I studied Jonquinette’s reaction. She clamped her eyes shut and sighed. “No, I didn’t have a clue.”
Meredith folded her hands on her lap but I could still see them trembling. She glimpsed at me uneasily. “I guess we should talk about that later. We’re here for Jonquinette.”
I waited for Jonquinette to make any comments about the revelation. When she remained silent, I moved on. “As you know, Jonquinette is suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder, otherwise known as MPD. It is also commonly referred to as Dissociative Identity Disorder. Ideas about MPD date back to the 1800s. This is not a new concept.”
Meredith asked, “So what exactly is it and how can we stop it?”
“Basically, Jonquinette has at least one alter personality who was created to free her from the memories and experiences that were too difficult for her to rationally deal with.”
Henry said, “So are we talking about a mental illness? Is she insane?”
I shook my head. “No, Jonquinette is not insane. That was her assumption at first as well. Jonquinette is perfectly capable of leading a normal life without having to drown herself in pills or being hospitalized. What she has done, in a nutshell, is devise an innovative survival technique.”
Meredith shifted in her seat. “You said at least one alter. Does that mean there are more?”
Even as I made eye contact with her mother, I could sense Jonquinette staring at me. “That is a possibility but as of now, the only one we need to concern ourselves with is Jude. She’s obviously the most powerful and the one causing all the problems.”
Henry shook his head in dismay. “I still can’t believe that wench was left alone with Flower.”
Jonquinette sat back up on the chaise. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but why would you let me baby-sit Flower knowing my situation.”
Jonquinette’s parents glared at each other as I could sense their guilt.
Jonquinette continued, “Until we get this all straightened out, don’t dare do that again. Flower is a sweetheart and if she meets up with Jude while she’s angry, there’s no telling what might happen.” She paused and asked, “You couldn’t tell it wasn’t me?”
“No, not that time,” Meredith quickly responded. “I won’t lie. Looking back on things, there were times when I should have known something was terribly wrong. Like that time when we had dinner recently and you called me a whore.”
Henry glared at Jonquinette. “You called your momma a whore?”
Jonquinette smacked her lips. “It wasn’t me, Daddy. You’re still missing the point. I’ve never intentionally set out to hurt anyone. I would never call Momma a whore. That’s disrespectful and you didn’t raise me that way.”
“But did we raise Jude that way?” Meredith asked. She covered her face with her hands. “This is so confusing.”
Jonquinette got up off the chaise and walked over to the sofa. Her parents made room for her to sit between them. Each took one of her hands.
“You’re right,” Jonquinette said. “This is confusing.” She looked at me. “Marcella, what’s next?”
“We get to know each other,” I responded. “That’s all I want to do today. You’ve told me a lot but only your parents can fill in the blanks of the times you don’t remember. I have several questions I need to ask.”
Henry gripped Jonquinette’s hand tighter and glanced into my eyes. “Ask away.”
I had blocked out the next three hours for Jonquinette and her parents and we made good use of every minute of it. We talked about her childhood and Jonquinette seemed troubled to the point where I thought she might lose it a few times as she heard firsthand accounts of things she never did.
“Are you ready?” Mason asked me when I opened my door. “We have a tight schedule to keep.”
I blushed. “Yes, I’m ready. Just let me grab a lightweight jacket.”
I was kind of worn out from the therapy session but nothing would have stopped me from spending quality time with Mason. In many ways, being with Mason was probably the best therapy of all.
First, we went to the Atlanta History Center. I learned so much about a city where I had lived for several years. Mason said it was a shame for people to live someplace and have the tourists actually visit more of the museums and attractions. We walked the thirty-three acres of gardens, woodlands, and nature trails after visiting the inside exhibits. Watching the children running through the gardens made me suddenly think about actually having a child one day. In a perfect world, it would happen.
We left the Center and headed to the High Museum of Art. There was an exhibit of African-American art, so we had chosen the perfect day to go there. We walked up and down the ramps, taking in all the beautiful paintings and sculptures. There were several by an artist named Quinton Matthews. I had heard that name someplace, maybe in a news story, but couldn’t recall all the details. Either way, his work was magnificent. In fact, I was so moved by the intricate details of his work that I stopped by the gift shop and picked up a reproduction of one of them entitled
I was getting tired but was determined to hang, so when Mason suggested going to Zoo Atlanta next, I was all for it. We went to the zoo in Grant Park and saw the giant pandas, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, the zoo’s main attraction. Afterward we went to the petting zoo and had a ball playing with the animals. When we left, I just knew we were headed home but…
…We drove out to Stone Mountain Park and it wasn’t crowded at all for that time of year. I had always wanted to go there but had no one to go with. Ever since I had lost the baby fat back in high school, I had managed to stay in good shape by watching my diet for the most part. Mason was in great shape, as I had found out firsthand when we made love. I still blushed every time I thought about it. We opted against the cable car and the 1.3 mile hike up the side of the mountain was a breeze. We walked through a canyon of boulders that were covered by chewing gum. It was quite a hilarious sight.
We got to the top, more than 1,600 feet above sea level, and took in the spectacular view. We found a cozy spot where no one else was hovering around and made out for about thirty minutes. It was incredible.
It was getting close to sunset so we decided we needed to head back down while the visibility was still good. We did have time to go pedal boating right quick and we ended up having a race with a couple of teenage boys. We beat them big-time and were out of the boat and chilling on the dock by the time they were tied up.
Mason and I went back home just long enough for us to go to our respective apartments, shower and change. Then we headed back out again. I took three vitamins first. The shower almost put me out, I was so exhausted.
We ended up at Cherry, an eclectic sushi bar on Peachtree Street. We had the Tuna Tataki, which was mouthwatering and shared a glass of American wine. We topped it off with a bowl of cherry cobbler, which we also shared. The inside of the place was classy and completely decorated in red. Apparently, it used to be a residence that dated back to the early 1920s.
By that point, I was tired, full, and ready to go back home and cuddle. But Mason wouldn’t hear of it. He said, “You need to make up for lost time, Jonquinette. There are so many things you should’ve already experienced that you haven’t. Let me help you create more memories. Positive memories.”
I blushed and said, “Okay, let’s go for it.”
“Then let’s go relax and have some fun,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me out the restaurant.
Our last stop of the evening turned out to be anything but relaxing. We ended up at The Punchline, where Sir Laughs-a-Lot was performing. He was one of my all-time favorites. I fell in love with his humor way back when he used to star on
We spent a couple of hours laughing so hard that we were brought to tears and then Mason asked, “Ready to go home?”
