Page 17 of Psycho Therapist

I’m pumping nods feverishly, hoping someone can finally understand me, but his face, like my dad’s sours and he huffily turns around, shoving the cruiser back into gear with a mumbled complaint.

“I think you've got some explaining to do young lady…” My dad says in his best apocalypse voice, but it doesn't frighten me or even make me feel ashamed of any of it. I love Lee and he loves me. “We’re together… I mean, we would’ve been.” I announce, my voice cracking once I remember just how much trouble Lee is really in. How bad all this must make him look.

“If there’s no official complaint then how can he be charged with anything?” I ask the officer driving, trying to sound as if I know what I’m talking about. But for once in my life and apart from their surprise that any man would want me, especially a man like Lee, they also want to know.

Mom in particular, “Yes! I might’ve called the police the other night, but I never made a formal complaint. Never said I wanted any charges laid…” She gasps, gnawing at her lip. Looking concerned as my dad clicks his tongue.

“Can we not use ‘Lay’ and Lori in the same sentence as that man, please honey?” He groans, looking like he's sat on something sharp as it dawns on him too that maybe his little girl is a lot more grown-up than either of them thought. Lord knows I wasn’t the last time I saw them but I sure as hell am now.

“I think we might take this straight to the station…” The officer drawls, “…I am inclined to agree with your statements so far, Lori. But you really need to explain your side of things to the detectives in charge.” He concludes, looking relieved we don't have to go to the hospital after all. Looking like a man who was due to go home himself hours ago.

“How- I mean why did you guys come home so early anyway?” I ask Mom, breaking her own little reverie. Sensing she’s still holding something back.

“Right after we got off the phone with you, the police called,” Dad chimes in, “…They told us this guy was on the loose again, so we were about to turn around. Then Becky called… Told us you had sometherapistin the house and that’s when we knew. The real Dr. Schmidt was discovered and the truth was out. Or so I thought!” He huffs, still shaking his head bitterly.

We drive in silence for a while, Dad fully withdrawing into himself and my mom finally breaking the silence and squeezing my hand. The officer driving responds to his radio that breaks the awkward silence and mom leans in closer again.

“Do you really love him, Lori? I mean… He is a little mature,” she says, lifting a brow but looking like she's already on board with the idea. I nod firmly and keeping my voice as low ask how she knows he’s an older man.

“His face was all over the news once they found the real Dr. Schmidt. Nobody thought he’d go after you, apparently. And nobody thought he'd be pretending to be Dr. Schmidt.” She adds, making a face at the back of the officer’s head in recognition of their not-so-stellar powers of deduction. But like she says, who would have thought?

“He is one handsome man… Lee…” Mom sighs, making me smile involuntarily, playfully punching her arm. “Are you making moves on my man already?” I ask, making her glance at my dad in the rearview as she toys with her lip again. “No, sweetie. I’ve got my man… We might have drifted apart over the years, but when I see your father I still feel like you must right now.”

“You- You don't mind?” I ask, unable to believe Mom would be so calm about everything now she knows how I feel and that Lee wasn't trying to hurt me. Far from it.

“I guess you just know when you find the one. So I’ll trust your judgment, Lori. Always trust your heart, no matter how crazy it might look to everyone else.”

I feel a few tears welling up, “Oh Mom! Thank you… Thanks for even trying to understand…” I sniff, making my dad suspicious of our whispering.

“What are you two whispering about?” He asks, softening his expression when his eyes meet my mom’s.

“Oh, I was just telling Lori how we met… How I still feel the same way every time I see you. Sometimes…” She says in a way that sees the interior of the car get hotter by more than just a few degrees.

Dad flushes with pride and loses his internal battle, the part of him that wants to be a grouch about everything that’s happened giving way to the true romantic I guess must be in him. The knowing look he and my mom share tells me that they might still be having their ‘vacation’ after all.

* * *

I don't gointo gruesome details, but once we reach the police station and get shown up to the detectives’ floor by the officer who drove us, I make it known loud and clear that anything to do with Lee and me in my own room is our own business. My dad backing me up a hundred and ten percent once I ask why our front door as well as my bedroom door were kicked in.

Mom chimes in too, sounding more like people who wanna complain about their property being damaged over a man in their daughter’s room that she invited there.

Every phone in the office is ringing off the hook and the detective in charge of taking my statement puffs air out of his cheeks, slumping back into his seat. “This is getting weirder by the minute…” he exclaims to himself in disbelief.

“What? What do you mean?” My dad asks.

“Since we showed the suspect’s face on the news… Every girl who was set to testify against him suddenly changed their minds. Everyone else, womenmostly, have been calling in non-stop, wanting a better description of the man… how tall exactly? Do you have any other photos you could send me? Last known address, that sort of thing. It seems like everyone wantsthatman in their backyard now…”

“So- So you're not going to charge Lee with anything?” I ask, filled with the stupid hope that I Can just have him back, that we can just go home. But the detective explains, “It’s not that simple, Lori. There’ll be an arraignment hearing and then we’ll know if the accused is granted bail a second time, which I would usually doubt given the charges we can't overlook. Like assaulting his therapist and breaking bail in the first place. Not to mention what he was doing in your parents’ yard…”

“Usually doubt?” I ask, not losing hope for a second.

“I say usually, Lori, because until tonight? Well… I thought I’d seen and heard it all.

13

LEE

It’s the second time I've seen the same judge this week. And at around five a.m. he looks every bit the man who’s been disturbed from his sleep for my arraignment. Things have moved quickly since he got the call by the looks. So once the judge is handed some fresh paperwork that he scans, comparing it to his own. He breathes out heavily through his nose and looks over his glasses at the police prosecutors.

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