Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:21:27 -0400 From: Homer Simpson Subject: Devon's Lie 1 A pretext is required. So the usual warnings apply. If your under 18 or it is illegal to read this, then don't--go elsewhere. Comments are welcome. Flames are deleted immediately. Send comments to d.beer@hotmail.com. The shrink shrugged his shoulders when the staff member informed him of a new client. A special client. It didn't make much difference to the shrink though. He'd seen all types of people thru his care. Some got better and some didn't. The non-cured ones went on to a permanent structure. "His name is Devon Shire. He's a popular singer from what we can tell. He was brought in by his parents. They said he was unresponsive and getting worse" the staff member stated. "His parents are waiting to talk with you in visitor's room 7 as soon as you can get to them" The shrink nodded his head in acknowledgement. Sighing, strolling down the hallway away from the desk with a metal tri-fold clipboard with the patients information inside. He stopped at his office door, pressed the button and the door lock allowed him to enter. After getting himself a cup of coffee, the shrink sat in his chair, propped his feet up on his desk, sighed again and opened up the folder. He began to read... "Devon Shire. Age 12. Residence: Alexandria, LA. Siblings: Brother, Sebastian Age 9. Sister: Amanda, Age 10. Father: Joseph Shire. Occupation: Minister, Devout Christian. Age 35. Mother: Eunice Shire. Occupation: Teacher grade 5 Science, Math, and Language Arts. Hobbies for Devon include Singing, piano, guitar, riding bicycles, visiting friends. Discovered at local talent show. Signed by major record label. Quickly rose to stardom. One hit wonder. Has become distant and unresponsive in past months. School grades dropping to below passing levels. Admitted as suicide risk" Another prima donna the shrink was wondering as he drank the coffee and looked out the window. At 43 he'd achieved what most people in life had worked for. He was fully invested in a retirement program. His parents had left him well off, enough that he didn't have to really work if he didn't want too. They died tragically in a car accident during his final year of school. He went to work for the state straight out of school. He worked long and hard to pass the lonely times. Never married but never without possible company. He sighed again, shut the folder up and drank the rest of his coffee. He left the office and headed back to the reception area where the parents were waiting. He refilled his cup. He drank from it and walked into the waiting area. He looked around before he remembered that they were already in a room awaiting him. He went to room 7, opened the door and walked in. The woman was sitting in a chair wringing her hands with worry. The father immediately turned around from looking out the window at the man standing before him. "It's about time!" the father said "we've been waiting for over an hour now. Now, if we can get started I-we'd appreciate it" The father sat down in the chair next to his wife. He put his hand over her wringing hand and looked back up at the shrink. The shrink at that point sat in a chair opposite them sipping his coffee. He was mildly amused at the man. "Now, Devon has been slipping at school and at home. He has been shirking his duties on a growing basis it seems. He is about to fail at school. None of his friends can be of any help it seems. His siblings are no help either. He is just unresponsive. Now what can we do?" The shrink said nothing yet but sipped his coffee. Several minutes passed between them. The woman kept wringing her hands more and more. The preacher started to get more and more upset with this man. The receptionist told him that their best psychologist would be on the case. This was clearly not the man. "Well?" the father said. The shrink cleared his throat then and held his coffee cup in his lap on top of the tri-folder. "What is it you want to do?" he asked them simply. The father glared at him "Well, get him fixed up or what ever is bothering him" "And what do you think is bothering him?" "IF I KNEW THAT, I WOULDN'T BE HERE WOULD I?" the father said thru clinched teeth. "Are you all this place has to offer? Dang, I thought it was more" he said more to his wife than the shrink. "I see" said the shrink taking another sip of his coffee and putting the cup back down. "First of all, we had to do a physical evaluation on your son. Then we'll start on the evaluation of his mental status. I am the doctor assigned to him. I will be in charge of him now" "We can just remove him from here" the father stated. "Afraid not, once you admitted him, he will be placed here for at least six weeks per Louisiana law. It helps those who are considering admitting someone, to really focus on the patient. Usually by the time we see them, it is the last straw. However, we treat everyone serious. We will be speaking to each of you along with his siblings. Once we find out what his status is, then we'll develop an attack to help him. Is there anymore questions?" The father stood up defeated and shook his head. His wife also stood up to leave. "And by the way, I am the best to treat him here. You can ask any of the staff for references" They shook hands and said that they would await a phone call for further instructions. The shrink walked them to the main entrance and watched them leave from the parking lot. They were driving a church van. The shrink turned to see the boys himself.