My Wednesday meeting with Dr. Mason began with a discussion about Karen. The topic pleased me far more than fifty minutes of him dissecting my childhood. Whenever he speaks of his sessions with my daughter, I become cautious about volunteering information because I'm never sure what she has related to him. I was confident she'd told him about securing a part in a high school play. She had done so, and he was very interested.
"I find it quite ironic," he said. "Do you know the story line?" I told him I'd also played a part in the same play many years earlier.
"Betty Parris's mother died as did Karen's mother and the main plot line of the play is guilt and punishment. The child is tormented and hiding a secret, isn't she? The character's father is living a falsehood, I believe."
"I doubt Karen understands the subtle similarities," I answered, although I too, had seen the irony. "She's just happy to be playing the part with the older students. Tell me what progress you're making with her."
"We've delved into her mother's suicide and reached what I'd like to think are healthy conclusions. I believe she no longer harbors any guilt over that incident. We decided Carol North chose the basement out of consideration for her daughter, knowing Karen was forbidden from going down. We talked about the effect of the multitude of drugs she was taking and the impact on an ill woman's judgment."
While I applauded the easing of Karen's mind on the subject, I didn't buy the story the bitch chose the basement out of feelings of sensitivity; toward anyone. All she had to do was chug down a bottle or two of pills, and take the big trip in her sleep, saving everyone the job of cleaning up her mess.
Dr. Mason continued. "The conversation about drugs was bothersome to Karen, so I didn't pursue it."
"She personally has a strong aversion to taking any type of drugs. I suppose she saw their effect on her mother."
The doctor agreed. "I've tried to get Karen to open up about her mother, but she continues to refuse any discussion, only that she nursed her mother and combed her hair frequently. It's my impression she spent hours at her mother's bedside as a caring child, much more time than her father, Carol's husband."
"Paul confided to me Carol was far more comfortable with Karen's attention than his."
"Karen's mother may not have been as nice a person as we assumed. That's what I read between the lines from what little information Karen tells me." That utterance surprised me, and I told the doctor so.