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It's the second story of my novel, "More Charming than the Devil's ass: It ain't the usual |
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Back to the past: part 1 Chp. 2 TherapistDan “How are you doing today?” Reece “Okay, I guess. I got into another fight with the wife.” TherapistDan “What happened?” Reece “I was getting ready for work in the morning and she told me to cut two green peppers for omelets. I didn’t appreciate her tone of voice so I ignored her. She flew off the edge and yelled at me for not helping! So I yelled back.” TherapistDan “You look agitated. Take a deep breath, it’s okay. We’ll get into your marriage later. Were you ever on medications?” Reece “… Yes.” TherapistDan “I’m listening.” Reece “I've taken medication for clinical depression most of my life. It’s a struggle I haven't conquered yet. Although, that can change." TherapistDan “When did your folks put you on medication and what kinds?” Reece “I became a medicated zombie in the second grade. It was in Chatsworth, CA, the porn capitol, 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Clonidine is the first drug I used. Its main use was heart medication for geezers. But an experimental drug for children with A.D.D. My parents put me, their eight year old son on drugs! Eh, it was the laziest solution.” TherapistDan “I’m sure they meant well.” Reece “Enlisting to fight the war on terror was done with good intentions too. So from what my momma told me, my psychological problems began in preschool. I had anger issues and kicked other boys in the nuts. So my momma put me in therapy. Yeah, I was a preschool kid in therapy. Who does that?” TherapistDan “Your mum does.” Reece “Yeah. Anyway my parents didn’t renew their lease in our apartment. They planned to move out of state with a fresh start in either Las Vegas or Arizona. Then Step-daddy-O asked his parents if we could stay at their house until we found another state to live. Momma, Step-daddy-fuck and I lived in my Step-grandparents big, shit brown two-story house.” TherapistDan “Wait, wait. Why are you calling your dad Step-daddy-fuck?” Reece “My biological dad died before my birth. So it’s been my momma and I until my asshole step-dad came into the picture.” TherapistDan “Please describe him for me.” Reece “He’s a fat, balding, white guy with nerdy glasses and a pointy Jew-fuck nose. Imagine the Bizarro version of Jason Alexander. He’s a big shot author now and wears a maroon turtle neck shirts and a tan colored sports coat. He looks like a thick, stubby uncircumcised penis!” TherapistDan “Let me stop you for a moment. Has your dad ever given you emotional validation?” Reece “What do you mean?” TherapistDan “Has he recognized and accepted your thoughts, feelings, sensations and behaviors as understandable?” Reece “Nope, he hasn’t. He’s a dickhead. I’m talking about a man who sprays when he talks with litter box breath.” TherapistDan “I figured that much. I’m sorry about that. Please close your eyes. Don’t focus on how he looks now. Focus on how you remembered him as a child.” Reece “Buck was a white balding young man in his later twenties with a marathon runner’s body. He was short with a big Jewish nose that impeded everything! His style consisted of acid washed jeans, sneakers and a Mets Jersey. He loved sports and history (WWII documentaries because his father survived the holocaust).” Step-daddy-O had his funny moments, but I can’t remember any. He had a Polish temper too, but always got my momma to crack up laughing. I hated it because I had to sweep up the pieces.” TherapistDan “That’s a real knee slapper. Okay, what comes to mind about your mum?” Reece “Momma was in her early-thirties. She had grace and style, her hair was a dark brown, and she used too much hairspray. Momma wore three layers of make-up and dabbed on the sweetest smelling perfumes every morning before she went to work. She’s a woman you’d remember meeting twenty-five years ago. Her smile and laughter could fill stadiums with warmth and love. She was my safe place, but that’s history. Ever since she found Jesus, she irritates me. It’s all she talks about now. Reece “I remember my parents being goofy together. They’d say, “Eh-huh, eh-huh Gosh!” Picture my parents as if Minnie Mouse married Donald Duck. A short, Jewish, and dorky duck. Yeah, soak in that image.” TherapistDan “That’s vivid and somewhat disturbing.” Reece “That’s the point! Anyway our temporary two-story house built in the mid-70s looked like a mansion. I remember a life-sized shiny metallic period suit of armor on a stand in the living room of the house. It even had a Flail in its fist like that Asian schoolgirl’s weapon in the movie Kill Bill. The pool in the backyard got as deep as eight feet with a diving board and a hot tub… sold separately! It had the works! Imagine the playboy mansion minus the naked women. We stayed there for four months while my parents searched for a new place to live in Arizona because they thought Las Vegas was anti-Semitic.” TherapistDan “So you grew up Jewish?” Reece “Yep. Sure did.” TherapistDan “And how did they conclude Las Vegas anti-Semitic?” Reece “Shopping for homes on a visit, they saw spray painted swastikas on the walls of nice neighborhoods. They were afraid of being harassed and Arizona became our new destination.” TherapistDan “Well, it wasn’t Nazi Germany. It’s not like they had to wear a Star of David or yarmulkes!” Reece “Truthfully, Step-daddy-O had a severe gambling addiction before he met my momma.” Those four months momma, Step-daddy-O and I shared the house with my new grandparents and their three old dogs in Chatsworth, CA. Their names were Rhino, Tanya, and Ponty. Rhino, the second eldest male had a slender medium sized body. The black ring patterns around his charismatic mud brown eyes hypnotized me. He was the easiest to love. Tanya was a bitch with a mix of black lab and a chow-chow. The shortest and thickest of the three, her coat was shiny and black. She had the most violet colored tongue from eating too many purple popsicles. She was the youngest of the three and a temperamental dog. I couldn’t pet her while she ate because biting followed. Then there’s Ponty, the eldest of the trio. A quiet and frail bitch, she was part collie and sheep dog. Ponty also had a rare skin condition that caused it to be flakey and dry. It looked like scales from the dead skin of a lizard and touching it gave me the creeps. She liked her space under the stairs and I was happy to leave her alone. TherapistDan “Enough dog talk, let’s discuss your new Grandma.” Reece “Grandma Janice loved me… unless I ate her sweets. She loved and spoiled me. It surprised me.” TherapistDan “interesting. Can you describe her for me?” Reece “Toward the end of her life in a wheel chair from a stroke and comatose, she wasn’t well. And she’s been dead since the mid 90’s.” TherapistDan “No, no, no. Describe how Grandma Janice looked when you were eight years old.” Reece “Oh, okay. I remember Grandma Janice with an olive skin tone. She had many wrinkles on her face with the waist of Human Barbie. The woman was a cross between an Indian chief and a New York Drag Queen. Grandma Janice showed the sweetest smile whenever she saw me. We loved talking action movies: Rambo, Predator and Back to the Future. We ate junk food and smoked cigarettes together. She picked me up from school, but didn’t go straight home. Sometimes we stopped by the video store and she allowed me to pick any movie I wanted. Once she rented Robocop, an R rated movie! Other times, she bought ice cream and ho ho’s (not those hoes) or whatever I wanted! How awesome is that?” TherapistDan “Splendid. That’s the whole point of being a grandparent.” Reece “To one up the parents?” TherapistDan “That’s correct!” Reece “I was finally comfortable at my elementary school and living in the brown ugly mansion. Then suddenly my parents yanked me out of class in the middle of the school year. We moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. Feeling an emptiness inside me… from hunger, I packed away my toys, clothes and stuff in a few card board boxes before we left. We moved to a cowboy state full of cacti and tumble weeds! Instead of glistening Blue Oceans and beige sandy beaches, I got jagged mountains, canyons and desert! Oh, and cacti. I missed the dogs and Grandma Janice except for the dog with the dead flakey skin, gross! It made me cry.” TherapistDan “That’s an interesting account of your childhood. Being placed in therapy and forced to ingest medication can cause any child to think something’s wrong with them.” Reece “Yeah, my folks get the world’s greatest parenting award. Fuck me.” TherapistDan “Before we wrap up this session lets have an action plan for you. I want you to practice validating your wife in conversation.” Reece “How do I approach that?” TherapistDan “When she vents listen and repeat back what she said. Tell her you empathize with her and support her.” Reece “Okay, I will. It better work.” TherapistDan “Oh, it will. So I’ll see you in a few weeks?” Reece “Yeah, two weeks works.” TherapistDan “Great, I’ll see you next time and tell me how it went.” |
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