"You want to cry. Phoebe. I can see it. Go on. Have a good cry. There's no shame in that."

I wiped away a fugitive tear quickly and shook my head. She approached me and touched my shoulder. I looked up at her. Should I trust her with my tears? I wondered, Was she sincere? So many cruel things were done to us here. Was she right in doing them? Did we need that? Was it the only thing that would change a girl like Robin or like Teal. Mindy, and Gia? Or me? What terrible thing had Mindy done with a baby? And Gia. I was sure, setting fire to her own home, among other things,

surely made her a lost cause out there. Suddenly. I began to wonder if Dr. Foreman wasn't the last and best hope for girls like us after all.

"Poor Phoebe. You didn't deserve the life you had. You don't have evil in your heart. You never really intended to hurt anyone, did you?"

"No."

"Of course not. All sorts of events, social and psychological experiences, have put you in a place you don't want to be in."

"What's going to happen to me?" I asked, flicking off another errant tear.

She smiled. "You're going to get out of that terribly dark place. You're going to grow and improve and become one of my girls. a Foreman girl, proud and strong and capable."

She returned to her chair behind her desk, folded the letter, and inserted it into an envelope. I watched her put it into a drawer.

"The funeral was yesterday," she said.

"Yesterday?"

"Yes. I wish I could have sent you back for that, but it wasn't possible. Your uncle and aunt understood. I finally decided to call them. Actually, they weren't at all disappointed about your not attending the services," she added dryly, sounding like she was on my side against them. "That's why I said what I said before, but none of that is important now. Forget about them. Someday when you're more confident of yourself, when you're better, you'll visit the cemetery and you'll be strong enough to bury all the ugly and nasty feelings right there alongside your mother's coffin."

She smiled as though that was a wonderful dream, a dream I should pursue.

"Now. let's make good use of this session and talk about other things, okay?"

I nodded and sucked back the remaining tears.

"Good." She folded her hands and leaned forward. "When you were all here in group therapy. I was somewhat amused to hear Mindy being accused of being my spy. The truth is I don't find Mindy making much progress. I would never solicit her help for anything just yet. Actually, Phoebe. I expect her to be here long after you leave."

"Really?"

"I'm afraid so. She's a very, very troubled girl. She tries to convince me she's better. She even tries to be my little spy and tells me about the others, about you I know she's simply attempting to ingratiate herself with me, win my favor. She's very transparent, albeit a very sneaky person. our Mindy. I bet you have no idea that she told me about Teal's intention to run off before you told me, do you?"

I shook my head.

She heard her talking about it and she told me. When I asked you about Teal. I wanted to see if you were capable of being honest. You were and you are and you're going to do well here. So," she said, sitting back. "I've decided to make you my confidant."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you're going to be special to me, Phoebe. Would you like that?"

I was afraid to say no. so I nodded,

"I thought you might, but if I am to trust you more and more, you have to trust me more and more. That's understandable and fair, isn't it?"

"I guess so."

How unexpected all this was. I thought. I had come trembling into this office, expecting her to do something more to me, something that would send me out of here all bottled up and wounded inside just like the others. I half expected to end up in one of those Skinner boxes Gia had described, but here she was making me feel special.

"What did Mindy do before? I mean, why is she here?" I dared ask. I was anticipating the usual sort of response to this. It was none of my business. I should be concerned only with my own problems, but again, she surprised me.

"She gave birth to a baby and left it in the rear seat of a broken-down vehicle. A passerby luckily heard the infant's wail and brought the police. Someone had seen her go into the vehicle and she was arrested. It wasn't her first experience with police and courts."

"What about her parents? Didn't they know she was pregnant and wonder about the baby?"

"I am always amazed at how much parents do not know about their own children. Phoebe. What about your mother? Did she know much about you, what you were doing?"

Tags: V.C. Andrews Broken Wings Horror
Source: readsnovelonline.net