asked while speaking slowly.

Christian furrowed his brows which was probably the first expression he'd had on his face for the first time. He looked so confused as he tried to figure out who the two people were.

When he could no longer stand the suspense, he cleared his throat.

"I do. Who are these people?" He asked.

Dr Thelma stared at him for a long time before speaking again.

"Your lawyer and your psychologist. Those two people are sworn to secrecy so no matter how terrible a secret is, you can trust it would never get out" Dr Thelma said.

Christian blinked but before he did, she saw the expression on his face.

Fear.

"I've been a psychologist for many years. I like to help people. But I can't help you if you don't tell me the truth. For some reason you've been lying to me and everyone else for weeks." she said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Christian stammered.

"I'm not telling you to tell everyone the truth but I'm asking you to tell me the truth. No matter how bad it is." She told him.

Christian fell silent for a while.

Never had she ever seen a child so conflicted and scared. He was fighting an internal battle within himself.

Christian had been able to bullshit everyone else—his weak mother, his violent father, the doctors, the police, his family lawyers and even his teachers—but he would never be able to bullshit Dr Thelma. She was too smart for that.

It was obvious she knew he had been lying but how could he tell her the truth?

Only two other people knew what really happened that fateful day and they were too scared by what they had seen to talk.

They were willing to go to jail rather than speak up about what they had seen.

If only his father hadn't barged in and stopped him from bleeding out!

"Christian? Not only have you lied to me severally, you've also gone through my file. We both know you're a very smart kid who's been grossly underestimated. You know about my sister which was why you attempted to take your life in the same way." She said in her no nonsense voice.

"I'll admit I researched about you a bit." He said weakly.

"I usually try my best to help everyone but I can't help people who lie to me. If you can't tell me the truth, then there's nothing I can do for you." Dr Thelma said.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean that if you keep insisting on lying to me, I'll seize to consider you as my patient." She said bluntly.

He looked up at Dr Thelma and saw that she meant every word she'd just said.

Could he really tell her what happened?

He wanted to get better—he really did! He was tired of the nightmares and the voices. He was tired of everything.

He suddenly broke down and began to weep uncontrollably. For the first time since his sister died, his tears were genuine.

Or so they seemed.

He wept bitterly
"Please don't tell anyone. I'm so scared." He begged.

Dr Thelma watched as her client broke down.
"I'm not interested in anyone else. I'm only interested in helping you." She told him.

She knew she was going to find out something she had never expected before. She resisted her urge to hug the child and tell him everything would be alright.

Instead she sat still, knowing that it was time for the truth to come out.

Christian opened his mouth and began to speak. He told the most horrible story ever.

#MenteMelan💀🖤