The Good Mother
A row of chairs lines the pristine white walls inside the empty waiting room. The smell of Lysol and Lemons mask the location. Arizona, a slender woman in a suit skirt walks down the corridor. Her black pumps clunk against the linoleum in a harmonic beat. She stops just outside the first door to the right. Silence overtakes the moment. She draws in a deep breath and runs her ID badge against the security plate to the left of the door. She clears her throat and runs her hands down the smooth shape of her perfect blonde hair. The door buzzes and unlocks. Her smile illuminates her perfect teeth and she walks through the door.
The room is quiet and bright. A huge glass window takes up most of one wall. She places her bag on the table and begins to remove the contents. A legal pad, some pens, a tape recorder, some gum, and bottled water. She sits down in perfect form and tucks herself in against the table. She lines up all of her items perfectly and interlocks her fingers together before placing them gently on the legal pad. She waits patiently.
***
A young woman slouches before Arizona. Arizona looks at this woman with genuine sympathy. She takes in her appearance and studies the woman, carefully. Her light brown hair is a bit frazzled and straw-like; the roots have long grown out black around her scalp. Her eyebrows are pencil-thin but still shapely. She has blue eyes like Arizona, but hers were sunken in and heavily purple bags weighed down her eyes. Her complexion is clear, her skin is porcelain white, her cheeks a bright red, she has smooth skin and a pointy nose, her lips are dried out and thin but smiles in a way that warms people.
The woman catches Arizona staring at her, “You’re looking kinda thin.”
Arizona’s smile turns down and she looks at the documents in her hand. “How about we get started?”
Arizona pushes down the button and starts recording. “Cassie, why don’t you start from the beginning.” Arizona flashes her perfect smile. She looks straight into Cassie’s eyes.
Cassie’s smile disappears and she begins to fidget and look around everywhere except into Arizona’s eyes.
“It’s ok, Cassie. Take your time.” Arizona places her warm hand on top of Cassie’s and waits patiently.
“How many times are you going to make me do this?” Cassie crosses her arms over her chest and stares at her with impatience.
“As many times as it takes.” Arizona
Cassie sighs. “I need a cigarette!”
Arizona thinks for a moment. “Sure.” She hands an invisible cigarette pack to Cassie. It was something her father used to do for her mother during one of her breakdowns.
Cassie ruminates on the gesture for a bit. “You got a light?”
Arizona pretends to pull out a matchstick. She strikes it and cups her hands around the imaginary flame. She lights the pretend cigarette that Cassie is holding against her lips.
Cassie inhales slowly. “Thanks, Ari!” After a few long-drawn-out puffs of her cigarette, Cassie pretends to put it down. She coughs and clears her throat. A few seconds go by and she slowly parts her dried lips. She waits for another second, “Disneyland.” She looks up at the ceiling and rubs her eyebrow with her pinkie. She manages to hold it together without emotion.
Arizona calmly waits for her to continue.
“I wanted to take him to Disneyland. I knew he wouldn’t remembah it. You know, I was just thinking to myself, ‘he’s only 4 months old.’, but I wanted to. So, we went. I remembah driving all the way from Jersey. Just the two of us, ya know?” she pretends to pick up the cigarette and takes a long puff. Exhaling slowly with her lips pursed together loosely. “We get to the gate and they tell me it’s like 200 dallahs. I tellah, 200 for me and the baby, that’s ridiculous?!’ and she has the audacity to tell me that was just for me.” She puts her hands into air quotes. “the baby is free.” She rolls her eyes and takes another puff of her cigarette. “So, I hand the woman the 200 dallahs, ya know? I was already there. I’d driven a long way for this.” She hands me my ticket and says, ‘Have a magical day!’ Fuck her!” She sits back in her chair and looks Arizona straight in the eyes. “Gimme back the 200 bucks and a free ticket and then maybe I’ll have a magical day! Am I right?” She chuckles softly as she taps the ashes into an invisible ashtray.
“That’s pretty expensive,” Arizona agrees. It’s why mom and dad never took us.
Cassie scoffs. “They never did shit for nobody. Mom was always fuckin’ mental.”
Arizona holds out the gum. “Would you like a piece?”
“You know I do,” she takes the piece and places it next to the ashtray. “For aftah’… so they won’t know I was smokin’.
Arizona unwraps her stick of gum and begins to chew on it. She takes a sip of water as she anticipates the next part of the story.
“Anyway, I get to the gates with little Nicky and they tell me, ‘right this way mama!’ I don’t go through that metal detectah’ shit, I go in through the side like one of them rich bitches with their’ fancy bottled wateh’.” Then, one of them security men try and sneak a peek at Nicky, and I tell um’. ‘Mind ya business, he’s sleepin’,’ and I keep movin’.” She picks up the cigarette again and takes a slow hit. “I gotta savor it, ya know? They don’t let me do much in here.” she puts the cigarette down and gurgles her laughter. “I remember this one broad; she comes up to me and tells me she wants to see my baby. I tell her he’s sleepin! He’s only 4 months old. He sleeps a lot. Oh, I bet he sleeps like an angel, she says.” Cassie laughs again. “Of course, he does! I love seein’ him sleep. My little Nicky is the best thing to evah’ happen a me, I’d go crazy without em’. I keep walkin’. Anyway, we make it to the teacups. Cuz’ I wanna take him on the teacups. I wait in line and this guy walks up to me and says, please, come this way! You don’t have to wait in line, you have a baby.So, I take out little Nicky and hold him in my arms, and we ride the teacups. They go around and around and around, and I start feeling sick, ya know. Like I would chunk my monkey, so I hold little Nicky tighter, ya know.” Cassie goes silent for a moment as if she is remembering the exact moment.
“And then what happened?” Arizona looks on wide-eyed but completely professional.
“What? Nothin’, we get off the ride and I put Nicky back in his strollah. My good little boy, he slept through the whole thing. Anyway, I heard about the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, ya know? That Johnny Depp is a lookah so I decide that’s where I’m going. That’s where I’m taking little Nicky, next.”
Arizona begins to look uncomfortable. She finishes her water. “Would you like some water,” she asks while twirls her loose-fitting wedding band with her thumb, nervously.
Cassie catches a glimpse of what she is doing. “Nah, all they give me in here is water! Now, a bottle of Coca-cola, I could go for some of that. You got any of that lying around in that big fucken’ purse?”
Arizona smiles and shakes her head, regretfully. She reaches into her bag and takes out another bottled water. “Just water.” She opens it and takes a small drink.
“Maybe, that’s why you’re looking so thin. Doesn’t Scott take care of you?”
Arizona changes the subject. “So, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride?”
“Yeah, we’re just waitin in the long line. This time no one pulls me out of line, so, we have to wait, ya know?” When I get to the front, they tell me I shoulda left the strollah. I can’t take it on the ride. I tell her’ He’s sleepin though, I don’t wanna wake him. The kid smiles and tells me to get little Nicky out and he will take the strollah to the end of the ride for me. I’m thinking, jeez, everyone is so nice here, no wonder people say it’s the happiest place on earth, shit, for 200 dollahs! Anyway, I take out Nicky and get on the ride. It’s a cool ride, ya know, with the boats and whores and everything.” She stops talking and looks away.
“Are you ok? Cassie?” Arizona looks at her baby sister with worry. “Would you like me to stop?”
“Nah, I’m good. Just remembahin’ it all – it’s a lot.” She picks up her cigarette and pretends to light another one with that one. “Who knew I’d get enough time to smoke more than one.” She pretends to snuff out the butt and gently taps off the ashes from her new one. She stops talking and just smokes in silence for a second. “I used to think Mom was full of shit, you know, acting like she was sick, I never thought she would slit her wrists for real.”
Arizona wants to scream at her sister for bring up their mother, but all she can do is play into her fantasy, it is the only way she can truly help her sister get better. “Do you mind?” Arizona slides off her pumps. “I always say I won’t take them off, but I just get so tired. Besides its just you and me, two girls having a conversation, like before. Nothing formal.”
Cassie laughs. “As long as I can trust you to bring me more of these menthol cigarettes, we can do this every day, am I right?” She laughs again and puts the cigarette down in the pretend ashtray. “You remember when I used to make fun of dad for doing this exact shit with mom? Now look at us, fucking pathetic, right?”
“Mom was very sick; dad was just trying to help.”
“She fucked him up real good.”
“Arizona, this is about you, today. Forget mom and dad for a bit.”
“Right. Anyway, we ride the ride, and I get to the end with Nicky and the same kid is waiting with my strollah.” He tells me, would you like me to check your stroller, there seems to be a dirty diaper or something in there? I hold up Nicky and smell his tushy and he don’t smell like shit, so I tell him, ‘it’s not us.’He smiles and just walks away. I know he was thinkin Nicky shit himself, but it wasn’t Nicky, I was sure. I sweah.”
Arizona interrupts her. “Cassie, do you remember everything perfectly, or is some of it fuzzy? Because the kid swears that’s why he remembers you and Little Nicky -- the smell.”
Cassie slams her open hands down on the table. “I remembah’! That little shit looked like he likes complainin”
“Okay!” Arizona concedes, gently.
Anyway, it wasn’t Nicky, I put him back in and decide it’s time to go eat. It’s hot and I’m getting hungry. As we start making our way to the restaurants, I notice the train that takes you around. I figure, why not? It’s a quickah’ way to get where we were going and we get to ride it, too.” She picks up her cigarette and sticks it in her mouth. She continues talking with the cigarette hanging from her lips while she uses her hands to show Arizona what she means. “I get on, but I can’t get the strollah in, I have to hold the baby and the Strollah at the same time. I’m getting frustrated. It’s not that easy to do. This old guy comes up to me and takes Nicky. Damn, cunt couldn’t take the strollah, instead!” I hurry up and get the stroller in and snatch little Nicky back from him, ya know. I don’t like men holding my kid. It’s just wrong… Anyway, I’m sitting there with Nicky in my arms and it’s time to get off. I grab Nicky and the strollah and wait for everyone else to leave. Some people ain’t leaving, ya know, they are going on the train, still, so I try to push the strollah’ and hold Nicky but its fucking hard to do, ya know?” She stops talking and pulls the cigarette out from her mouth and puts her head down.
“Is that when it happened… Cassie… Is that when—”
“Well, just listen. I hear the announcement that the doors are about to close, and no one is helping me with the damn strollah, and I just fucking kick the strollah outta frustration and it goes out the doors and Nicky slips out from my arms. He lands on the floor.” She looks at Arizona. “I felt embarrassed. I dropped my kid. I scoop him up as fast as I can, and I book it out of that train. I leave the strollah and everything. I’m fucking running and I run straight to the bathroom. I wait there ‘till I’m sure it’s ok to come out and then I go back to get the strollah. Someone had picked it up and parked it next to the train stop.
“While you were in the bathroom did you check on Nicky?” She is sure to sound understanding and not accusatory. “…You know, to be sure he was okay?” Arizona begins to fidget in her seat. Her knee is bouncing more than she would like. This part always makes her nervous.
“Of course, I checked on him, Ari. I was lucky, I wrapped him in like 4 of those baby blankets and he was exactly like I had left him. Sleepin.” She smokes her cigarette and holds her hair into a ponytail. “You got a rubber band or something? They don’t let me use anything like that in here. It’s hot in here.” She picks up her shirt in an attempt to fan herself a bit.
“Cassie, calm down, it’s not hot, it’s just a tense moment. Go on and tell me what happened next.” Arizona drinks the last of her bottled water and sets the new empty one right next to the other bottle. She picks up her pen again and continues to make notes.
“I’m tellin ya it’s fucken hot in here!” Cassie stands up and walks over to the big dark window. She taps on it. “What the fuck is there here for, you got someone listening or something?”
Arizona laughs nervously. “Would you stop being so difficult! Please, come and sit down and finish your statement. Please?”
“Alright, alright!” “Where was I?” Cassie sits down and smokes her cigarette. “I put Nicky in the strollah.” She points her finger toward nothing, trying to remember exactly what she had done in that moment. “I start pushing him and I’m not even hungry anymore, ya know, because of how scared I got.” She lights another cigarette with the one before it. “The last one, I sweah. This shit will kill ya, ya know!” She closes her eyes and savors every breath of the nicotine she inhales. “Anyway, I push him to that boat ride, with the tiny people.” She squints and looks up as she tries to recall the name.
“It’s a small world!” Arizona interjects, softly.
“Yeah, that’s the one. I get on that ride and this time I leave the strollah like I’m supposed to. I get on the ride and everything is perfect. I even decide it is time to breast feed Nicky. I do it on the ride. Ya know, it’s pretty quiet in there. I know how dumb broads are about that kind of shit in public. Anyway, when I’m done and we get to the end of the ride, I notice my shirt is all wet from the breastmilk. I use Nicky’s blanket to cover myself, and some dumb bitch has the nerve to say I stink. Fuck her! There’s no law against breastfeeding.”
“So, she said you stink because you were breastfeeding on the ride?” She makes a new note and puts the pen down and continues to listen intently.
“I mean, why else would she say something like that to me!” She coughs from the cigarette smoke. She strikes her chest and clears her throat. “I’m starting to get tired you know, from holding Nicky, he’s a big boy for 4 months. I think to myself, ‘one more ride’ that’s all the energy I have left. I pull out a map and look at all the rides. I start thinking, what would Nicky want to ride when he’s older, like as a teenager, ya know? So, I pick out the mountain ride roller coaster; the big one. Nicky will love that one as a teen, I’m sure. I make my way to the ride and get in line with the strollah. When I get to the front of the line, they tell me Nicky is too small to ride.” Cassie starts to scratch her cheeks, nervously.
“It’s okay, Cassie. I’m here.” She gently places her hand over her little sister’s.
Cassie rips it away in anger. She slams her palms down on the table and stands up with her palms still in the same position on the table. Her face is turning red with irritation. “I was in line for a long time, ya know? Like fuck, how are they gonna make me wait two hours and then just like that, say no, to me? It’s fucking bullshit! Yeah, I’ll admit I was mad about it. And yeah, I told her she was being a fucking cunt, because she was. Anyway, she threatens to call security on me, so I take a walk. I put little Nicky in his strollah’ and start pushing. I don’t even want to be here anymore, ya know? I start walking to the front gate and this security guard walks up to me and says I’ve been banned from the park.”
She smokes her cigarette and begins to calm down a bit. She starts making hand gestures as she continues talking. “I tell him go fuck yourself.I paid 200 dollars to be there and I wasn’t leavin. I was already leavin, ya know, but this cock sucka tried to tell me what to do and I wasn’t having it, so, yeah, I clocked the guy, right in his big fat gut. He tells me he is going to arrest me, and I need to follow him. Fuckin’ prick even calls backup.” She rolls her eyes and exhales the smoke. “Now, there is a whole crowd of people just watching me like the fucking premier of Game of Thrones. They throw me on the ground and give me this. She pretends to put the cigarette in her mouth and holds up both of her wrists.
She thinks she still has the scars from the incident, scrapes on either side from being pushed against the pavement, but it has since healed.
Arizona looks down in sympathy. “They shouldn’t have done that to you. I’m sorry. Men hate strong women. You have a strong personality and that isn’t favorable, especially to a man of authority. It’s disgusting how men try to dominate women. They should have treated you with respect, regardless of your attitude. You were upset and they made it worse. Remember that.” Arizona continues to speak as she makes notes.
“I remembah being on the ground screaming for my baby, but that dumb cooze went and took him, anyway. I already told you, I don’t like men putting their hands on my Little Nicky. It’s just wrong.” She continues to smoke her cigarette.
“What happened after that?”
“They locked me up in Disney fucken jail.” She chuckles and blows her smoke. “I bet you didn’t even know they had one of those, did you, Princess?” her eyes lock on to Arizona’s.
Arizona answers her, honestly. “I did not.”
“Well, they do, and they put me inside of one. It didn’t stop me from complaining, though. I remembah them wheeling Nicky in there so I would shut up about it, but they just kept pissing me off, though, complaining about the damn smell. The start poking around coming up to me smelling me like I have a fucking piece of shit hanging from my ass or something. Then, that fat fuck had to go and check on Nicky. I swear, he screamed like a fucking girl.” She takes the last long drag of her cigarette and snuffs out the butt in the ashtray.
“Do you understand why he screamed?” Arizona looks intently at Cassie as she waits for her response.
“Yeah, coz Nicky’s been sleeping for 2 weeks!”
Arizona exhales with disappointment. Everything she has worked for and Cassie still comes back to this idea. No matter how many times Arizona has this conversation with Cassie it always ends the same. This makes Arizona angry and she snaps. Arizona stares at her little sister with hatred in her eyes. “Stop saying he’s sleeping!”
“He’s sleeping! Fuck! What more do you want me to say?”
“How about that he’s dead, because, as long as you don’t acknowledge that your son died two weeks before Disneyland, then you won’t ever leave this place.” Arizona shifts the weight to her other leg as she sits. “Do you remember what happened to Nicky that night? When your boyfriend slammed him against the wall multiple times, he suffered massive internal injuries, and when he put him to bed that night he never woke up! He’s dead, Cassie!” She puts the pen down and looks at her, again. “Nick is trying to pin this on you. He is blaming you, and as a trauma specialist, I know you suffered a severe psychotic break from what you witnessed that night. I know you’re not crazy Cassie, you are in denial due to severe trauma. It’s called dissociative disorder; it’s hereditary; mom had it too! It is the same reason you don’t like for men to touch Nicky, somewhere in your mind, you know what happened, but you push it away. I can’t help you until you understand what fully happened. That’s the only way you can start healing. You can come back from this! You don’t have to suffer like mom and dad did.”
“I’m not in denial. Nicky isn’t dead! Are you fucken deaf or somethin’?” She slams her palms on the table and hits herself in the head with her fist. “Fuck. Every. Body!”
Arizona lunges toward her sister. “Stop it! Stop it! Stop it, Arizona!” Cassie
Wake up, Cassie! Nicky is dead. You kept your dead son in an ice chest for two weeks and drove him over 3000 miles to Anaheim. You put your dead son on multiple rides and even tried to breastfeed him in public. You dropped your dead son on the floor of a train in front of a lot of people. Some of which complained about the smell that was emanating from his tiny corpse from the hot day because that is what happens after death, his tiny corpse started to smell bad. Your son is not sleeping, he is dead. D-E-A-D, Dead!
“Fuck you, Arizona!” Cassie lunges toward her sister, but nurses come in and stop the argument; they inject Cassie with a tranquilizer. Her tiny body falls limp in their arms and her loud screaming slowly fades. “He’s sleepin’!” She starts to pull chunks of her hair out. “He’s sleepin’! He’s sleepin’, he’s sleepin’!” She continues to whisper it to herself as reassurance. Arizona is left to clean up the mess and she calmly gathers her things and leaves visibly shaken.
***
Arizona drives up to meet Cassie. She gets in the car with a small clear bag of her belongings.
She hugs Arizona tightly. “Cassie! I’m so glad you got out of that place,” she says, as she clips her belt and drives off slowly. “I never gave up, though!” She puts her hand onto Cassie’s shoulder and glances over at her as she drives. “I worked hard with your doctors and lawyers to put Nick away for good. I needed to see justice done for little Nicky.”
“I know what you did for me, Ari. I appreciate it!”
“You know, I was always worried you would never get out. You just had so much trouble accepting reality. I worried every night that you would try to slit your wrists like Mom did so long ago.”
“Cassie, you and all the doctors helped me get better. I’m better.” She smiled at her sister.
“Then, they wouldn’t let me see you after the last time we spoke in person. I didn’t mean to do all that to you. I really just wanted to help you. I never meant to hurt you, Cassie.”
“Ari, I’m fine! You didn’t do anything wrong. I would have freaked out on you too. Mom, really messed us up.”
“That whole psychotic break was almost too much for me. You just seemed like a completely different person. I don’t even know where that personality came from. Usually dissociative disorder manifests itself through triggered memory but it was like yours was stuck in that world. You’ve never cussed in your life and you had an accent, too. Seeing you in the mental institute was so heartbreaking. It was like you weren’t even my little sister, anymore.”
“Well, I mean, I don’t remember any of it.” Cassie looks at her sister sadly.
Arizona’s smile is overtaken by seriousness.
“Nothing?”
“Nope. It’s like my mind blocked it out.”
“It’s a defense mechanism. It’s quite possible.”
“I know! Ari, can you take me --to see him?”
“Do you think you’re ready for that?” Arizona’s eyes widen with worry.
“I’m ready,” Cassie exhales deeply. “I’m ready to ask put it all behind me. I never meant to hurt him. I just couldn’t--”
“Cassie?” Arizona brakes hard and pulls over. “What are you talking about?”
“Little Nicky!”
Arizona puts the shifting gear into park and removes her seat belt. She slowly turns to face her little sister. “Cassie, Nicky is gone. Forever! That doesn’t mean you have to put him behind you; he will always be your son.”
“I know that! I feel like I need closure, though.”
Arizona pauses for a moment. “He had a beautiful ceremony.” She stops for a second and makes sure her sister can handle the statement. “Scott and I went all out, we buried him on the hill between mom and dad...” Arizona’s eyes meet with Cassie’s.
“I’m sure it was nice,” Cassie adds softly.
“I still can’t believe after all this, Nick asked if I could request his presence at the funeral.” Arizona’s puppy dog eyes meet Cassie’s.
“Really?” Cassie’s eye begins to twitch, So, you’ve been talking to Nick behind my back?
“No, he sent me a letter right after you were committed; he went on and on about how you drugged him and tied him up. He said you killed little Nicky in front of him and he couldn’t do anything about it. It took him 3 days just to get loose and call the cops, and how he didn’t have any proof of what happened because you took the baby and left.”
Cassie snickers. What a piece of shit!”
“Don’t worry Cassie, nothing he could have said would have changed my mind!”
“Yeah! Fuckem’ He deserves everything he’s getting!”
“-I – I know…” Arizona notices Cassie’s accent is back. She gulps hard. “Is everything okay?
“I’m free. Of course, everything is okay, No Nick! No baby!”
Arizona swallows hard and slowly exhales before parting her lips. She wanted to say something, but nothing came out.
“Everything is going to be fine, now.”
“Fine, how?”
“Look, It’s not a big deal that he’s gone; I wanted an abortion! Fucken government wouldn’t let me make my own choices because I was married, so I had to have a kid I didn’t want, and I couldn’t give him up for adoption because Nick--
Arizona cups her mouth with both hands and her eyes begin to water. She already knows what Cassie is trying to tell her.
“Nick wouldn’t let me give him up for adoption. He MADE ME keep him!” Her eyes begin to water. “I never asked to be a mother. Every day it was like another piece of me died.”
“We would have taken him, no questions asked, you know this!”
“and I would have given him to you, you know? To you and Scott, but Nick wouldn’t have let me do that. He threatened to slit my wrists and make everyone think I killed myself just like mom did! It was all about the perfect illusion for him. He cared too much about what others thought.”
“That isn’t enough to do what you did!” All you had to do was say something. There is plenty of help for women!”
NICK WOULD BEAT ME AND RAPE ME WHEN EVER HE WANTED!” I had to live with that prick, knowing what he did to me every night, and I couldn’t. That’s not the life I wanted. He was slowly killing me, threatening me, I wanted to kill him, but If I had murdered Nick, I would have been tossed in jail, you know that! So, I thought, why not send his ass to jail instead? You know, ruin his reputation in the process? He deserves to rot in jail and him simply beating me wasn’t going to put him away forever, and the only way to do it was to make everyone think he killed Little Nicky! It was the only way, Ari!” She tries to hug her sister, but Arizona pushes her hands away.
“Don’t touch me!” Cassie tries to leave the car, but Arizona pulls her back in.
“Would you just listen to me, Ari?” She continues to constrain Arizona. “I was a good mother; he didn’t suffer. I gave him some cough syrup, before I bashed his head in—"
“STOP IT,” Arizona yells at her as she pulls out her cell phone to call the police! They struggle over the phone and Cassie pulls it away.
Cassie looks straight into Arizona’s eyes.
“You’re delusional, just like mom was!”
“I’ve never been saner!”
“Now, you can call the cops, but it will still be his word against mine, and between you and I, I have this whole Split personality down pretty good, don’t you think?”
“What are you talking about?” She tries to free herself from Cassie’s grip.
“You got it all wrong sis, I’m not suffering from dissociative disorder, I’m a psychopath, or was it a sociopath? I get them confused, sometimes.” She puts her hands in air quotes.
“You didn’t have to do it like that!”
“Yeah? Now you wanna tell me how I should feel? No one gets to tell me how to feel about anything. It’s been my god-damned body this whole time, my body, my mind, my choice!”
“You don’t understand, because you’re sick. You need help like Mom did!” Arizona is out of breath as she talks.
“I’m not sick! The fucking government is sick. They’re all some old white men who get to tell me how I should feel! Killing my baby let me feel like I was in control and it sucks that Little Nicky suffered, but at the end of the day, he was never meant to exist. Them bastards in office made him suffer!”
Arizona begins to shake uncontrollably but her little sister’s words are not lost on her. “I want to understand, Arizona, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.”
Cassie loosens her grip around Arizona and hands her the phone. “Call them if you have to.”
Arizona can barely hold the phone in her trembling hand.
Cassie begins to smoke her invisible cigarette. “Society has really done a number on you, sis!” She reaches over and smacks Arizona’s head against the window and she blacks out.
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