Chapter 5: “Black Friday”

Author’s Note:
In the US, “Black Friday” is the day after Thanksgiving. It is an unofficial holiday, the busiest day of the year for shopping, and the beginning of the Christmas rush.

Friday began with amazing waffles with genuine maple syrup, made by Pam and devoured by everyone (except Talia). After the dishes were put in the dishwasher, Kerri and Pam took off together for some early Christmas shopping, leaving Talia, Barry, and Paul.

“Talia, would you join us in the parlor, Barry and I need to talk with you.”

“Really? OK.”

“Talia, I want to re-introduce myself to you. Although I am retired now after arthritis, I was an orthopedic surgeon, so I operated on people’s bones and joints and so on. I understand you to be about 19 years old, yes?”

“Yes, 19, doctor.”

“I am very sure, by the time you are just 30, you will be in serious danger of fractures, and might not make it to 50, unless you make some big changes in your life.”

“But, Doctor, how could you know this? You haven’t even examined me!”

“I have seen other cases, like yours, when I was working among local populations in West Africa. You must have some kind of eating disorder or problem with nutrition that has impaired your development, because your body has not developed to adulthood.”

“That’s true, doctor, I don’t like to talk about it. I don’t talk about myself at all, really. I learned at a young age that people would treat me badly, the more they knew about me. Plus, I was already freakishly small, so I was picked on for that. I would just hide during the school lunch periods to avoid being called out and tripped and so on.”

Paul thought, “This was the most dialogue about herself I have ever heard from Talia, and she got softer and sadder as she went along.”

Barry said, “Talia, can I be your family doctor?”

“I’ve never had a family doctor, so, sure.”

“Never, really? How come?”

“Didn’t have a family. I’m an orphan, you see, I was in foster care, mostly in a group home. That was one more thing to be ashamed of, to be abused about, to be teased for. Even by the older girls in the facility.”

“They never took you to a doctor? Even though you were clearly malnourished?”

“That would have embarrassed them, I came to believe. A lot of the younger smaller girls like me had their food taken by the older girls. Routinely. I just got used to it.”

“Talia, since you have agreed to have me be your doctor, let me first assure you, my fees to you are one dollar per year, for the rest of my life. So don’t worry about that.

“Now, please look at Paul’s face, he is crying. He is crying in sympathy for your hard life this far, and he is crying angry tears too for how badly you have been treated. I guarantee he would pay any fee to make you healthy, Talia, because he loves you.”

The senior doctor held up his hand.

“No, don’t argue, I’m a doctor, I can tell these things. The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference. You haven’t been loved, you’ve been shown incredible indifference, a thousand times worse. You haven’t received the love which should be the birthright of every one of God’s children.

“And don’t be mistaken, I am crying those angry tears too. I cry on the inside, because we doctors are trained not to show our emotions in front of our patients. Particularly surgeons like me, because sometimes we have to deliver such bad news to people.

Promises

“Can I have your hand, please? Talia, I promise you, you’re an adult now, in mind if not in your full growth yet. You are NOT in grade school anymore, being bullied. I need to tell you something else.

“My daughter isn’t here this morning. And like any father, I’m inordinately proud of her. I want to guarantee to you, once she hears even HALF of what you told us about your past life, she will be like Paul. First the sympathy tears, then the angry tears.