Chapter 35

[Bryan] Mid May

There had been no commitment from the DA people when they left after discussing more naked 'sentences' for troubled kids, but none had been expected. About three weeks later, Julia's admin caught her between appointments and said "A very distraught woman called. She said she was given your name and number by someone in the DA's office."

Five days later, there was a replay of Brett's entrance into Lindsey's. There were some differences, though. Only a mother stood watching. Ryan, Dale, and Clark were there to provide some impressive muscle. A sympathetic, cooperative police officer had readily agreed to do all of the talking.

'Deuce', as he insisted on being called, fifteen, had just been released from a drug rehab facility. The officer and his mother picked him up and drove straight to Lindsey's.

"Your mother has worked it out for you to do your sentence here, rather than jail, Deuce," the officer said. "I think you're getting off too damned easy, myself, but that's just me. This woman," and he pointed to Nancy, who was made up to look extra stern and severe, "is going to be keeping track of you. If you screw up, she's the one who sends you to jail. Now, before you go in, take off your clothes."

"What?"

"Oh, I thought I mentioned that you are going to spend your whole sentence here bare-assed," the officer said casually.

"No! You can't make me do that! Mo-om!"

"Now look, Punk. In there are eight great guys and nine really nice girls who are going to treat you a lot better than you deserve. Or would you rather just go to jail?

"You're pretty scrawny and kinda cute, so my guess is that it will take about a day for you to end up as some big kid's bitch." This time, the rough language had been cleared with the mother, who was desperate for anything that would help.

"Now, which would you rather do? Would you rather wave your boner around for some really nice girls? Or would you rather have some big bully ram his hard cock up your sore asshole every night?"

It was the mother's turn to play her part. "Bryan, you don't even get to decide. It's my decision. Are you going to take your own clothes off, or does Mommy have to undress you?"

Bryan was no Brett in many ways. He did not even have Brett's ego and his anger to get him through it. As so often happens, drugs had killed a lot of his will. He had to be physically stripped, kicking and screaming the whole time, and the men had to carry him in the door. When they stood him up in front of Missy, Libby, and Erica, he jammed his hands in front of his crotch, then ejaculated all over himself.

Looking at the miserable, crying heap that ended up huddled on the floor, Missy found herself wishing for another Brett. Then, she squared her shoulders, motioned to the other two girls, and together, they led him off to his room and his bathtub. The introductions could wait.

Outside, the mother was in about the same shape as Mary had been. The officer tried to console her. "Ma'am, I've spent some time with these kids. If there's any chance for your boy, it's here. I know if my young son grows up to have a problem, I just pray this place will take him."

As Deuce was led to his new 'cell', as he then thought of it, his senses reached that overload point where what was happening to him ceased to seem real. For the first several steps, he did not so much walk as be dragged. Little by little, he began to support his own weight, although he made no attempt to shake off the hands holding him.

Reaching into the tub shower, Missy turned it on, then all three tried to get him to step in. That was where he decided to make a stand and resisted their efforts.

To herself, Missy hoped that her attitude toward Bryan was not just because he seemed so un-manly. Regardless of her reasons, she goosed him with her middle finger, aiming it for his asshole as closely as she could. Rather than climbing in, he fell over the tub edge, only saved from some nasty bumps by the other two girls still holding on to him.

That was more than Missy could handle. Single-handedly, she got him up against the opposite wall of the tub, facing her. Before he could react, she had one hand around his throat, not tightly, but firmly. With the other hand she grabbed his balls and applied enough pressure to make sure that he did not try to escape.

Exerting all of her self-control, she talked to him in a near hiss. "Listen, Bryan. I would love to get to be your friend. You know, horse around in the pool, sit and gab, beat your ass at computer games or whatever. But I'm no child any more, and I don't play with children. I've got a pair of balls in my hand and we saw you shoot off earlier, so I guess you're male. We certainly haven't seen anything to indicate that you're a man, though.

"All of us here have been given an unbelievable chance. We'll do anything for someone else who's been given that chance, as long as they realize what they've been given and try to make the best of it. If you decide to just piss on everything here, I will see that you get to enjoy Bubba's infected dong up your rear the next night. Do you understand me?

"Who made you queen?" Bryan spat out.

So quickly that he had no chance to protect himself, Missy snapped his glans with her middle finger, causing him to double over with the pain. "You have exactly thirty seconds to prove to me that you have really changed your attitude. Otherwise, your start here is going to be a lot less fun than it could have been," she said cooly.

[Mona & Erica] Late May

It took over a week, but once again, Mona was waiting for Erica after school. Erica had been thinking a lot about how she would react if Julia's prediction came true. Her kinder intentions were shelved, though, when she saw her mother's face. There was concern in Mona's expression, but no contrition.

"So, you didn't even believe the tapes, huh?" Erica challenged before her mother could say anything. "What happened to the charges against Dozer?"

"I, uh, guess there wasn't enough evidence," Mona said uncertainly.

"No, Mother, there was plenty of evidence. The charge against Dozer was dropped because Jenna lied. What about the lawsuits against your daughter and your husband?"

"Th ... that's why I came here," Mona pled. "To ask you to drop those."

"Did you ask your husband and daughter to drop the charges against Dozer?"

"N ... no, I..."

"Why not? Didn't you believe the agent? Didn't you watch the tapes?" Erica's voice had risen and Mona was unconsciously recoiling from her daughter's angry words. "There is no way you could still believe Jenna, yet here you are!

"I was all ready to accept your apology and try to rebuild some kind of a relationship. How stupid of me! Well, you'd better just forget you ever had me! I've found a new, real mother, anyway." Mona jerked back at that as if Erica had struck her.

Erica was so angry that she was just reacting, not thinking. She remembered Leah's ultimatum to her mother and jumped on it. "The only way I will ever speak to you again is if you walk in here naked. Now, just leave and go back to your perfect family!"

At her nearly regular dinnertime visit to Lindsey's Julia sought out Erica.

"Might as well just drop those lawsuits," Erica said. "Dozer's been cleared. I had hoped the suits would help change my mother, but she's just too far gone."

"I heard about your conditions for talking to her again," Julia said softly.

"Yeah, well, I can really understand how Leah felt."

"You have to realize that there is a difference, Erica. Phyllis was the instigator. She was just plain mean. Your mother is a, how should I say it ... she's almost like a slave to your father. I don't think she has much of a will of her own any more."

"But I can't give her one ... a will, I mean."

"No, you can't. But the way things are, she'll never see you again unless she develops one on her own."

"I can't believe she really wants to see me again," Erica declared.

"Honey, I'm just afraid your mother could be at a dangerous place."

"So, why should that be my problem?" Erica yelled. Then, she burst into tears, hugged Julia fiercely, and apologized over and over.

[Mona] Late May

As in many such cases, Mona's suicide attempt was more for show than for results. There was little chance that the pills she ingested could have killed her, but from the way she felt in intensive care, she may have wished that she had succeeded. It was Trevor who called to let Erica know, then asked if there was any way he could come and stay with her for a few days.

Naturally, Erica went right to Muriel, who in turn called Julia. Julia took time to call the hospital and find out the details. Then she called Dozer and asked him to hurry to Lindsey's.

By the time Julia arrived, Trevor and Dozer were there, and Kathy had insisted on coming, too. Finding a secluded spot, Julia told them all "It appears to be a classic plea for help case. There was little chance of it actually being fatal. Trevor, I'm sure it was pretty traumatic for you, though. You were the one that found her, right?" He nodded. "Well, I want to assure you that you reacted very well. You did everything right."

"Plea for help, huh?" Erica said softly. "And I didn't help her when I guess she needed it." Tears were leaking down her cheeks. Dozer and Kathy were quickly hugging her.

"If it's any consolation, Erica, this surprised me," Julia said. "I would not have guessed that she could marshal the will to do even that much. Trevor how is your dad reacting?"

"Um, at first, he was like in shock. When he came back from the hospital, he was swearing and calling her all sorts of names. I really don't want to be around there!"

"What about Jenna?"

"She justs sort of stares off into space. It's like she's trying to deny that it happened."

"I managed to talk to a doctor who treated your mother," Julia said to Erica. "He said there was one thing she kept muttering. It was 'she said she found a real mother'. Did you say that to her."

"Yeah. I was really pissed. But I meant it, Kathy." Erica hugged Kathy after saying that. "I ... I guess that was pretty cruel."

"Erica," Julia replied, "I don't want you thinking that this is your fault. Remember, you have been the victim for most of your life. Now, you have found love and respect. I think Mona looks at you and sees you enjoying things that she has to admit she never really had. Add to that a mother's natural feelings for her child, and you can see why she might be a mess."

"When you talked about our situations being reversed, you weren't kidding, were you? But why did she believe Jenna instead of me?"

"That's a tough one. Would you like to talk some more in private?" Julia answered.

"NO! Trevor needs all the help he can get if he's going to survive that nuthouse. Dozer is my rock. I wasn't kidding about Kathy being a real mom to me."

"OK. I understand. Mona's problem is that she has constructed this perfect little world. She took a lot of pride in it. In fact, she was so proud of her world that she ignored that her gorgeous older daughter was a spoiled rotten, hateful slut, and her husband was a..."

" ... narcissistic asshole is the proper term," Erica interjected.

"That's just what I was going to say," Julia chuckled. "Since this is not a session, I can use the proper terms." That lightened the mood a little.

"When you left, you put a serious crack in Mona's perfect world. Jenna and your dad were the foundation of the world she wanted to preserve. She could not make herself go against them. Does that make any sense?"

"Of course it does. You're the genius shrink. You always make sense," Erica said, keeping a straight face for only a second. Julia was thrilled that the girl could inject humor in that situation. Just as quickly, Erica became serious again. "Then, why the suicide attempt."

"You see, she really does love you a lot more than you think. She knows that her family is hopelessly fractured. She wants her 'perfect' family but can no longer deny that it is not at all perfect. It has badly hurt someone she also loves - you. She was being pulled in two different directions and just could not deal with it.

"Now, this is a quick analysis based on limited contact with her. But I have dealt with a number of similar cases over the years."

"Can't I just get out of that mess?" Trevor asked in a shaky voice.

"Trevor, I'm sorry, but we really can't take you in here," Julia told him gently. "You're not a victim like Erica was, and that's what we're set up for. It's my guess that your parents are headed for divorce. When that happens, I think you can be quite happy living with your mother."

"Tell you what," Kathy spoke up, "we have an extra bedroom. Would you like to stay with us for the summer? From what Erica says, it's pretty modest compared to your house, but it would get you away from all of the stress."

"You'd really let me do that?" Trevor asked in amazement.

"And since Dozer almost lives here at Lindsey's," Kathy said with a grin, "I'm sure you could spend a lot of time here, too."

"And I'll bet Troy would like to have you stay with him sometimes, too," Erica added.

"One thing you have to consider, Trevor," Julia cautioned, "is how it will affect your mother if you move out. If she will agree to become my patient, I will counsel her to seek divorce immediately. I always consider that the last resort, but in this case..."

"Is that because Dad's hopeless?" Trevor asked.

"Let's just say that if your mother was my patient, I would not see any way that she could get better while still married to him."

"Yeah. Hopeless," Trevor grumped.

"Trev," Erica spoke up, "you and I need to go and see Mom in the hospital. We need to tell her that if she wants to see us again, she has to sign up with Julia."

"I'm not sure that's the way to..."

"Julia, you practically said that she's the child and I'm the parent, now," Erica pointed out. "I'm just going to tell her what's best for her."

"After a divorce," Julia queried, "will the two of you agree to live with her?"

"Oh!" Erica gasped. "I hadn't thought of that." She looked around, silently expressing her reluctance to leave what she saw as her perfect home. "I guess if things changed that much, I wouldn't really need to be here, would I?"

"Let's just say that the reasons that brought you here would no longer exist. Your self-confidence has increased a thousand percent. You've found a great guy, and you would have a very different mother. I would not let you leave here unless I was convinced that she had truly changed."

When Erica and Trevor walked into Mona's hospital room hand in hand, she looked at Erica with genuine surprise. "I thought you said you wouldn't talk to me unless..."

Mona was sitting in a chair, rather than in bed. She was well enough to go home, but by hospital policy, she had to be cleared to leave by a psychiatrist after a suicide attempt. Erica sat on the bed and pulled Trevor beside her.

"We've got a new deal for you, Mom. Trevor and I will come and live with you IF: you become Julia's patient, and if..."

"Julia?"

"Dr. Waxman, the director of Transformations and Lindsey's Place. She's a phenomenal psychiatrist. You never took time to meet her when you were there."

"And you'd come home to live if I became her patient?" Mona asked with almost pathetic hope in her voice.

"That's not what I said," Erica corrected her. "That's just the first part of the deal. The other part is that you have to file for divorce immediately and live separately from your husband."

"Divorce? Why would you ask that? I've never ... there's no reason..."

"Look, the reason you tried to kill yourself is because you're being torn in two and you just didn't know what to do," Erica stated, using words that Julia had coached her on. "You finally realize what Jenna and your husband are like. You realize what all of you did to drive me away. You honestly do love me and wish that I was back home. You know that I can never be reconciled with those two, so you are in an impossible position.

"Next year, Jenna will be gone to college, and all you will have left is your husband. Trevor is already looking for a way to get out of there, and..."

"Trevor! I never knew you were unhappy!" Mona said around a little sob.

"It's ... it's been growing since Erica left. Those two are just ... I can't stand either of them, and it just gets worse," Trevor admitted.

Changing the subject a little, Mona complained "You never refer to him as your father any more."

"'Dad' is an affectionate term expressing love. 'Father' expresses respect. I feel neither for him - haven't for many years." That little explanation had been coached by Julia. "When I needed something from a man - something fatherly - I always went to Troy. He's a real man."