Shadows of Gray by Jodi Walter

Author:Jodi Walter [Walter, Jodi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

THE WEEKEND HAD COME and gone. Jed had spent most of his time catching up on small parts of his routine that had dropped off the radar in the past weeks. He bought groceries and planned his meals. He did all his laundry, deep cleaned his apartment, and caught up with his mom.

What little free time was left after that, he spent talking over the case with Christie and preparing for the week ahead. The newest murder, number four, was taking some time to be processed because of the unusually gruesome way it had happened. His stomach had turned over when Christie called to let him know processing was delayed, and he’d honestly not known what to say at the time.

He sighed where he was, sitting behind his desk, reflecting on the past week the way he always did on a Monday. How could he move forward? How could he improve on the results of the last seven days?

Right now, he was thinking about his conversation with Max last Friday before he had gone to get ice cream with Christie. Even though they had made so much progress the previous week, Max had all but refused to talk about his mom. Jed knew better than to force a conversation about an unhealed aspect of his client’s life, so instead, they had talked about Max's dad.

Max loved to talk about his dad, and in doing so, he inadvertently spoke about his mom. In every other sentence, he would say, ‘and that’s why he left’. He would say something about his dad’s restaurant business and then say, ‘and that’s why he left’. He would say something about his dad’s new girlfriend and say, ‘and that's why he left’. The teenager was currently rewriting the narrative his mom had told him about his dad’s estrangement from their family.

Jed was happy to listen. Actually, he was very excited to listen. Rewriting trauma narratives was a very important part of the process toward healing. If he could get to the bottom of what he truly believed about his reality, the stories he had been told by those around him and in power over him, and begin to see the story for what it is, or at least take control of the way he tells and lives the story, he would be well on his path back into society.

Of course, the teenager did not know that. In his mind, he was only emphasizing how much of a liar his mom was. Jed couldn't imagine just how painful it would be to realize that your mom, the one person who was supposed to be on your side forever, no matter what, lied to you and tried to manipulate you into hating your father, the other person who was supposed to be with you for the rest of your life. That single action robbed Max of both of his parents. Now, he was estranged and angry with his mom, and before, he had been estranged and angry with his father.

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