Russell's Return (8 page)

They both mumbled good
nights at the same time and Russell headed back to his car thinking of things
to say to Miranda as Emily quietly slipped into her cozy cottage. “God, how
embarrassing,” he muttered, opening his car door.

**********

The young woman slammed the
door to her dingy little apartment. “God damned Harpers! It’s their fault I’m
living in this shithole instead of being home in my high-rise condo,” she
grumbled to the cat sitting on the couch. “They have my property and I want it
back! I’ll fix it and sell it to the highest bidder. They owe me.” Her evil
laugh echoed through the room.

The cat meowed in sympathy
and walked over to her. She reached out to pet it then pushed it off the couch.
“You hairy beast!  Will you ever stop shedding all over my clothes?” she
snarled. “I should have left you with
them
.”

The cat hopped up on the
couch and stared her down. “Oh don’t look at me like that, you sweet thing,”
she said, her voice becoming smooth and overly sweet. “I’m sure one of the
neighbors will take you when I leave. If not, you can go to the damn pound!”
Her laugh turned from sweet to maniacal in a split second.

The cat retreated to the
corner of the couch with a meow. His tail swished angrily a couple of times
before his eyes closed.

“Oh don’t be angry with
Mommy,” she soothed with a sing-song voice. “I told you I was leaving someday.
All of those silly
willy
Harpers are in one place now
so it’s time to move on. I wonder who I’ll have to hurt to claim my prize. Will
it be sweet mama Evelyn or one of her ridiculous boys?”

The cat opened its eyes and
meowed.

“No, no Mr. Kitty, I don’t
think I’ll be able to get rid of all of them. Truthfully I think only one of them
will be a problem in gathering what belongs to me. But I do know that one of
them will pay for the sins of the family.”

CHAPTER 5

Russell woke bright and
early, eager to hear what Emily had to say about Miranda.  Maybe there was
a shot or some medication, or even some type of therapy that would make his
daughter’s behavior more on par with that of other kids her age.

On the drive to the school,
he wracked his brain trying to think if he had ever heard of a disease or a
disorder like that but gave up quickly, figuring it must be something rare
since it didn’t ring any bells. By the time he had dropped Miranda off at her
classroom and walked into the front office he was feeling really good about
things. It could only be uphill from there. “I’m here to see Emily Zane.
 I believe she’s expecting me.”

“Yes Mr. Harper. Have a seat
and she will be with you in a moment.”  The school secretary picked up her
phone and called Emily.

Russell couldn’t stand the
thought of sitting down so he paced the small waiting area.

“Russell?”

“Hi!” He turned and smiled
at her. She returned the smile. The memory of their goodbye kiss zinging
between them.

“Come on back to my office
and we can go over some things.”

The counseling office was
the same as he remembered. He still felt right at home, and took his jacket off
and laid it beside him on the same red couch he’d sat on the last time he was
there. “So, what did you find out about Miranda?” He was eager to get all the
info she had.  He needed to know what to do to cure his baby as soon as
possible.

Emily was a bit disappointed
that he didn’t want to talk about the day they’d spent together, but she also
understood that he was in a hurry to help his daughter.

“Okay, you know I’m not a
doctor and I can’t officially diagnose Miranda.  A developmental
specialist would have to do so.”

“Yeah, I understand that,”
he acknowledged

“Alright, it is my opinion
that she has something called Asperger’s syndrome.”  She paused to let
Russell get a feel for the words that were probably foreign to him.

He mulled over what Emily
had just said. He had never heard of Asperger’s Syndrome before and he wanted
to know what it was, but the question he voiced aloud was, “What’s the cure?”

“There really isn’t a cure,
Russell.  Asperger’s syndrome is a high functioning form of autism.” Emily
was using her gentle, quiet counselor’s voice so it came as quite a shock when
Russell’s voice became loud and angry.

“No. You’re wrong. Autistic
kids don’t talk, they don’t function. My second cousin has autism. Miranda does
not have autism!”

“Russell, a lot of people
don’t know this, but there are quite a few forms of autism. Some are high
functioning and some are low functioning, and then there are some forms that
are non-functioning. I really don’t think I’m wrong about this. But you can
always take her to a developmental specialist. I know one in Denver. 
She’s one of the best in the field.”  Emily handed him the packet of
research she’d put together. “Look, you’re obviously really upset, so I won’t
go over everything with you right now. It’s all here in the packet
though.  If you have any questions just call me or stop by tonight. And
Dr. Jacobs’s card is stapled to the inside of that packet.  Give her
office a call and…”

Russell jumped out of his
seat and grabbed his jacket. He was at the door before Emily knew what was
happening. “You know what?” he said in a loud, seething voice as he opened her
office door. “You are insane...you are a quack! You are a flat-out nut
case.  You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about and I want you to
stay away from me and my daughter from now on!”  The office door slammed
behind him.

Emily looked on, shocked
silent.  When her heart started beating normally again she looked up and Mary
the school secretary was standing there.

“Didn’t go too well huh,
Emily?”

“No, it didn’t go well at
all. He’ll come around though.” She gave Mary a weak smile. “I hope.”

*********

Russell stormed out of the school
and went straight to his vehicle.  Slamming the door, he tossed the packet
the ‘school counselor’ had given him onto the passenger seat and beat his hands
against the steering wheel. He didn’t know if he could even face work today.
He’d probably fire everyone who crossed his path. He dug his cell phone out of
his pocket and called the theater. His assistant managers would have to hold
down the fort for one day. The only place he was headed was home to talk to his
mother about the so-called professional counselor she and her school board were
allowing to corrupt their children.

**********

“Mother!” Russell was even
angrier now that he’d had the ride home to think about things. What the hell
did Emily Zane think she was doing, pulling disorders out of a hat and doling
them out to whoever the hell she felt like? “Mother!”

“What is it Russell? Is
Miranda okay?” Evelyn practically flew down the stairs.

“What? Oh, yeah, she is fine
- for now. Are you still on the school board?”

“Uh, yes...yes I am. Why?”
Evelyn felt as confused as she looked.

“Mom, you need to call an
emergency meeting. Emily Zane needs to be relieved of her position and you need
to recommend to the State Board that she lose her license.”

“What?” Evelyn raised her
voice which was really rare. “Russell Harper, Emily is good at what she does.
Why on earth would I go to the board? Have you completely lost your mind?”

“No, but that...that woman
has. She had the gall to tell me that Miranda has autism. Can you believe that?
Miranda is nothing like Cousin Billy. That woman went off the deep end when she
lost those kids in Seattle.” Russell was still yelling and was getting more
upset by the minute.

“Well, first of all, I don’t
know what you meant about Seattle, and I don’t want to hear it from you. 
Second, her ideas don’t sound quite right, I’ll give you that. But surely she
told you why she thinks Miranda has autism. Did it sound even remotely
possible?”

Russell looked at his shoes.
Why did his mom always have to be so sharp?

“Answer me, Son. Did she
give you reasons or not?”

“Well, not exactly.  I
didn’t really give her much of a chance to talk...”

“Russell Ethan Harper, I
know you know better than to act like that.  What got into you?” The
disappointment was evident on Evelyn’s face.

“I, well, I… It just didn’t
seem right, Ma. Emily did say there are high functioning forms of Autism but if
that is true, why haven’t I heard of it?’

“Son, you are not even close
to being a medical genius. Maybe it is something new or rare or…?”

“Okay, okay Ma, I get your
point.” His anger was finally completely deflated and he was starting to feel a
bit stupid.

Evelyn continued with her
mini-lecture though. “Good, then you need to go back to that school and hear
Emily out.”

“Ah Ma, I just can’t talk to
her right now.  I called her all sorts of names and told her to stay away
from us. I don’t think it’s a good idea if I see her right now. She probably
wouldn’t even come out of her office for me.”

Evelyn just shook her head at
her son. “You at least need to sit down at the computer and do some
research.  And then you need to call Emily and apologize for your
behavior. Maybe even take her some flowers or something.”

“Yeah, you are right Ma. I
need to find out for sure what is going on with my baby. I guess I’ll go boot
up the computer… wait, she gave me a packet of the research she did on Miranda.
I think maybe I should start there.”

“Good idea Russell and keep
an open mind. Please!” she begged.

“I will, Ma. I will,”
Russell murmured, heading out to his SUV to get the packet of papers that he’d
left on the passenger seat. His mom called him back.

“You know, Russell, you
always talk about
curing
what ails Miranda. If Emily had told you that
your daughter had something with a cure do you think you would have acted the
same way?”

Russell stared at his boots
for a long time and then looked up at his mother. “Point taken Ma.”

“There might not be a cure
for what is going on with Miranda, Son, but everything will be okay if we stick
together. I just know it.  And that little girl needs Emily Zane in her
life too.”

“I know, thanks Ma.” He
hugged her and kissed her cheek and then was gone.

***********

Russell sat in his SUV,
almost scared to read the information Emily had given him. One word on the
first page caught his interest…psychiatrist. His uncle was a shrink, so why
hadn’t he said anything. Shouldn’t he have noticed something in all those
years? Russell was going to find out. He pulled his phone out and dialed his
Uncle Ethan in Nevada.

“Hello, nephew. How are
things in Harper’s Rock?”

“Fine. I think. I have a
question to ask you.”

Ethan could hear the
seriousness in his voice. “Okay. This sounds important. Go on.”

Russell got out of his truck
and started to pace the front yard. “Why didn’t you ever see that Miranda
showed signs of autism? Isn’t that something you are trained to do?”

“Yes, I’ve had the basics of
training. I don’t work with autistic kids at all though, so I haven’t done
anything in-depth.”

Russell laughed bitterly.
“So does that mean you never noticed…
”

“I never said that,” Ethan
cut in.  “I saw it and I mentioned it to you and Vivienne several times.
You, and especially she, never seemed to want to listen. I even suggested some
fellow doctors when you came to me the last time.  When you were at your
breaking point about how hard it was to raise Miranda on your own.”

“Damn it!” Russell grunted.
“I thought you were talking about doctors for
me
to see, to help deal
with the stress. What the hell was I thinking?”

“Well, in the earlier
instances when I suggested that we talk about what may be wrong with your
daughter, Vivienne always interrupted and wrapped you up in her warped world.
By the time I saw you again, you had forgotten everything I told you. And that
last time, you were so stressed out I don’t think you truly heard a word I
said. It was frustrating as hell to try to get through to you…and to Miranda’s
school. They wouldn’t listen either.”

Russell breathed in and out steadily
several times. “I’m sorry, Uncle Cowboy. I feel like such a damn idiot.”

“Don’t even go there, boy.
You were wrapped up in a psychotic woman’s world for so long you forgot how to
think for yourself. It wasn’t your fault.”

“It sure as hell feels like
it is.  I have to go, Uncle. I have some research to do and some apologies
to make.”

Ethan chuckled. “I can only
imagine. We miss you here, kid. I’ll see you when I come up there for hunting
season.”

“Sure thing,” Russell said
on automatic pilot. He hung up the phone and walked to his SUV to grab the
packet of information. It was research time.

**********

Seven hours after barging
into his mother’s house yelling and screaming, Russell stood up from his desk
and stretched. He now felt like a complete and utter fool. It seems that Miss
Emily Zane knew what she was talking about. The anti-social behaviors, the
tantrums, the single minded focus on reading and dressing and undressing her
dolls instead of playing with them normally, the lack of interest in hygiene,
the problems with feeling elastic on her skin and peas on her tongue, the high
intelligence...it all made sense now. Miranda showed major signs of Asperger
syndrome, a high functioning form of Autism. First thing after dinner he was
going to have to go apologize to Emily. He was probably going to have to get on
his hands and knees and beg for her forgiveness. How could he have been such a
huge jerk?

It was approaching three
o’clock and Miranda would be banging through the front door at any time. Since
his mom had gone in to work for him, Russell needed to be downstairs when she
arrived. Only this time there was no banging or happy laughter like there had
been recently. The old sullen Miranda walked through the door at eight minutes
after three.

“Hey sweetie, how was your
day?”  Russell could tell by the look on her face and the way she walked
that something was wrong, but he acted as if everything was okay, trying to
break her out of her funk.

“I hate you. And Miss Emily
too!” she cried, bursting into tears and heading for the stairs. “I wish I had
never been born.”

“What? Miranda sweetie,
what’s wrong?  What happened at school today?” 

“Don’t ever talk to me
again!” The next thing Russell heard was the slamming of her bedroom
door.  An hour later, he had gotten no farther than the hallway outside
her room. He’d tried to bribe her, cajole her, and make her laugh but nothing
worked. She just cried and refused to talk to him.  He didn’t know what
else to do so he called his mother to see if she had any ideas. Her only
solution was to put the assistant managers back in charge and hurry home. It
only took her fifteen minutes.