Gene Brewer - K-PAX 02 by On A Beam Of Light

Author:On A Beam Of Light
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-03-06T23:10:35+00:00

SESSION TWENTY-FIVE

The morning before Rob’s next session I sat in my office thinking about him and Sally. What could possibly have happened to preclude his having an ultimate relationship with his wife-to-be, whom he dearly loved? Did the fact that she was carrying someone else’s child have anything to do with it?

Even under the best of circumstances, sex is one of the most difficult things human beings have to deal with. Most of us learn about it piecemeal, on school playgrounds, in the streets, from movies or TV. Some get an introductory course from their father or mother, often in the form of a how-to manual obtained from the local library. Many parents are almost as ignorant about the subject as their children.

The best place to learn about sex, just as it is for every other subject, is the schools. But that idea has come under fire in recent years. The net result of this vacuum is, of course, that teenage pregnancy and venereal diseases are rampant in our society. The kids learn plenty about sex, but they learn it from each other.

My own introduction to this mysterious subject was somewhat less than informed. One hot August afternoon my mother went shopping, leaving Karen and me home alone. We were fourteen or fifteen at the time. We turned on the sprinkler and ran through the spray, back and forth until our shorts and T-shirts were sopping wet, and nearly transparent. Then we “accidentally” bumped into each other, one thing led to another, and—well, it’s the old story. Afterward, Karen was sure she was pregnant and I thought I was a rapist. We didn’t touch each other again for two years.

Yet, despite all the taboos and other obstacles, most of us manage, through trial and error at least, to find a satisfactory partner and, eventually, to enjoy a more or less successful sex life. Why not Rob?

Later that morning, Will, now back in school but still coming to MPI in his spare time to speak with Dustin and some of the other patients, stopped by my office to see if I wanted to go somewhere for lunch. Though I rarely do so, he and I went out to a nearby restaurant.

Knowing I should eat lightly or fall asleep later on, I decided on a cup of soup and a salad. Will, always a good eater, ordered substantially more.

We chatted for a while. Usually full of restless energy, he seemed withdrawn, nervous. He only picked at his food, claiming he wasn’t as hungry as he thought. I may not be the world’s greatest father, but even I could tell that something was bothering him, and I suspected what it might be: his girlfriend Dawn was pregnant. My own father, who lived through (and never forgot) the Depression, wouldn’t let me leave food on my plate; it’s a habit I’ve never been able to break. I scraped Will’s uneaten portions into my empty salad dish.

But his girlfriend wasn’t pregnant (as far as I knew).

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