We sat in the middle of an upscale New York restaurant. “I was born in Virginia to a coal miner and a coal miner’s daughter. It just wasn’t Loretta Lynn.” I laughed but I was serious.
He stared at me with compassion as he sipped his sparkling water.
I found myself bouncing my leg from nervousness
“Tell me more.” He requested.
“I had this Giant stuffed Lion my Dad gave me when I was five. It could talk, I swear it could. I still have it in my closet.”
He listened carefully.
“One Summer that Lion convinced me that My Mother was going to kill me. He told me everything – the when, where and how. I believed him.”
He crossed his legs and leaned back a tad.
“I grabbed Cruz – That’s the Lion’s name. We ran out of the screen door. I remember the sound it made when it slammed shut. Cruz’s size slowed me down. I had to drag him through the gravel driveway and then I thought of the perfect hiding spot.”
He smiled. “Really? Where was that?”
“Over by the barn. Daddy had an old ’55 Chevy hood leaned up against the wall. We slid in behind there. They never came for me. We finally just went back to the house.”
“How did that make you feel?” He asked.
“Is this a date or a session? If it’s not a date then I want to leave. Maybe it’s inappropriate for a Dr. to see his patient outside of the office.” I kept a straight face while speaking.
“No. I’m interested in you. Am I wrong for that?” He baited me back in.
“When we walked back inside. I was shocked to see that my other stuffed animals had formed a circle around Mom and Dad. They were tied up and their mouths Duct taped. My Brother stood outside of the circle and he was holding my Daddy’s Hunting Rifle. I blacked out after that.”
“You are so beautiful.” He said, making me extremely anxious so I kept on talking.
“My brother went to prison. I was tossed around from home to home. My Brother writes to me occasionally and tells me how much he loves me and that he forgives me for everything. I don’t know what I’ve done to need forgiveness.”
He looked over his shoulder and called for the waiter to bring the check.
“Take me to see your Lion. Our time here is up.” He said. I knew he was falling in love with my type of crazy.
The waiter proceeded to grab my arm. “Wait! Where are you taking me?”
“Back to your room Ms. Lynn.”
Leesa Writes 