High Anxiety (29 page)

“I’m not all that hungry.”

“I’d like to talk to you about Alice Smithers,” Thad said. “I have an idea.”

“I think I’ll look in on Tiara and Mama while you guys talk shop,” Mona said, slipping from the room.

“What’s your idea?” I asked Thad.

“First, I’ve never done anything like this, so I have no idea what the outcome will be, but what would you think of recording our conversations with Alice’s alter personalities and playing them back for her to hear?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” I said, “but it sounds like a good idea. At least she would know the others are watching her back. When would you want to do it?”

“I’m still on vacation, so I’ll work with your schedule.”

I didn’t have my appointment book with me, but I was almost certain I had no late-afternoon appointments the following day. “Why don’t we meet with Alice around four p.m.?” I said. “That will give us plenty of time before she goes to dinner. I have a voice-activated tape recorder, so I’ll bring it.”

He nodded. “I’ll pick you up at your office and take you to Mona’s afterward.”

I nodded, but my thoughts were centered on Alice. She had been through so much. I only hoped Thad’s idea helped her.

The next morning,
I came inside after letting Mike out and found Willie-Mae sitting at the kitchen table, sipping her special tea and thumbing through a thick binder. The pages were brittle and had long since yellowed.

I poured a cup of coffee and joined her. “What are you reading?” I asked.

“It’s a collection of folk remedies passed down from my great-grandmother.”

“Was she a healer?”

Willie-Mae nodded. “The gift runs in families.”

“How do you know if you have it? The gift?” I added.

She smiled. “You just do. I knew when I was eight years old.”

“If it runs in families, why doesn’t Mona have it?”

“It sometimes skips one generation and shows up in another,” Willie-Mae said, “but even if Mona were blessed with the gift, she would close herself off to it. She wanted nothing to do with healing or birthing babies, but I’m sure you already know that. I think my work embarrassed her. She never invited her school friends over.” She sighed.

I knew the feeling. Although I was genuinely proud that my mother and aunt had turned their junk business into a gold mine, I’d been demoralized growing up in a house surrounded by it. But I had never stopped loving them. “Mona may not understand why you chose to become a midwife and healer,” I said, “but she still loves you. I know that for a fact.”

“I was touched that she turned to me in her time of need,” Willie-Mae said. “That means more to me than she’ll ever know. But I’m going to have to head home in a couple of days. I have other patients.”

“Will it be okay for Tiara and the baby to travel?” I asked.

“I’ll prepare a bed for them in the back of the van. In the meantime, I’m going to make up this salve for Mona’s rash. To keep the itching down. She should heal quickly now that we’ve got those dang chicken feathers out of the house.”

 

 

Mona, Jimbo, and
I arrived at my office at eight thirty, a half hour before Bonnie and Len Freemont were due in. I was curious to see how they had gotten through the anniversary of their son’s death.

“Why don’t you put on the coffee,” Mona suggested, “and I’ll check the phone messages.”

“Sure.” I knew she was trying to protect me. I’d checked my messages at home, and Abigail had left several not-so-nice ones. I decided to touch base with Officer Jenkins later. I made coffee, opened the door to my private office, and pulled out the Freemonts’ folder. They arrived shortly after. It was difficult to read their expressions.

“So, how did the weekend go?” I asked.

Bonnie smiled. “It went very well,” she said. “Despite the short notice, we had about fifty guests, including Jason’s high school and college friends, and, of course, family and church friends. Our two children invited their friends as well. Everyone had something nice to say about Jason.” Her eyes misted. “I felt he was right there with us. I felt he had his arms around me saying, ‘Everything is okay, Mom.’ ”

“I’m so glad,” I said. I’d had a number of patients who’d claimed their loved ones had appeared or made themselves known somehow after their deaths, but, even though I tried to keep an open mind, I was skeptical. If anyone deserved a visit from a loved one who’d passed, I would have been at the top of that list; but my father had never tried to contact me from the other side.

I looked at Len. “How was it for you?”

He shifted in his seat. “Well, as you suggested, I took some photos and had them made into posters, and I hung them everywhere, so that part was nice. And since it was a celebration, nobody tried to make us feel better by saying stupid things.” He swiped at a tear. “So many people said they were glad they had the chance to know Jason.” He paused and swallowed hard. “It helped me, because it was the first time I really opened up.”

Bonnie reached for his hand, and they held on tight to each other, even as tears streamed down their faces. I was quiet. Nothing else needed to be said.

It was a
slow day for me, but I was glad to have time to think. Abigail had kept my thoughts skewed for so long that I’d had little time to ponder the relationship between Jay and me. Spending time with him had given me a reason to hope we might one day work things out.

 

 

Thad and I
arrived at the hospital at four p.m. and found Alice in the sunroom working a jigsaw puzzle with another patient. She looked surprised to see us. “Am I going home?” she asked.

“Soon,” Thad said.

I smiled at her. “Alice, would you mind stepping into the conference room with us?” I asked. “Dr. Glazer and I would like to chat with you for a few minutes.”

She nodded, and the three of us started down the hall. I asked one of the nurses if we could borrow the conference room for an hour. The woman was young and didn’t take her eyes off Thad as she told us to use it as long as we liked.

Inside the conference room, the three of us sat at one end of the long table. I made certain my chair was close to Alice’s in case she became anxious. “Are you feeling okay?” I asked before taking out the recorder.

“I’m bored and ready to go back to work.”

“I know,” I said. “But you’ve been afraid for a long time, Alice, of the other personalities that come out from time to time.”

“Yes. Liz Jones.”

Thad clasped his hands together on the table. “That’s understandable,” he said, “but Liz is not the only one who comes out. You have alter personalities that are actually very helpful.”

“Yes, I’ve been told.”

I smiled and touched her hand. “How would you like to meet some of them?” I asked.

She looked surprised. “How is that possible?”

I pulled out my voice recorder. “We can record the conversations and play them back for you.”

Her eyes darted back and forth between Thad and me. “That sounds a little scary.”

“Wouldn’t you feel less afraid knowing you had personalities who cared deeply for you and only wanted to help?” I asked. “Remember, there is strength in numbers,” I added, hoping a little humor might lessen her anxiety.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Thad said, “and I think we should continue to do this sort of therapy from time to time so all of you are on the same page, so to speak. There are no guarantees,” he said, “but my feeling is, the stronger you and your alters are, the less inclined Liz will be to come out.”

She looked relieved. “I’ll do anything if it will keep Liz away,” she said.

“I’d like to start with Sue,” I said.

After about twenty minutes of chatting with the others, I asked to speak to Alice. I played what I had recorded. Afterward, she looked calmer.

“I appreciate your recording them,” she said to Thad and me. “It’s one thing to be told I have different personalities, but I loved hearing from those who want to help me. I feel stronger knowing they have my back.”

Thad and I left the hospital. “I think that went well,” he said.

I nodded. “It’s going to take time,” I said. “Hopefully, Alice will begin taking more control. We both know she is going to have to master her own anger if she hopes to get rid of Liz.”

“True,” he said. “Hey, are you hungry?” he asked.

“I would really enjoy a good steak.”

“Your wish is my command.”

Thad drove to a popular steakhouse. We grabbed a booth and ordered. Our salads arrived at the same time Abigail walked through the door. Thad must’ve noticed the look on my face. “What is it?”

“Abigail.”

He turned. “I’ll be damned,” he said.

The hostess led Abigail to a booth not far from ours. She pretended not to see us.

My heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear over it. “I didn’t think to check if we were being followed,” I said. “We need to cancel our order. Just pay for the salads.”

“Why?”

“Because I plan to beat her at her own game.”

“Whatever that means,” he said, motioning for our waitress. He dropped a twenty-dollar bill on the table to cover the salads and tip.

“Grab your salad, drink, and silverware, and follow me,” I said.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Thad and I walked the short distance to Abigail’s booth and slid in. She was clearly shocked.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

“It’s obvious you followed us here, so I have to assume you want to talk to us. You don’t mind if we join you?” I added.

“Actually, I mind very much.”

I pretended to look crushed. “Now, Abigail, you know you don’t mean that.”

“Would you please pass me the salt and pepper?” Thad asked me as though he hadn’t a care in the world.

I handed them to him, and he thanked me. He looked at Abigail. “I don’t mind splitting this salad with you if you like.”

She fumbled with her silverware, looking from me to Thad and back at me. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” she said, “but I want you to leave my table right now.”

“Sorry, Abigail, but we can’t do that. In fact, you can count on seeing a lot of us from here on out.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You won’t have to follow us anymore, because we’re going to be right behind you.”

“You’re both crazy!” she said.

The waitress brought Abigail a glass of iced tea. “Are you ready to order?” she asked.

“I’m not staying.” She slid from the booth and hurried from the restaurant. Thad and I followed.

She had already reached her car. Thad and I wasted no time jumping into his, and as Abigail squealed from the parking lot, we were right behind her. She drove fast, changing lanes, turning corners at the last minute, but we stayed on her tail. I wrote down her license tag and wished I had Officer Jenkins’s phone number with me.

Abigail took another turn so quickly that her car fish-tailed.

“I don’t think this is in the stalker’s handbook,” I said.

“What do you mean?” Thad asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

“I don’t think we’re supposed to stalk a stalker.”

“Sometimes you’ve got to break the rules.”

“Let’s just hope she doesn’t have an accident or cause someone else to have one.”

“I think the crazy bitch should have a taste of her own medicine,” he said.

“Yeah, but she’s ill, and we’re not.”

He looked at me.

“Okay, so we have a few issues,” I said. “I’ve never claimed to be the poster child for wellness.”

After half an hour, Abigail pulled into the parking lot of a Harris Teeter grocery store and slammed out of her car. She waited until Thad and I had come to a complete stop before she began screaming and yelling and pounding her fists on the hood of his Mercedes.

“Oh, hell,” he said. “She’s going to put a dent in my car.”

We climbed out. “Why are you doing this?” she screamed at me.

I stepped up to her. “You want to know why, Abigail? Because I am drawing the line in the sand. You are not allowed to skulk about my yard or break into my house or office anymore, because I’m going to be on you like white on rice. I’ll temporarily close my office until this is over, because when you look in your rearview mirror, you’re going to see me.”

Thad had pulled his cell phone from his pocket and was dialing.

“Who are you calling?” she asked him, fear replacing the anger in her eyes.

“The police, of course.”

Abigail turned for her car. Thad and I followed on foot, even as he spouted information into the phone. Abigail unlocked her door and started to climb in, but Thad held it open so she couldn’t close it and be on her way.

By sheer luck I spotted the files in the backseat of her car, along with what seemed to be all her worldly possessions. With her front door open, I hit the master lock, yanked open the back door, and scooped up the files. Abigail fought Thad as he tried to wrestle her car keys from her. People in the parking lot turned and stared.