“It is?”
“Yeah. We kind of felt bad for Diane the way she reacted when we told her that she was banned from performing at the next concert.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. She still feels deep down in her heart and soul that she never attacked Marcus!”
“She does?”
“Yes! She feels that she is being punished for something she never did!”
“Oh Lord.”
“She feels that we’re taking Marcus’ word over hers, so we told Diane that if she agrees to go to a doctor to get her mind evaluated, then she can perform at the next concert.”
“What? You told Diane D that if she agrees to go to a doctor to get evaluated, she can perform again?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, what did she say to that?”
“She jumped at it!”
“She did?! So she’s willing to get evaluated?!”
“Yes she’s planning on getting evaluated!”
“Wow I’m so happy to hear about that Miss Margarita! I am so glad that you and your family decided to get Diane D evaluated! I’m so glad that SHE decided to get evaluated! What made her jump at it so fast?!”
“She wants to perform at the concert!”
“That’s the only reason?!”
“That’s the only reason Principal Cole.”
“You mean to tell me that‘s all it took, is for her to hear that she can perform at the concert, in order for her to decide to get evaluated?!”
“Yep, that’s all it took.”
“In other words, it has nothing to do with Marcus, huh?”
“No, nothing at all to do with him.”
“She doesn’t feel guilty about Marcus at all?”
“Principal Cole, how can Diane feel guilty about Marcus if she doesn’t believe she’s done anything to him? As far as Diane’s concerned, she hasn’t done anything to Marcus.”
“Wow.”
“Believe me Principal Cole, if my family and I had never told Diane she can perform at the concert only if she agrees to get evaluated, she would have never planned on getting evaluated.”
“No?”
“No.”
“Wow. Well anyway, how does she feel that she’s allowed to perform again?!”
“She is very happy about it! She’s on cloud nine again!”
“She’s on cloud nine?! I bet she is! I’m very happy for her! I’m so glad that you and your family are allowing Diane D to perform again! I’m glad you all did that for her!”
“Well we didn’t only do that for Diane Principal Cole, we did that for ourselves because her whole anger, temper tantrums and mood swings were really taking a toll on me and my family.”
“It was?”
“Yes it was! It was really taking a strain out of us and we really need a break from it.”
“I’m sure you all do need a break from it Miss Margarita. Like I said, I‘m so sorry about this whole ordeal with the phony letter sent to you and your family about the little boy who has leukemia.”
“Thank you Principal Cole.”
“You’re welcome Miss Margarita. So when will you take Diane D to get evaluated.”
“She has an appointment next week.”
“She does?”
“Yes she does. We’re going to see what the doctor has to say then we’ll take it from there. We have to take this one step at a time.”
“Of course you do Miss Margarita, of course you do. I want you to keep me up to date with Diane D’s progress, okay?”
“You got it Principal Cole. Thanks a lot.”
“No problem Miss Margarita. I just wanted to make sure you and your family and Diane D were okay.”
“Yeah we’re all alright for now.”
“That’s good. Now you take care of yourself Miss Margarita. Please try not to stress yourself out too much, okay?”
“Okay Principal Cole, I won’t. Talk to you later.”
“Okay Miss Margarita. By now.”
“By.”
Principal Cole happily hangs up the telephone.
It is two weeks later. Principal Cole is sitting inside his office at the elementary school again. He looks at the Diaz-Davidson business card again. He picks up the telephone receiver and puts it to his ear. He dials the number on the business card. He listens into the phone. He then speaks into the telephone receiver and says, “Hello Miss Margarita?”
“Speaking,” Margarita says as she sits behind her desk looking at and holding a bunch of letters and mail that‘s on her desk.
“Hi Miss Margarita, this is Principal Cole again.”
“Principal Cole! How are you?”
“I’m fine Miss Margarita! How are you?!”
“I’m doing just wonderful right now.”
“You are?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m so glad to hear that Miss Margarita.”
“Thanks Principal Cole.”
“You’re welcome. I just want to find out if Diane D went to get evaluated yet? How did it go?”
“Oh it went along okay. My family and I took her.”
“You all did?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good. What is the outcome?”
“Well she had some counseling last week and she’s going to get some counseling this week.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah.”
“That is so wonderful Miss Margarita! I’m glad Diane D is co-operating with doing this!”
“Well telling her that she can perform was the only way to get her to co-operate.”
“I’m sure it was. Is she still on cloud nine about performing?”
“Yeah she’s still on it. I think it’s gonna be tough to take her off cloud nine right now.”
“I’m sure it is. Just make sure you don’t tell her she can’t perform again then she’ll really be off cloud nine,” Principal Cole laughs.
“I know what you mean. My family and I don’t need to put ourselves through that. We don‘t need the aggravation.”
“You sure don’t Miss Margarita.”
“I was just sitting back looking at some of Diane’s fan mail.”
“Diane’s fan mail? Diane D gets fan mail?”
“Yeah. She gets fan mail all the time.”
“She does?”
“Yeah.”
“How much fan mail does she get?”
“She gets a lot of fan mail that piles up my organization’s mail box then winds up piling up my desk.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. What does her fan mail say?”
“Well her fan mail that was sent here before was asking me and my family can we please lift the ban off Diane and asked if we can let her perform again. Her fans say they really want to see her on the stage. Her fans had sent letters to the organization about this situation when they first found out she got banned from performing at the next concert.”
“They did.”
“Yeah. So my family and I also lifted the ban off Diane for her fans’ sake as well.”
“You did?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, it’s nothing like fans to get a person out of trouble, huh?” Principal Cole laughs.
“I guess not. Even though Diane’s fans read in the newspaper about what happened between her and Marcus in the school hallway, they still want to see her on stage.”
“They do?”
“Yeah.”
“What do her fans think about what happened between her and Marcus?”
“They all wrote how sad that situation was.”
“They did?”
“Yes. They wrote that they feel for both Diane and Marcus.”
“They feel for Marcus too?”
“Of course they do. They know Marcus is a child, that’s why they feel for him as well as they feel for Diane.”
“Wow, that‘s nice. Okay Miss Margarita, I’m gonna let you go. I just wanted to make sure that Diane D is okay.”
“She’s okay Principal Cole.”
“That’s good.”
“By the way Principal Cole, how is Marcus doing?”
“Oh he’s still suffering emotionally and physically Miss Margarita.”
“He is?”
“Yes.”
“I really feel for him Principal Cole. Is there any way I can get to talk to him and his family?”
“Well, I would suggest for you all to meet here in my office, but I can’t because Marcus is afraid to even see this school, in other words, he won‘t come here. What we can all do is try to meet up with Officer Martell at the police department around the end of next week. Would that be okay?”
“Sure that would be okay.”
“Alright then. I’ll give Marcus and his family the message. Once I speak to them, I will call you back and tell you which day and time to come.”
“Thank you Principal Cole. And tell Marcus he doesn’t have to worry, I will not bring Diane with me.”
“Okay Miss Margarita, I’ll tell him that.”
“Okay thanks. See you next week.”
“Okay Miss Margarita. By now.”
“By.”
Principal Cole happily hangs up the telephone.
Chapter 42
A Doctor Puts Diane D Under Hypnosis
A couple of days later, Dr. Stone, a male white doctor around his early 50’s with slightly salt and pepper hair, is sitting in his office behind a desk. Suddenly, there is a knock on the door. The door opens. An Indian female nurse opens the door and says, “Doctor Stone, the patient Diane Denise Brown and her family are back.”
“Okay,” Dr. Stone says. “Send them in.”
The nurse opens the door wider. Diane D, who still has slight scars and bruises on her face, wearing a short gray denim jacket and gray denim pants with her hair back in a long thick braid, Mary and Margarita walk into the room as Diane D walks between Mary and Margarita with Mary and Margarita holding tightly onto her arms. Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn walk into the room behind them.
Dr. Stone gets up from his chair. He approaches Diane D and her family and says, “Hi Diane. Welcome back.” Dr. Stone turns to Mary, Margarita, Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn and says to them, “I’m gonna have her lay on the couch. You all can bring her to the couch.”
“Okay,” Margarita says. Margarita and Mary turn and bring Diane D towards a couch as Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn turn and follow them.
Ten minutes later, Diane D, who now has her jacket off and wearing a white turtleneck shirt, is laying on a psychiatrist couch as Mary, who is holding Diane D’s jacket, Margarita, Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio, Marilyn and Dr. Stone surround her. Dr. Stone then turns to Mary, Margarita, Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn and says, “You all can wait outside now.”
“Okay Doctor Stone,” Margarita says. Margarita turns to Diane D and says, “Diane, vamos a estar e el pasillo.”
“Okay Grandma,” Diane D says.
“We’ll be right back baby,” Barry says.
“Okay Dad,” Diane D says.
“Nos vemos luego,” Mary says.
Diane D waves her hand to her family as her family take one last look at her. Diane D’s family then turn and walk towards the doorway.
Twenty minutes later, the nurse is outside in the hallway. She approaches Margarita, Mary, Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn and says to them, “Doctor Stone now has Diane under hypnosis.”
“He does?” Tomas asks.
“Yes. He said you all can come into the room now to listen. He said for me to quietly bring you into the office, because he doesn’t want Diane to know that you all are inside the office.”
“He doesn’t?”
“No. He wants to make sure that Diane is not influence into saying just anything or say something out of the ordinary if she knows that her family is inside the room watching and listening. So when I bring you all inside the room, please come in as quiet as possible. We can’t let Diane know that you all are inside the room.”
“You got it nurse,” Tonio says.
“Okay. Follow me.” The nurse turns around and walks down the hallway as Margarita, Mary, Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn follow her.
The nurse reaches outside the office door and stop as Margarita, Mary, Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn come behind her and stop. The nurse turns to them and whispers, “I’m going to quietly bring you guys back inside the office. When we go inside, I‘m going to quietly bring you all to the back of the office.”
“Okay,” Margarita whispers.
The nurse turns around and quietly opens the office door.
The nurse quietly brings Margarita, Mary, Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn back into the office. Margarita, Mary, Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn quickly turn their heads towards the front of the office. They then turn their heads back forward and follow the nurse as the nurse quietly leads them towards the back of the office where it is dark and several chairs are.
Thirty minutes later, Margarita, Mary, Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn are quietly sitting in the back of the doctor’s office anxiously watching the front of the office listening to Dr. Stone as Dr. Stone has Diane D in the front of the room laying on the couch under hypnosis with her eyes closed.
Dr. Stone sits in a chair next to the couch as he is slightly leaned towards Diane D with a clipboard and pen in his hands. He has been questioning Diane D for the past half hour and taking notes. He continues to speak to her subconscious as he looks down at her and asks, “And what was Marcus doing, while you were backing away from him?”
“He was leaning against the wall looking at me, telling me, that’s the reason why I will never get to see or meet, the little boy who has leukemia,” Diane D says as her eyes remain closed. “I stopped and stared at him again. Then I started to back further away from him. He started apologizing to me again, telling me I need to know, that the little boy who has leukemia never existed. When I heard that, I just stopped and stood there. I started to cry. Then Marcus started apologizing to me again, telling me, he never wanted to send my family the false letter about the little boy who has leukemia, telling me, that his brother insisted on them doing it! I started to cry more and just stood there looking at Marcus. I started backing further away from him. I couldn’t believe what he had done! He started apologizing to me again! Then I got all the way to the edge of the hallway at the corner and stopped. I just stood there staring down the hallway at Marcus.”
“You stood there staring down the hallway at Marcus?”
“Yeah.”
“What was Marcus doing, while you were standing at the edge of the hallway, staring at him?”
“He was just standing in the middle of the hallway leaning against the wall looking down the hallway at me. Then he asked me if I was okay.”
“He asked you if you were okay?”
“Yeah.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing. I just kept standing there staring at him thinking to myself ‘how dare he and his brother, trick me and my family!’”
Margarita, Mary, Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn quietly sit at the back of the office anxiously watching and listening to Dr. Stone and Diane D.
Diane D then says, “Then he asked me again, if I was okay.”
“He asked you again if you were okay?” Dr. Stone asks.
“Yeah.”
“Did you tell him anything that time?”
“No.”
“You still didn’t say anything to him?”
“No. At that time, I started to get, angry.”
“You started to get angry?”
“Yeah.”
“Then what happened?”
“Nothing. I just kept staring at Marcus. He still kept asking me, if I was okay! I still didn’t say anything. I just stood there looking down the hallway at him. The more I was looking at Marcus, the angrier, I was getting.”
“You were getting angrier as you were staring at Marcus?”
“Yes. I was getting angrier and angrier by the minute!”
“You were?”
“Yes I was.”
“So as you were getting angrier and angrier by the minute, what happened after that?”
“All of a sudden, he was gone.”
“He was gone? Marcus was gone?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you mean he was gone?”
“He wasn’t there. I didn’t see him anymore.”
“You didn’t see Marcus anymore?”
“No.”
“Well where did he go?”
“He disappeared.”
“He disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know. All of a sudden, he and the entire hallway area disappeared.”
“Marcus and the entire hallway area disappeared?”
“Yes.”
Margarita, Mary, Barry, Michael, Tomas, Tonio and Marilyn turn and puzzled look at each other. They then turn their heads back forward and continue to anxiously listen to Dr. Stone and Diane D.
Diane D then says, “I was wondering what happened to him and the hallway area, wondering, where did Marcus go and disappeared to and was wondering, where did the hallway go and disappeared to.”
“You were wondering where did Marcus go and disappeared to and where did the hallway go and disappeared to?” Dr. Stone asks.
“Yeah. The next thing I know, is that I was floating around wandering the universe.”
“You were floating around wandering the universe?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you mean you were floating around wandering the universe?”
“My soul or spirit was out there.”
“Your soul or spirit was out wandering the universe?”