Page 25 of My Thursday Throwback

“No, you saw an ugly man that you figured would be happy to have your attention. An ugly man who would be willing to deal with your issues, bullshit, and stupid fights because I would be grateful to have you,” he said. “Ugly on the inside is not who I am, but I am starting to think it may be all that is left of you.”

“Fuck you, Scott Berger,” she snapped.

“Well, it would have been nice, but doesn’t seem like that is going to happen,” he said. “I am going to my last session, then getting out of here.”

“Fine. Go,” she said. “Walking out just when things are starting to get interesting is kind of a disappointment.”

“Life is funny like that,” he said, sitting his cup down and heading to the bedroom. An entire life together with her flashed before Scott’s eyes as the possibility of a future together with his spectacular woman fizzled into a crumbling heap of shards of glass. He could fight for her, but he didn’t have it in him.

Dressed in a loose-fitted pair of khakis and a blue sports coat, he left Danny in his case as he headed for the door. Michael’s conversation with Pip went about as well as Scott’s, and he came back through the door, leaning against it with a sullen expression. His heart heavy, his spirits low. He looked at Scott with saddened puppy dog eyes.

“What’s going on in here?” Michael asked.

“I guess my conversation with Scott went about as well as yours with Pip,” she said with a scowl.

“So you are making this my fault as well Zelda?”

“No Mike, what I am trying to get through that thick head of yours is that if you were honest with me, honest with Pip, we all could be living happy lives right now instead of everyone being pissed off at each other. I would know who I am, manage my own pain without trying to figure out missing pieces of my life. I could be happy!”

“Oh cut the shit, Zelda. You are happy, or you could be if you let go of this notion that I hid something from you,” he yelled at her.

Zelda’s hand came up so quickly Micheal didn’t have time to duck as her open palm made contact with his face.

“That made me happy,” she said stepping away.

Michael wasn’t happy in the least. Zelda had slapped him physically. Pip’s words had hit him low and he was hurting in the worst way. If anything he was angrier than when he left Pip’s room. If his sister wanted honesty, she was going to get it in a handful of spades.

“Fine. Do you want the truth? I will give you the truth Zelda. The part of you that I had suppressed was the bad memories of the lack of our mother’s love. I also had them turn off that part of you which you prided which was your looks. Subconsciously, it was planted in your head that you looked like an average girl. With that turned off, you could no longer use your looks to manipulate people. As a little girl that’s what you did. Every swinging dick small and large were drawn to you like a drone to its queen. So if anything, you should be thanking me,” Michael snapped at her.

“Thanking you? Thanking you? Thank you for what?”

“For making you a woman of character and of substance that any man would be proud to call his wife, versus another pretty face, waiting for a man to take care of her,” Michael said. “I taught you to take care of yourself. Any man in your life would compliment who you are, not define you. That’s what I gave you. Stop focusing on what I supposedly took away.”

He shook his head in frustration, looking as if he was ready to run as far away as he could possibly get from all of them. Grandma Lula, Wilke, Zelda, Scott and Pip. For the first time in his life, he wanted to be free.

“Come on,” Scott said, after listening to the conversation, taking Michael by the arm. “Let’s get out of here and clear our heads.”

Scott Berger never made it to the last day of his conference. He and Michael started at the bar to drown their sorrows, but the entire day turned into an adventure neither of them would soon be able to live down.

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