Page 4 of Three for a Girl

“I’ve seen the bad in good people, and the good in bad ones, too.”

“Life isn’t black and white, it’s different shades of grey. No one is a hundred percent good or a hundred percent evil. We’re a mix, sometimes that mix is unbalanced from birth, sometimes it becomes unbalanced with time and experience.” Keeley placed her hand on her chest. “I am in the grey.”

Keeley nodded in a coaxing manner, and Chad frowned.

“You say it, too,” she said.

“I’m in the grey.”

“And that’s okay, Chad. That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. If anything it means you’renormal,whatever that is. I want you to repeat that sentence, anytime you’re feeling overwhelmed.”

“I’m in the grey and that’s okay.”

She grinned. “How about today we play a word game?”

“A crossword?”

“No, not a crossword. Word association, I say a word—

“And I say one back, I remember.”

“You’ve done it before?”

“With Sandra. She said it predicts depression and anxiety levels.”

Keeley smiled, reaching for her notebook without looking.

“It gives an indication.”

She thumbed through the pages and picked her pen up from the desk.

“First thing that comes to your head.”

Chad nodded, cleared his mind, and spoke on impulse as Keeley said word after word. She wrote down his replies, and once it was done, Chad slumped in his chair, eyeing the clock on the wall. The seconds hand stuttered.

“I want to go over a few of your responses.”

Chad dragged his attention back to Keeley. “Huh?”

“I said bird, and you said magpie.”

“It’s a bird isn’t it?”

“I know Marc left something—a calling card behind, a magpie feather.”

“That’s right.”

Keeley lowered her gaze back to her page.

“I said dog, and you said rat.”

Chad’s dog, Toby, killed rats. He killed them because his instincts told him to. He did it to please Chad and keep him safe. Chad couldn’t change his nature, a monster to a rat was a savior to him.

“I guess most people would say cat.”

“This isn’t about what most people would say, it’s individual, the most common response is cat. Pet and walk are also popular.”

“They work, too.”

---