Crystal's Heart by Miller BL & Foster Verda

Author:Miller, BL & Foster, Verda [Miller, BL]
Language: eng
Format: azw
Tags: Gay & Lesbian
ISBN: 9781934452585
Publisher: Bedazzled Ink Publishing Company
Published: 2011-04-30T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

“Miss Sheridan? Miss Preston can see you now,” Stephanie said as she hung up the phone. Crystal nodded and entered Jenny’s office.

“Good afternoon. I wasn’t expecting to see you again this week.” Jenny sat down on the couch while Crystal took the recliner.

“Yeah, well, I dunno.” Crystal looked everywhere but at Jenny. The feeling of discomfort she felt whenever she was in the room was stronger than ever. “I just thought that since you had the hour open and all . . .” She picked at a thread sticking out from the edge of the armrest. “I didn’t like today’s meditation.”

“And what about it didn’t you like?” Jenny asked. “Today’s passage was about putting the blame where it belongs, on the abuser and not on the victimized child.”

“It’s stupid. Of course it’s all his fault.” Crystal shifted in her chair, finally meeting Jenny’s eyes. “He’s the bastard that couldn’t keep his hands off his own kids.” Again she tugged on the dangling piece of thread as she looked away from Jenny. She waited for a response but Jenny simply continued to watch her. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I dunno, something.”

“All right. How about you tell me what it is about that passage that has you so riled up today?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. It’s stupid.”

“If you didn’t want to talk about it, you wouldn’t have brought it up. And your feelings aren’t stupid,” Jenny said gently. “They may be hard to understand. They may even be too painful to deal with at times, but they’re not stupid.”

“Easy for you to say, Doc,” Crystal said. “You didn’t live with that bastard.” Her eyes settled on a spot on the floor. “You didn’t have to put up with him throwing your dinner against the wall because he ran out of beer. You didn’t have to put up with all the yelling and swearing and screaming and hitting.” Her voice grew more agitated, and she gripped the arms of the chair. “You didn’t have to hide under your blanket praying for him to die. You didn’t have to listen to him—” Feeling her throat tighten, she shook her head and clenched her jaw tightly.

“You’re right, I wasn’t there. I wouldn’t know firsthand of all the horrors you’ve suffered. Only you can tell me what that feels like. Try using I statements.”

“You don’t—”

“Use I, Crystal.”

“I . . .” The tightness in Crystal’s throat felt like a vise cutting off her words. “I hate him.” She tugged hard on the loose thread and broke it free from the recliner.

“Please don’t destroy my furniture,” Jenny said, planting her feet on the floor and leaning forward until her forearms were resting on her thighs. “If you’re feeling destructive, I have a whole chest full of stress relieving aides.”

“I’m not feeling destructive,” Crystal said, crossing her arms to keep her wandering fingers from going after another loose thread.

“Well, that’s good to hear. So why don’t you tell me why you called at lunchtime today looking for an appointment? Something must be troubling you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.