Nervous (23 page)

“No, not that time,” Meredith quickly responded. “I won’t lie. Looking back on things, there were times when I should have known something was terribly wrong. Like that time when we had dinner recently and you called me a whore.”

Henry glared at Jonquinette. “You called your momma a whore?”

Jonquinette smacked her lips. “It wasn’t me, Daddy. You’re still missing the point. I’ve never intentionally set out to hurt anyone. I would never call Momma a whore. That’s disrespectful and you didn’t raise me that way.”

“But did we raise Jude that way?” Meredith asked. She covered her face with her hands. “This is so confusing.”

Jonquinette got up off the chaise and walked over to the sofa. Her parents made room for her to sit between them. Each took one of her hands.

“You’re right,” Jonquinette said. “This is confusing.” She looked at me. “Marcella, what’s next?”

“We get to know each other,” I responded. “That’s all I want to do today. You’ve told me a lot but only your parents can fill in the blanks of the times you don’t remember. I have several questions I need to ask.”

Henry gripped Jonquinette’s hand tighter and glanced into my eyes. “Ask away.”

I had blocked out the next three hours for Jonquinette and her parents and we made good use of every minute of it. We talked about her childhood and Jonquinette seemed troubled to the point where I thought she might lose it a few times as she heard firsthand accounts of things she never did.

jonquinette

“Are you ready?” Mason asked me when I opened my door. “We have a tight schedule to keep.”

I blushed. “Yes, I’m ready. Just let me grab a lightweight jacket.”

I was kind of worn out from the therapy session but nothing would have stopped me from spending quality time with Mason. In many ways, being with Mason was probably the best therapy of all.

First, we went to the Atlanta History Center. I learned so much about a city where I had lived for several years. Mason said it was a shame for people to live someplace and have the tourists actually visit more of the museums and attractions. We walked the thirty-three acres of gardens, woodlands, and nature trails after visiting the inside exhibits. Watching the children running through the gardens made me suddenly think about actually having a child one day. In a perfect world, it would happen.

We left the Center and headed to the High Museum of Art. There was an exhibit of African-American art, so we had chosen the perfect day to go there. We walked up and down the ramps, taking in all the beautiful paintings and sculptures. There were several by an artist named Quinton Matthews. I had heard that name someplace, maybe in a news story, but couldn’t recall all the details. Either way, his work was magnificent. In fact, I was so moved by the intricate details of his work that I stopped by the gift shop and picked up a reproduction of one of them entitled
Forever in Love.

I was getting tired but was determined to hang, so when Mason suggested going to Zoo Atlanta next, I was all for it. We went to the zoo in Grant Park and saw the giant pandas, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, the zoo’s main attraction. Afterward we went to the petting zoo and had a ball playing with the animals. When we left, I just knew we were headed home but…

…We drove out to Stone Mountain Park and it wasn’t crowded at all for that time of year. I had always wanted to go there but had no one to go with. Ever since I had lost the baby fat back in high school, I had managed to stay in good shape by watching my diet for the most part. Mason was in great shape, as I had found out firsthand when we made love. I still blushed every time I thought about it. We opted against the cable car and the 1.3 mile hike up the side of the mountain was a breeze. We walked through a canyon of boulders that were covered by chewing gum. It was quite a hilarious sight.

We got to the top, more than 1,600 feet above sea level, and took in the spectacular view. We found a cozy spot where no one else was hovering around and made out for about thirty minutes. It was incredible.

It was getting close to sunset so we decided we needed to head back down while the visibility was still good. We did have time to go pedal boating right quick and we ended up having a race with a couple of teenage boys. We beat them big-time and were out of the boat and chilling on the dock by the time they were tied up.

Mason and I went back home just long enough for us to go to our respective apartments, shower and change. Then we headed back out again. I took three vitamins first. The shower almost put me out, I was so exhausted.

We ended up at Cherry, an eclectic sushi bar on Peachtree Street. We had the Tuna Tataki, which was mouthwatering and shared a glass of American wine. We topped it off with a bowl of cherry cobbler, which we also shared. The inside of the place was classy and completely decorated in red. Apparently, it used to be a residence that dated back to the early 1920s.

By that point, I was tired, full, and ready to go back home and cuddle. But Mason wouldn’t hear of it. He said, “You need to make up for lost time, Jonquinette. There are so many things you should’ve already experienced that you haven’t. Let me help you create more memories. Positive memories.”

I blushed and said, “Okay, let’s go for it.”

“Then let’s go relax and have some fun,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me out the restaurant.

Our last stop of the evening turned out to be anything but relaxing. We ended up at The Punchline, where Sir Laughs-a-Lot was performing. He was one of my all-time favorites. I fell in love with his humor way back when he used to star on
Bet You I Can Make You Laugh.
Mason had called ahead and made reservations so our little wooden table was close to the front. I almost lost my drink when he told a joke about a woman running into her doctor’s office screaming and complaining about having too much hair on her breasts. When the doctor asked her how much the hair was growing, she said from her breasts down to her penis. That was too funny.

We spent a couple of hours laughing so hard that we were brought to tears and then Mason asked, “Ready to go home?”

I eyed him seductively. “Your home or my home?”

He kissed my forehead. “Choose.”

“Well, since you treated me to a bubble bath last time, reciprocity is in order. Want to christen my tub?”

“Absolutely.”

That’s exactly what we did.

marcella

It was time. I was determined not to let Jonquinette and her parents leave my office until I exposed the truth. I had grown to care about Jonquinette, as I did all my patients. But there was something fragile about her that I felt the need to shield. It was actually ironic. I was beginning to identify with the reasoning behind Jude’s actions. Jonquinette was the kind of spirit that people would naturally be drawn toward to shelter.

They all arrived at the same time, instead of separately like the previous session.

“Come on in and have a seat,” I said as they walked in single file. I went to the outer office and told my receptionist to put the phones on night and go ahead and leave for the day. There was no point in her staying since I had no more patients scheduled and I was not going to take any calls.

When I came back in, they were all seated: Jonquinette on the chaise and her parents on the couch.

I sat in the armchair and placed a tape recorder in the middle of the coffee table. I hit Record.

“Is this really necessary?” Meredith Pierce asked sarcastically.

“Who’s going to end up hearing that?”

“No one will hear it, unless I have your permission. This is simply for me to take notes with and possibly to play back for Jonquinette.” I glanced at Jonquinette and added, “Just in case she misses something.”

Jonquinette nodded. “I understand what you mean. You plan to call Jude out, don’t you?”

I didn’t hesitate to answer. “Yes, I do.”

Henry started panicking. “Say what? You’re going to summon that wench? This is crazy!”

“Please, Daddy!” Jonquinette exclaimed. “You promised you would help me.”

“And I will, but I’m not so sure about this,” he replied. He eased back on the couch and seemed to calm down some. “All right, if this is the way it has to be, then let’s get it over with.”

I decided to let them know right away that, “There’s a possibility that Jude won’t come out at all. She revealed herself to Mason once that we know of and to me once, but that’s about it. She was obviously around when Flower was visiting but she pretended to be Jonquinette and not herself.”

Henry shook his head. “I still can’t get over that. Something tragic could have happened.”

Jonquinette glared at him and looked irritated. “Well, I hope that never happens again.”

Meredith spoke up. “It won’t happen again, Precious. Your daddy and I have already discussed that at length.”

“Why don’t we all just relax,” I suggested. I turned to Jonquinette. “Jude, I know that you can hear me. You’re always around.”

Meredith sighed loudly. I looked at her and put my index finger to my lips. “Please, remain perfectly quiet for now. We don’t want to irritate her.”

“Who gives a shit if we irritate her?” Henry lashed out suddenly. “This entire situation is that wench’s fault.”

Jonquinette jumped up off the chaise, walked over to the couch and slapped Henry across the face. “I’ve had just about enough of you calling me a wench, you motherfucking bastard!”

Both Henry and Meredith were shocked. Henry rubbed his face and looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t. Instead he glanced at me like he was searching for answers and I nodded for him to remain quiet.

I stood up. “Jude, it’s nice to see you again.”

“Save the bullshit, you bitch! I told you before that I wasn’t going anyplace so all this therapy shit is a waste of time. The Queen Bitch and her flunky can’t make me go away either.”

Meredith asked with disdain, “Who are you calling a queen bitch?”

“You, bitch, you!” Jude screamed. “All of Jon’s life, all you’ve ever cared about is yourself. Look at you now. Jon asked the two of you to help her and what do you do, start fucking again and talking about marriage as if that will solve something. Well, fuck all of you!”

“Jude, try to calm down,” I said, walking closer to her and putting my hand on her shoulder. “Let’s just sit back down and talk about this calmly.”

“No, hell no! Hell fucking no!” Jude started pacing the floor. “I decided to come out for one reason and one reason only, to inform all of you that you can’t win. You’ll never win!”

“Why are you doing this?” Meredith asked, on the brink of tears. “Why are you doing this to my baby?”

“Your baby?” Jude put her hands on her hips. “Jon never mattered to you, not really. All you cared about was putting up a pretense. You wanted everyone to think that you had the perfect marriage and the perfect little daughter, even though you didn’t. You only care about material things, just like your two fucking sisters.”

Meredith started crying harder. “I can’t take this. I love Jonquinette. I always have. You’re sick.”

“I’m not sick, you bitch!” Jude sat down in the middle of the coffee table with her legs spread open facing them. She lifted her skirt and started fingering herself. “Does this make you sick, bitch? I decided to be a whore just like you. The only difference is your golddigging ass has been fucking men for what they can give you all these years and I fuck them for the hell of it.”

Henry stood up and headed for the door. “I won’t sit here and watch this a second longer.”

Jude said, “What’s wrong,
Daddy?
You can’t handle it so you’re just going to cut and run out on us like you did all those years ago?”

Henry turned around and glared at Jude. “This is all your fucking fault, wench! You set me up! I never even met that prostitute.”

Jude started laughing. “Okay, fine. Since you’ve all figured it out already, I confess. I did it and I’m damn proud of it, too. You tried to get help for Jon, which meant trying to get rid of me, and I had to do something to stop you.”

“Is that why you stabbed me?” He got all the way up in Jude’s face. “It was you who stabbed me, wasn’t it?”

An expression of fear came across Jude’s face. It was brief but I saw it. I’m not sure if Meredith and Henry even picked up on it.

Meredith stopped crying and looked from one of them to the other. “Stabbed? Henry, what are you talking about?”

Jude took two steps back from him. “Yeah, what do you mean by that?”

“Don’t get cute with me, you cunt!” Henry started unbuttoning his shirt. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He took his shirt off and pointed to a tiny scar over his shoulder blade. “I’m talking about this.”

Meredith stood up, came over to him, and touched it. “That’s where you accidentally cut yourself with a pocket knife. I remember when you came home with it bandaged up.”

Henry smirked. “That was the story I made up to cover up for who I thought was Jonquinette. Now I know it wasn’t her at all.”

“What are you talking about, Henry?” Meredith prodded.

“I didn’t want the police to file charges against her. I knew that after all the incidents in her past that they’d allowed to slip through, one more might cause them to lock her up in juvenile detention.”

Jude hissed at him. “You’re a lying bastard! I never stabbed you!”

“You showed up at my office one day, stormed in like a hurricane, and started talking crazy. Just like you are now, as a matter of fact. I told you that it was time to get you some help. Your solution was to pick up a letter opener off my desk and stab me in the shoulder with it. I bet you were aiming for my heart but I moved out the way just in time.”

We had definitely reached a crossroads. I remained silent and allowed the situation to play itself out.

Jude grabbed my shoulders and started screaming. “I didn’t do that, Marcella! I didn’t!”

I didn’t respond. I just pushed her away from me. Part of me wanted to embrace her but I needed her to get angry. I had to allow whatever was destined to happen to occur.

Meredith grabbed her chest and looked like she was about to faint. “My baby stabbed someone! Her own daddy! Oh my God!” She fell on her knees and started crying all over again. “This is my fault. I should have listened to you, Henry! We should have gotten her help way back then!”

Jude yanked Meredith back up off the floor by her hair. “Get up, Queen Bitch! He’s lying through his teeth. It never happened. He cut his own ass with a pocket knife, just like he said. He’s just trying to fuck with me for some reason but I won’t tolerate it.” Jude shoved Henry, practically knocking him back onto the chaise lounge and repeated, “I won’t tolerate it!”

“Jude!” I called out to her. “Jude! Look at me!” When she turned to face me, I said, “What if he isn’t lying?”

“But he is lying,” she insisted. “I didn’t stab him and Jonquinette sure as shit didn’t. She wouldn’t have the nerve. Besides, I’ve always been here and I would know if she’d done something like that. Hell, I would’ve been happy about it. I’m telling you, if I’d stabbed the bastard, I would admit it in a heartbeat. In fact, if you have a letter opener, I’ll stab him now. He deserves it for lying on me.”

“Look,” Henry stated angrily. “I’m telling you that Jude stabbed me. It’s all water under the bridge now and I still have no intention of pressing charges but this all needs to come out. I’m sick of lying.”

Something changed on Jude’s face. A calmness came over it. Then that was replaced with fury. “Sick of lying?” She faced Henry. “You’re sick of lying?”

“Yes,” he responded. “The truth needs to come out.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” she said in a voice that I didn’t recognize.

Henry didn’t seem to notice the voice change but Meredith did.

“What happened to your voice?” Meredith asked.

Jude smirked at her but didn’t respond.

“Nothing happened to her voice.” I walked up behind her and whispered in her ear, “Who are you?”

She turned, gave me a smile that was more scary than pleasant, and brushed past me. She sat down in the armchair where I had been sitting and pressed the Stop button on the tape recorder. “We won’t need this anymore.”

I wanted to make a move to turn it back on but decided against it. It was obvious nothing critical would be said as long as it was on.

I asked again, this time louder, “Who are you?”

Henry exclaimed, “You mean there’s another one?”

“Shh! Don’t say anything!” I cautioned him. “Why don’t you tell me your name? I know you’re not Jonquinette and you’re not Jude, so who are you?”

She rubbed her eyes like she was tired. “I don’t have a name,” she finally responded.

“Everyone has a name,” I insisted.

“Not me.”

“Then make up one,” I said. “I need to call you something.”

She thought about it for a moment and said, “Just call me Jetta. I think that sounds mad cool.”

“Okay, Jetta. Tell me, were you the one who stabbed Henry in the shoulder?”

Jetta grimaced. “Damn right, I did it.”

Henry asked, “Why did you stab me?”

Jetta ignored him and started staring at Meredith. “You thought you knew everything that was going on in your house, didn’t you?”

“What do you mean?” Meredith asked. “Please tell me what you mean.”

“Did you ever suspect?” Jetta kept her eyes fixated on Meredith but nodded in Henry’s direction. “Did you ever realize that he was a pedophile?”

Henry collapsed onto the chaise while Meredith pulled herself up off the floor. She walked over to us and got close enough to smell Jetta’s breath. “Pedophile?”

“Yes, you know what that is, right? A person, or sick fuck as I prefer to call them, who has sexual desires for children.” Jetta glanced at Henry. “Now he’s sitting over there trying to play the pitiful act; probably thinking of a lie to tell, some excuse for why he did it.”

“What did he do, Jetta?” I asked, realizing we had finally made progress.

I had always felt there was at least one more personality living inside of Jonquinette. Jude professed to be all-powerful but something or someone had to be keeping her from taking over Jonquinette’s life completely. Now I knew her as Jetta.

“He molested Jon. What do you think he did?” she replied. “That’s why I allowed Jude to do what she did. I don’t even think she realizes what he did to Jon. She just hated him because he was trying to get rid of us. What she did was actually ingenious.” Jetta chuckled. “Wish I had thought of it. Instead, I tried to stab him to death but that didn’t work and I’m glad it didn’t. After it was over, I realized my mistake. I didn’t want Jon to end up in prison, along with Jude and the rest of us in tow, so I’m glad I missed his heart.”

Meredith looked at Henry in confusion. “Henry, is any of this true?”

“Yeah,
Henry,
is it true?” Jetta asked sarcastically. “Tell her the truth,
Henry!
Tell her about the bath-time
fun
when Jon was just four years old. Tell her about the
fun
in the shed in the backyard. That’s what you used to call it, right?
Fun?”

Henry broke down and started sobbing. I went over to the chaise and sat beside him, rubbing his bare back. “By helping Jonquinette, you can also help yourself.”

“God help me!” he screamed out. “God help me, I did it!”