December 19th- Minor Characters Project: Chapter 2 — Savage Sunday: Sally Ann by Verlaine

Click here to read Chapter One

My new shrink said I should keep a journal. It’s not a “dear diary” kind of thing though, it’s serious: I’m supposed to write down my questions and ideas and things that bother me, so I don’t let them all get bottled up inside. Now I preferred the way my old shrink, using the Socratic method, got me to think things through by asking questions and talking it out, because really, talking is a lot easier than writing. But anyway, here goes.

Today two cops came to the club where I dance to ask about my ex, Wilbur. Now I don’t usually like talking to the fuzz, but those two were so cute I just couldn’t help it. One blond and one dark, and both of them really nice-looking and polite. And they were interested in what I had to say too, unlike Wilbur, who on top of being a sports freak who didn’t really dig getting it on, also wasn’t the greatest when it came to the relationship scene. I sometimes wondered if he and Greg weren’t maybe a little too close, if you understand what I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but still—when it starts to make a girl question her self-esteem, that’s going too far.

When me and Teddy came out here from Denver, I thought we’d really be able to start a new life, and I’d have a chance to make something of my career instead of, you know, just marking time because I kept having to pay off Wilbur’s bookies. But then Wilbur and Greg followed us out here, and they just went right back to doing what they do best: gambling on sports, listening to rock music, and failing at holding up liquor stores. I told my shrink about it when they first got here, and he said they were probably trying to compensate for their own issues, and I shouldn’t take any of it personally because none of it was about me.

So that made me feel a lot better.

I was working all day, so I didn’t hear about it until this evening, but there was a big bomb scare in town today. The cops were all over the radio telling people to watch out for a green Ford with dynamite in it! Can you believe it? And then it turns out that those two mental giants, Wilbur and Greg, stole the car and used it for a robbery. The radio said the two cute cops I saw chased them all over town and finally caught them just before that dynamite blew up the Music Pavilion.

I suppose I should feel bad that me talking to the heat got Wilbur and Greg arrested, but at least they’ll be out of my hair for a long time. And you know what? My shrink says I need to take care of myself first or I’ll never be able to take care of anyone else, and I think he’s totally right.