Page 59 of The Last Session

“I—I don’t know,” Jonah said.

“First thing that comes to mind,” Sol said.

“Um… okay.” Jonah squared his shoulders. “My problem is that I’m sick of this, people clinging to me.”

“Why?”

“It makes me feel claustrophobic.”

“Are you from a big family, Oscar? Small?” Sol asked.

Jonah considered. “Big? But I think I was one of the younger siblings.”

Karen gasped, a hand over her mouth.

“You don’t like people clinging to you.” Sol nodded. “So why’d you get married?”

“I had to. It’s what people expected of me. And…” Jonah closed his eyes. “I’m not sure, but she might’ve been pregnant? My girlfriend. We had to get married.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“Trapped.”

Karen’s hand remained over her mouth while fresh tears poured down her cheeks. What was happening? Because as they went back and forth, Jonah riffing from Oscar’s point of view, his stature changed: his shoulders slumping, his head moving forward. Even the set of his jaw looked different.

“Karen!” Sol shouted. Moon’s drumbeat increased in volume, her expression placid. “It’s time to cut the cord. This shadowy figure of Oscar is no longer your ghost lover. It’s time for an exorcism. Face him.”

Karen turned towards Jonah.

“Say what you need to say,” Sol directed.

“I love you, Dad.” Her voice quavered. “Despite everything, I do. But you have to go. You have to let me live in peace.”

“But I know what’s best,” Jonah growled.

“Youdon’tknow what’s best. For me or anyone else. You’re a small, scared man who lashed out at us. That’s not how I want to be.”

Jonah dropped to his knees. “Don’t send me away.”

“You need to move on.” She kneeled in front of him, grasping his hands. “It’s time, Dad. I’m going to be okay. Please. It’s time for me to live my own life.”

The drumbeat thudded, so loud and fast we could barely hear their words.

Sol stood behind Jonah, placing a hand on the top of his head.

“Oscar,” he hollered. “We ask that you move into the next phase of your incarnation. Be gone!”

The drum stopped. Sol pushed Jonah’s head down into a prone position, his forehead pressed to the wooden floor.

Sol backed off, and slowly, Jonah sat up. He looked around, confused, as if he didn’t know where he was. Sol touched him on the back and pointed at his cushion. His breath was audible as he dropped beside me. I stared at him—What the actual fuck?

“Karen.” Sol placed one hand on her shoulder. “He’s gone.”

She wiped more tears away and took a deep breath. “I know. I can feel it.”

Ding.Moon was holding up a leather string that attached two metal cymbals. The clear, sharp note from their being struck together reverberated.

“Let’s take a break.” Sol pointed at the doors. “Karen and Jonah, stick around.”

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