Summertime Haze
Part 1.7 - A Roach
“I’ve heard that this woman came from Newcrest a few years back, just like we did,” Ellen told Henry.
Ellen had called him early this morning to follow up on her initial idea to see a therapist that would help Henry control his desires. Henry did still find the whole concept a little bit odd, Ellen had been his school counselor, after all, but he still went over to her house when she asked.
She’d purchased a tiny home in a quiet suburban area of Willow Creek, a good fifteen minute walk away from where Henry lived and a ten minute bus ride away from the church. The location definitely fit everything Henry had started to see as important to Ellen.
“I met with her yesterday when we got home from the gym,” Ellen went on. “Lovely woman, apparently she even treated that up and coming author Zoe Patel.”
“She’s the whole reason I moved here,” Henry laughed quietly. “I thought that if a nobody like her could find success here, maybe I could.”
“Anyway-“ Ellen cut in. “I arranged an appointment for exactly what you need. All you need to do is show up at around 2, and she should have you booked!”
“Thanks a lot, Ellen,” Henry smiled. “I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done for me recently. You’re like… the first real friend I’ve had.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Henry.”
Henry pushed back his chair, about to stand up. “Well, I’m going to head back home and get ready for this whole thing. You’re right, Ellen, I really need this. Had to take a cold shower this morning and that Toby is still on my mind.”
“Well, what can I say? I’m always here to help.”
Henry said his goodbyes to Ellen and left her house. It was a quarter till noon, so he definitely had time, but he didn’t want to burden her with making a lunch for him. He’d dropped out and gotten back on his feet with Ellen’s help, and now it was time to prove to her that he could be a proper adult. Caring for himself was the first step, and from there, he’d probably work to schedule his own appointments with this therapist instead of letting Ellen do it for him. It was almost odd that Ellen didn’t want to do this herself, she had practically been a therapist before moving here, but he didn’t want to question the woman who’d done so much for him.
After cooking himself some pretty crispy sandwiches and a second cold shower, Henry got on a bus that drove him up to a fairly wealthy part of town. The sort of area Henry would guess that author Zoe lived in. It was the more residential area above the gym Henry had followed Toby to the day before. If that was the gym Toby frequented… he had money too. Money was definitely a pretty attractive factor to Henry at the moment.
Roach Therapy was located at the end of a winding path that followed the wall of a mansion that Henry could only assume belonged to the therapist herself. Henry could already tell by the look of the place that he’d never be able to afford the woman again, and he could only wonder how much Ellen had shelled out to get him an appointment here.
Henry pushed open the door, and entered a waiting room that smelled of vanilla candles. The room was completely empty, which only made sense considering how expensive this Roach lady has to be. He sat down on a sofa, and thumbed through a pamphlet that had been sitting on a rack besides the sofa. It advertised the business as world class service with a variety of services, including spiritual guidance, yoga, and even hypnotherapy. Bold text stamped across a picture of a bookish looking woman below the list of services read ‘Approved and Co-Founded by Kayla Brooks’.
Henry’s browsing was interrupted by a black haired woman opening the door. “Henry Doyle?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“Now, who else would it be? You’re the only in here.”
Henry followed the woman into the room, face burning with sudden embarrassment. She gestured for Henry to take a seat, then sat down in a chair across from him.
“Welcome, Henry,” the woman smiled. “You can call me Melody. And there’s no need to be embarrassed, I’m not here to judge.”
Henry nodded with a tight lipped smile.
“Okay. So your friend, Ellen, came to see me yesterday. She barged into my office uninvited, terribly stressed, and wouldn’t leave until I promised that I would treat you. But before I get into just what she asked for, I’d like you to tell me what you think she sent you here for.”
“Uh… Well… It’s kind of awkward to talk about, now that I think about it…”
“No judgement here, Henry, please, just talk to me.”
“She hated that I’d developed this whole dumb crush- no, it’s more like infatuation- with this married man I saw at her church yesterday. She wanted to me to crush whatever stupid feelings I have for him so I don’t destroy his marriage with his wife…”
Melody sighed deeply. “I see. Now, before I get to deep into just what Ellen spoke to me about, let me help you. You’re going to need it. Um, anyway, Henry, unless the man is already unhappily married to a woman because he’s secretly living in denial of his true self, you’re not likely to destroy a heterosexual marriage. That’s already a non-issue, and if it still is, the man you’ve developed feelings for needs to come and see me to get himself figured out.”
“Okay… that makes sense. Thanks for that. But you’ve got me curious now, what did Ellen ask you to do?”
Melody closed her eyes for a moment and let out another sigh. “You read the pamphlet, you know the most unusual thing I do as a therapist. She asked me to use hypnotherapy to turn you… well, in layman’s terms, straight.”
“She did WHAT?” Henry shouted, shooting out of his chair. “I can’t believe this, that’s my identity, that’s why I dropped out of school, I was finally feeling confident in who I was, in the Mother’s name I thought Ellen was my friend!”
Melody went on, unfazed by Henry’s outburst. “I had to agree then, it was clear she wasn’t leaving until I did. But never, not even a moment, did I intend to go through with what she asked. I used hypnotherapy, the special kind I learned from the swamp witch herself, to change someone’s entire self once… and it ruined the poor woman. At one point, the woman who originally payed me to do that to her came into this office and yelled at me for not totally reversing her personality… I felt like there was still hope for the woman I ruined. Guilt for that procedure still haunts me to this day, and I have long since resolved to never go through with anything of the sort ever again.”
“I’m sorry, Melody, but I need to go. Ellen is going to hear it from me before I cut her from my life forever.”
Melody smirked.”You know what, Henry? You do that. I support that sentiment completely.”
Henry got on the first bus that showed up at the bus stop and rode it as close as he could to Ellen’s house, arms crossed with such a look of fury on his face that no one dared sit next to him. He stormed down the sidewalk and didn’t even bother knocking on Ellen’s door, instead he threw it right open and walked in on her watching tv and eating popcorn.
“Henry!” she gasped, shooting from her chair. “A knock would be nice! Anyway, how’d the session with Ms. Roach go?”
Henry didn’t say a word, choosing to stomp across the room and slap Ellen across the face.
She looked at him, shocked.
“How could you?” Henry asked, tears in his eyes. “Melody told me exactly what you wanted her to do to me, and you know what, Ellen? That’s fucked up. That’s so fucked up, I can’t believe you’d even think of doing that! You have to be truly vile person and one hell of a shitty counselor to think for even one moment to think that it’s okay to try to alter who someone is.”
“Don’t you dare speak to me that way Henry. After everything I’ve done for you, I thought it’d be clear that I was only trying to help you.”
Henry glared at her. “So, what? You’re homophobic then, is that it? Thought the only way I’d ever count for the saving grace of your ‘Mother’ is by becoming someone I’m not? Bye, Ellen. Don’t you ever come near me again.”
Henry left the house, and slammed the door behind him.
A few hours later, Ellen slowly and methodically wiped the tears from her eyes. She opened up a drawer, and produced a stack of records. She thumbed through them for a minute before finding what she needed. Careful not to misdial, Ellen carefully punched numbers from the file into her phone.
“Hello, Jaxon. Yes, it’s me, Mrs. Bowers… Listen, I need your help, and boy do I have a proposition for you!”