She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. “So, the anniversary of Jimmy’s murder is coming up. How do you feel about that?”Guess not.
“Well, fuck. I guess we’re getting right down to business.”
She stared at him, waiting silently. He thought for a minute, having to shift gears quickly at her rapid subject change.
“Shitty. Angry. Frustrated. Sad.” His good mood evaporated.
“Care to elaborate?”
Not really. He didn’t like to talk about this stuff. Touchy-feely wasn’t his thing, but he’d made a mental commitment to at least try.
Reluctantly he answered. “Shitty, in that I miss him, and I don’t get to work with him every day anymore. Angry, that I let him get shot in the first place and then couldn’t save him when he did. Frustrated, that I haven’t caught that fucking bastard, Manuel. And sad, for Jenny and the boys who have to live life without him.”
“Hm.”
“Hm, what?” He started to heat up. “You asked me how I felt, and I told you. A few days ago, you said there were no wrong answers.”
“No, you’re right,” she answered quickly. “There are no wrong answers. I was just thinking.” She twirled her pencil between her fingers. “If I gave you some homework, would you do it?”
“What? I don’t know. Maybe.” The second abrupt topic change confused him and succeeded in derailing his anger. She was all over the place today. “Depends on what you want me to do, I guess.”
“I want you to do some volunteer work. Become a Big Brother. Sign up to read to blind people at the library. Go hold babies born with drugs in their system at the hospital. Serve soup at a homeless shelter. Something like that. You can pick.”
At a loss for words, he stood and walked over to the window. “What’s this have to do with Jimmy’s death?”
She ignored his question. “Do you currently do any volunteer work?”
“Not really.” His mother worked with several charity organizations, and sometimes he’d help at events or donate money to her causes, but nothing hands-on like the doctor was describing.
She plowed on. “I also want you to get a pet. A dog would be optimal, but they’re fairly high maintenance, so maybe start with a cat or a hamster. Do you have room at your place for an animal?”
“Good Lord. Where’s all this coming from?” he asked.
“Humor me. Do you have room for a pet?”
“Yes, but I’m never home. How will I take care of it?” Mitch’s mind was reeling.
She ignored him again. “I’ll even make you a deal. For every week you do volunteer work, I’ll cut a week off your scheduled visits with me. They want you to come in weekly for at least three months, so if you start now and volunteer every week, you can almost cut that in half.”
Now she was talking his language. Thinking only of getting out of sessions, he replied without hesitation.
“Deal.”
“Great. Then we’re done for today.” She stood. “I expect a full report next week on what you did and how it went. You can text me a picture of your new pet once you get it.”
He left the office flabbergasted, not exactly sure what he’d just agreed to. A pet? Why did she want him to get a pet? And what the hell was he going to do with one? If Adam was surprised to see him after only ten minutes, he didn’tshow it.
“Wow, that was quick. She fix you already?”
“Ha, ha. You’re not going to believe what she said.” He proceeded to tell Adam about the deal he’d made.
“That’s actually a fantastic idea. I saw some flyers at the station about the Big Brother stuff. And didn’t you say one of your brothers works at a hospital?”
“Yeah, Johnny’s an ER doc.”
“Maybe he could hook you up with something.” He seemed excited. “What are you interested in?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. I agreed to it in haste, trying to get out of sessions. Now I’m wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into. And what do you mean, this is a great idea? Why does she want me to do this stuff?”
