THE HUSBANDS AND WIVES CLUB by LAURIE ABRAHAM

Author:LAURIE ABRAHAM
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: A TOUCHSTONE BOOK
Published: 2010-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

The Attachment of

Michael and Rachael

It’s the first weekend in December, and nonpracticing Jew that she is, Coché is wearing a silk scarf printed with nutcrackers and Santa Clauses, but she’s anything but jolly. She’s through playing good cop, it seems—this group had its crisis, now let’s get down to it. The group stages are a heuristic device, not a map she expects people to follow, but nonetheless she radiates impatience.

Michael receives the first blast. Coché has just started going around the circle, asking people what they “need to take home today.”

“I don’t know,” he says, fading.

How about the way you won’t let your wife mention the m word unless and until she loses a pregnancy, I think, or your detachment when Rachael related how her father compared her to a cow due a bullet? Nah. What Michael says is that with his busy holiday schedule at the store, he’s actually a “little resentful” that he and Rachael are here rather than taking his rare day off to “bake cookies, decorate the house, do the traditional stuff.”

“That’s the third group out of nine or ten that you’ve said, ‘I’m not sure why we’re here,’” Coché says. “So take a look at that. Are you angry that you signed up for this format, or are you angry at Rachael because she thinks you need this, or at yourself because you actually do need it?”

“I’m the one who really pushed, ‘Let’s do this,’” he says, “sooo . . .”

“Yeah,” Coché says, “I remember.” That doesn’t mean you’re willing to come to grips with the troubling aspects of your relationship, she tells Michael. “We have these wonderful kaleidoscopes in our head, and we shift reality to continue to remain the same.” She pauses. “Well, since you’re here, is there anything you want to take home?”

Michael stares back at her.

“Okay,” she says flatly. “Rachael?”

“Um, we kinda talked about what we wanted to work on today, and we really couldn’t come up with anything.” She seems to have amnesia about the last group, too. Maybe they can discuss a potential visit for Michael to meet her family in Australia? Rachael offers. The group understands why that prospect would put her on edge—it’s hard not to beg her to disown her parents, now, before they do any more damage—but the trip is too speculative for her comment to have any bite.

“So you’re both in agreement that there’s not much that feels bad,” Coché says.

“Not right now,” Rachael says. The two almost seem allied against Coché, which is unusual for Rachael at least. She is not the gushy sort, but she can’t conceal how much she looks up to her therapist: the mother she didn’t have.

Coché has more in store for Rachael and Michael, but for the moment she moves on.

“I think we can touch on issues about the holidays,” Aaron says, “just dealing with behaviors of other family members who—”

“Why would we handle family members who aren’t here?” Coché interrupts. “We’re dealing with your reactions.”

“Yes, we’re

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.