“Sit on the sofa,” M'Lady One told us. “Remember, no one is to speak until asked to do so. We'll be listening.”
We sat on the sofa; then she closed the door behind her as she left. For a moment, the three of us, so tired and exhausted, just sat quietly enjoying the cool air. Teal turned her hands over and looked at her palms. She grimaced sharply, looking like she might burst into tears. Robin closed her eyes and sat back. I lowered my head and stared at the floor.
“I'm running away from here tonight,” I heard Teal whisper.
“You can't do that. You'll get lost and die out there,” Robin said.
“I'll die here anyway,” Teal replied, but not with as much conviction as someone who really believed she had no other choice.
We heard the door being opened and pressed our lips shut. Dr. Foreman walked in, smiled at us, and went first to her desk. She turned some pages of a document in front of her, then came around her desk and sat in the oversize chair, the document in her lap.
“So here we are,” she said. “I thought it would be nice if our first session was together, the three of you and me, beginning as a group. How does everyone feel?”
For a moment none of us took the question seriously. How do we feel? How could we feel but miserable?
“I'm exhausted,” Teal finally said. “I had a horrible night because I was forced to sleep outside chained to a cot, and it was cold, very cold. I don't know why I'm not sick with pneumonia or something, and I stink. We all stink. I want to go home. I'm sure my parents don't know what this place is like or they wouldn't have sent me here. When they find out, heads are going to roll.”
Dr. Foreman had a face like a mask, I thought. Her eyelids barely blinked and those eyes of hers looked like they could bore holes into all three of us. Her lips remained firm, tight. Teal had to look away. She sucked in her tears and held her breath.
“Of course your parents, and your uncle and aunt in your case, Phoebe, know what this is like,” Dr. Foreman began. “They were given our brochure and everything, every detail was explained to them. We don't take anyone here without all that being understood first. Agreements had to be signed. I can show you them, ifyou wish. Your parents want you here, Teal. Why do you suppose that is?”
Teal didn't reply. She kept her face turned away, her chin in her hand with her elbow braced on the arm of the sofa.
Dr. Foreman turned to Robin and me. “Anyone? Why do you suppose you were sent to me, to this school?”
“It isn't a school. It's a torture chamber,” Teal snapped at her.
“Can you imagine what sort of torture you have put your families through?”
“Nothing as bad as this,” Robin replied defiantly.
"That becomes a matter of opinion, doesn't it, Robin? The emotional and mental torture your families suffered was worse than anything to them or they wouldn't have turned to me in desperation, they and the courts that are frustrated with your behavior, that are ready to give up entirely on you. Tell me, any of you, why should your families have kept you? What did you give to them besides heartache? What do you give to anyone? What value are you to the world?
“Natani's cows give us milk, his pigs give us ham, his garden gives us vegetables, his pottery gives us dishes, his animals give us clothing. What do any of you do but take from the world around you, the world you spent your time damaging? Who will miss any of you?”
Maybe we were all just too tired, but when I shifted my tearful eyes toward Robin and Teal, I saw they were as pained and saddened.
“You were born, you hurt people, and you have been removed, just like some diseased rodent,” Dr. Foreman continued, glancing at me. “You're going to lodge complaints? You dare to threaten? You don't know howridiculous that sounds. Why should anyone listen to your complaints now? All your lives you never listened to anyone else's.”
“What do you want from us?” Teal screamed, the tears streaming down her cheeks.
“What I want from you is what you should want from yourself. A rebirth, a complete change.”
“I'll change. I promise,” Teal followed.
“No. You can't promise that. You've promised it before and broken the promise. Now, you really have to do it, and to do it, you must truly come to hate who you are now and bury that person out there.” Dr. Foreman nodded toward the windows.
“We might just do that if you keep torturing us like this,” Teal shot back at her.
“Then that is what will be, but I don't think so. I think you'll change for the better. We're here to begin. Today, I want you each to tell me one thing that you did that you admit was shameful, something that in itself would almost justify your being here. I want to believe you when you tell me that, too, so don't just say anything. I know a great deal about each of you. I know what I would choose if I were any one of you.” Dr. Foreman sat back. “Who wants to begin?”
Robin and I looked down. Teal turned away.
“No one is ready to begin her cleansing?”
“I didn't do anything bad enough to deserve this,” Teal insisted.
Dr. Foreman looked at Robin.
“I'm here only because my mother darling wants to be free of me,” she said.
Dr. Foreman turned to me.
“My aunt and my uncle hated having me. They jumped on the first opportunity to get me sent away.”
Doctor Foreman nodded. “Okay. It's not unusual for you all to be
