Jonathan Kellerman - Therapy

Milo drew back Gull’s other arm.

Gull shouted, “What is it you want ?!”

I said, “For you to be forthcoming.”

“Forthcoming about what ?”

Myrna said, “Be quiet, Franco.”

“What? And let them put these on me and take me to jail ?”

“Franco, I’m sure this will-”

“What I’m sure of is I never killed anyone or conspired or did any of those things!” Gull twisted to make eye contact with me. “What you’re doing is unethical. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

I said, “Feel free to file a complaint. Though I don’t imagine you’ll want to.”

He said, “What gives you the right to judge me?”

“Forthcoming,” I said, “doesn’t mean gamesmanship.” To Milo: “My opinion is we should wrap up.”

Milo placed his hand on Gull’s scruff and turned him around and placed a palm in the small of Gull’s back. “Time to go to jail, Doctor.”

Gull shouted, “Stop! Please! I’ll be forthcoming . Okay, yes, I chased a few skirts. You want to talk about that? Fine, I’m ready to talk about it. I’ve got a little problem, is that what you wanted to hear? I pleasured women, received pleasure in return, it has nothing to do with jail or murder or any other fucking bullshit that would send me to jail! And yes, that is an official diagnosis, I’m qualified to diagnose, I am a good psychologist, fucking great psychologist, all my patients get better !”

I said, “Like Gavin Quick?”

Gull said, “He- that- he wasn’t really my patient.”

“No?”

“I saw him for four, five sessions. It ended.”

“Why?”

“Take these things off, and I’ll tell you.”

“Tell us, now.”

Wimmer said, “Franco, my advice to you is to not tell them any-”

Gull said, “The stupid kid didn’t want to see me because he found out I was sleeping with a patient. Okay? Happy? I’m humiliated, I am now officially, publicly shit-faced humiliated. But I never killed anyone! Take these things off.”

Myrna Wimmer said, “I need an Advil.”

Milo removed the cuffs and sat Gull in the same armchair.

Gull said, “Can we all calm down and get rational, here?” His face was sodden.

Milo said, “If you continue to show some honesty, we might be able to work something out.”

Wimmer said, “I want that on the record.”

Milo said, “Sorry, no.”

“Then I refuse to have my client-”

“Myrna, stop complicating things, stop being a goddamn lawyer !” said Gull. “It’s not your life!”

Wimmer frowned at him, dry-swallowed the two Advil tablets in her palm. “You’ve been warned, Franco.”

Gull turned to me. “Honesty about what? I told you, I slept with a patient.”

“Only one?” I said.

His eyes searched mine. Trying to figure out how much I knew.

“More than one,” he said. “But not that many more, and it was always consensual. The stupid kid found out and threw a fit and said he could no longer trust me, he wanted to fire me. Then he threatened to report me. He, of all people.”

“What do you mean?” I said.

“The whole reason he was there was to deal with his own sexual issues. He was a stalker. So who was he to get self-righteous?”

“You don’t understand why he’d think you weren’t the ideal therapist, Franco?”

“I understand, I understand,” said Gull. “It shouldn’t have happened, but it did. But he was snooping, it’s not as if I flaunted it or anything like that. The point is, the kid was brain-damaged, his mentation was distorted.”

“Not thinking straight,” I translated for Milo.

“In addition,” said Gull, “he was pathologically compulsive- extremely perseverative. Cognitively and behaviorally.”

I said, “Once he got hold of something he wouldn’t let go.”

“Precisely,” said Gull. As if that settled it.

“How’d he find out?” I said.

“I told you, by snooping.” Gull let out a harsh laugh. “Stalking me .”

“Where?”

“He hung around the building after his session was over, came back after hours, and waited in his car, out on the street.”

“Where on the street?”

“Palm Drive. Out back, behind the parking lot. It didn’t register at the time, but later, when he confronted me, I realized he’d been sitting there.”

“What kind of car?”

“Mustang.”

“Color?”

“Red. Red convertible. But he always kept the top up, and the windows were tinted, so I never saw if anyone was inside.”

I said, “That’s the car he was killed in.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that, that’s unfortunate,” said Gull. “But I had nothing to do with it.”

“He confronted you and threatened to report you.”

“You don’t kill someone for that.”

“What do you kill them for?”

“Nothing. Violence is always wrong.” Gull searched for his hankie. I spotted it, on the floor behind him, but didn’t let on.

He said, “You don’t kill anyone for any reason. I’m a firm believer in nonviolence.”

“Make love, not war.”

“You’re making me sound glib and lecherous. It wasn’t like that. Some women need tenderness.”

Wimmer’s hands clawed.

I said, “So Gavin hung around the building.”

“He damn well did.”

“How often?”

“Don’t know,” said Gull. “I caught him once.”

“When he caught you.”

Silence.

“How did it happen?”

“Are you going to use it against me?”

“Ethical violations are the least of your problems.”

“What do you want?”

“Everything you know about everything I ask.”

“The Grand Inquisitor,” he said. “How can you justify this, professionally?”

“We all make adjustments,” I said.

Milo jangled the handcuffs.

Gull said, “Sure. Fine. Let’s do it.”

“That okay with you?” I asked Wimmer. “Busy schedule and all.”

Wimmer hesitated. Gull whined, “Myr-na?” She looked at her watch, sighed, sat back in her chair. “Sure, make yourselves comfortable. Boys. ”

Franco Gull said, “I should’ve followed my instincts, never wanted to treat him.”

“Not your type of patient,” I said.

He didn’t answer.

A few minutes ago, he’d cleared his throat several times, and Milo had suggested to Myrna Wimmer that someone get water for her client. Looking vexed, she phoned for a pitcher and glasses, but when they arrived Gull refused to drink.

Clutching at the smallest choice.

I said, “Why didn’t you want to treat Gavin Quick?”

“I don’t like adolescents,” said Gull. “Too much crisis, too much in flux.”

“Add brain damage to that.”

“That, too. I hate neuropsych. Boring. Uncreative.”

“Brain-damaged adolescent,” I said. “Also, he was male.”

“I see males.”

“Not many.”

“How would you know?”

“Am I wrong?”

“I’m not divulging personal information about my patients,” said Gull. “No matter what pressure you put on me.”

I said, “Ethics and all that.”

Gull was silent.

“Gavin watched the building,” I said. “How did he find out you were sleeping with a patient?”

Gull winced. “Is this necessary?”

“Very.”

“Fine, fine. He was there in the parking lot when we came out.”

“You and the patient.”

“Yes. A lovely person. I walked her out. It was late, dark, she was my last patient, and I was leaving, too.”