Family Therapy

"So ... Marlon ... are you ready to share with your parents what you told me in our private session?" Dr. Seymour asked.

They were sitting in a semi-circle facing the Doctor with their heads down. None of them was eager to be there but they knew it was important for them so they can heal together as a family.

Marlon nodded lazily, he kept his head down.

"Shall I begin with a question?" Dr. Seymour continued.

Marlon nodded again.

Josh glanced at his son, he fidgeted on his chair. Belinda was motionless with her arms and legs folded.

"Tell me how you feel about losing your brother," the Doctor began.

Marlon took his time. He cleared his throat, "Really awful."

Dr. Seymour was about to write down on his notebook but then he lifted his head to look at Marlon after hearing his response, "Can you be more specific? We want you to be more open about your feelings so your parents understands what you're going through."

Marlon rubbed his palms up and down his pants, "I feel like ... I've lost a very big part of myself." His voice was barely heard.

Dr. Seymour nodded, "Good ... good ... let's dig deeper into it ... how does it feel like to have lost a big part of your self?"

He clasped his hands together, "Like there's a big chunk in my life just disappeared ... it feels hollow ... the space he left is just ... empty."

Dr. Seymour scribbled on his notebook, "It's been 8 months since your brother died ... in that time ... have you been able to find something that can fill in that void?"

Marlon looked up at him, their eyes met for a brief moment. The Doctor nodded at him as if to give him permission to answer the question as freely as he want.

"Drugs ... booze ... sex ..." he said spontaneously.

Belinda scoffed but didn't say anything.

"Those are not means to replace what your brother meant to you, don't you think, Marlon? You can't equate your brother's value with drugs and alcohol ... those are just means to numb your pain," the Doctor responded.

"Maybe ... well ... I met someone, a friend ... and she's been someone that I feel like I can talk to ... I don't feel as anxious when I'm with her."

"Have you talked to her about your brother?"

"Umm ... not really ... not much ... but she knows about my family situation."

Dr. Seymour looked at Josh and Belinda who reacted to that answer, "And by family situation ... do you mean your relationship with your parents?"

Marlon nodded and looked at his feet.

"How do you describe your relationship with your parents? Josh and Belinda ... I want you to listen to his answer without interruption ... everyone will have their turn to express themselves today and we will not discuss it with one another ... this session is simply to express how you feel."

Josh nodded, then Belinda tilted her head and raised her brows.

"Terrible ... I didn't realize how terrible it is until I met my friend's family ... and after Eli's death ... it's gotten worse ... everyone is just so busy dealing with their own feelings about Eli's death ... I guess that makes me feel more alone."

The room fell silent.

"And this friend you mentioned ... does she makes you feel less alone?"

Marlon nodded, "Yeah ... she makes me feel good about myself ... I can be authentic with her, I don't have to pretend to be someone else just to keep her around me ... like most of the people I know."

Dr. Seymour nodded, "That's a good thing, Marlon, your relationship with this friend sounds like a healthy relationship ... do you think this is something you can maintain for the long run?"

"I hope so ... I don't know ... "

"Do you feel like you can talk to her about what happened to Eli?"

Marlon was silent.

"As we discussed before ..." Dr. Seymour looked at Josh and Belinda to address that what he was about to say was for everyone to hear. "You are the only one who knows what really happened that day ... and that is not an easy thing to hold on to ... you have yet to share with anyone the details of the events leading up to his ... fall ... and to help you heal ..."

"I don't need to tell it again ... I've told the police what happened," Marlon cut him off.

"You gave the police the video you recorded of the event, you never told them what you experienced ... there's a difference ... an event as traumatizing as that is just ... that ... but what you endure internally ... is a whole different thing," the Doctor explained.

"I don't see why you can't tell it to us, Marlon, we have every right to know what happened to him ... he's our son," Belinda interrupted.

Josh held Belinda's hand to stop her from pushing any further.

"I'm sure he will share it when he is ready ... what I'm trying to do right now is to get you ready to finally let it out of your system ... maybe your new found trust in this friend of yours can be the beginning ..."

"She doesn't need to know how fucked up I am on the inside ... she's seen how my parents are ... I want her to stay friends with me ... not drive her away," Marlon snapped.

"He's never going to talk about it ... he wants to run away from it ... because he feels guilty, what did you do huh Marlon? What did you do that day that made him fell off that balcony?" Belinda said.

"I'm done here," Marlon stood up and left the room in a haste.

Dr. Seymour raised his palm at Josh who stood up to go after his son. "Let him go ... Belinda ... your accusation against your son ... is driving him away from you, from all of us ... we need to change our narratives when we talk to him, we want the truth out in the open ... we don't want him to further hide inside himself."

Belinda blew air from between her lips, "You're the Doctor ... good luck with that ... he's never going to talk ... I know that because I'm his mother."

"Belinda ..." Josh finally spoke, "Shut up," he said.

Dr. Seymour let out an exhale, "This friend of his ... it's important that he keeps a healthy relationship with her ... he's still very fragile at the moment, if his friendship with her is severed in any way ... it could push him further into his depression ... do any of you know this girl?"

Josh rubbed his face with both his hands and nodded, "Hazel ... yeah ... nice kid ... I was planning to ask her to come here for a summer program in one of my charity organization ... with Marlon ... I was hoping they can spend more time together."

"That's very good ... I encourage that ..."

"Unless he decided to deflower her ... she's a virgin, you know?" Belinda scoffed.

"From what he told me ... that's not the kind of relationship he's having with Hazel ... I strongly believe that he ... treasures this friendship ... it seems like it's important for him and we need to respect that ... as parents, you need to pay more attention to how he feels about everything to understand him better ... I don't think I need to remind you that you have lost one son ... you don't want to lose another one."