Chapter 47: Depression
In Adoy, Denise was still in prison. Rehabilitation staff visited her frequently. Unlike the Cellrebrum Region Rehabilitation Centre, she was not given any medication. The staff were quite happy with her progress, but there were still no discussions about possible release dates. Denise was visited weekly by her mother and frequently by David. She was also visited twice by Janice and once by Demarcus. She was not visited at all by Darius.
Darius could not bring himself to visit Denise. He now strongly believed she was guilty. He had disassociated himself with anything remotely related to the Inquisitives. He no longer worked and lived off ‘rights’ given to him. His relationship with his family also deteriorated. He would go several weeks at a time without speaking to any of them. They were extremely concerned for him. Janice arranged for a specialist to come and visit him. She wanted him to get better.
The specialist arrived at the Bramley apartment to interview Darius and his family. The specialist, named Mikayla, was from the Ripe Company; it was an education and rehabilitation centre located in the Southern Agriculture Zone.
Darius did not want to speak to Mikayla. Mikayla began by interviewing Darius’ family.
First, she interviewed Jacob. Jacob explained Darius’ unwillingness to leave his room for anything. Even his food would be placed on a tray outside his door. It was as if he was no longer a part of the family.
Second, she interviewed Janice. Janice explained Darius’ antisocial behaviour as well as his hostility towards her and his siblings. She explained that Darius refused to share his bedroom with Demarcus. This forced Demarcus to sleep in the lounge.
Third, she interviewed Demarcus. Demarcus described Darius as being lost. It was as if he had lost meaning in his life and was unable to move forward. He explained how his sadness about Denise had turned to anger as his opinions of her were becoming more negative over time.
Fourth, she interviewed Darlene. Darlene explained how one night, when she went to get a glass of water, she heard Darius sobbing in his room. She believed this was a regular occurrence. She felt very sad for him, but she did not know what she could do to help him.
Finally, Mikayla knocked on Darius’ door. ‘Darius, we need to talk. Your family is very concerned about you. I’m here to help,’ she said as she pressed her face against his door. There was no response.
Jacob approached the door. ‘Let her in, son. It’s time to pull through this.’ He still did not respond.
Demarcus approached the door. ‘Come on, bro. You can’t keep going on this way.’
‘Go away,’ shouted Darius through the door.
Jacob tried to open the door, but it was locked. ‘Open the door now, or I’ll be forced to smash it down,’ said Jacob angrily.
‘You could try this,’ said Janice as she handed Jacob a key.
Jacob opened the door. Darius was lying on his bed with a pillow over his head. His room was in a bad state. His clothes were thrown all over the floor. He had vandalised his bedroom walls with drawings of Inquisitives with thick lines drawn through their necks. In-between the drawings, the words ‘liar’, ‘evil’, ‘slave’, ‘monster’ and ‘traitor’ were written. His curtains were pulled tightly closed and tied in place. His desk was messy with papers and wrappers. On the right side of the desk, there were three small canisters.
The Bramley family stood in shock. Mikayla approached Darius. ‘Come on, let’s talk?’ she asked.
‘Get away from me,’ replied Darius as he rolled to face away from her.
Mikayla asked the family to leave the room. She sat next to Darius on his bed. ‘They’re very worried about you. Seeing the state you’re in and the state of the room, they have good reason to be.’ Darius refused to talk. Mikayla went over to the desk. She picked up a canister. ‘What’s this supposed to be?’ she asked.
‘Put it down,’ said Darius angrily. ‘It’s none of your business.’
‘Looks like you want to get up to mischief but can’t find the will to leave your room,’ said Mikayla. She unscrewed the canister and sniffed the contents. ‘Smells like curry powder. Are you planning on making a deadly curry?’ she asked.
‘No, put it down before you hurt yourself,’ replied Darius angrily.
‘No, you’re going to have to take it off me,’ replied Mikayla.
‘Please go away,’ said Darius as he sat up.
‘Let’s have a bit of fun with your curry bomb,’ said Mikayla as she pulled out a lighter.
‘You wouldn’t dare,’ said Darius firmly.
She screwed the lid back on. ‘I’ll dare,’ she said as she lit the piece of string protruding from the lid.
Darius ran out of his room and into the bathroom. He waited about a minute. Nothing happened. He left the bathroom.
Mikayla was standing in the doorway of his bedroom. ‘Your chemistry experiment failed,’ she said. ‘Are you ready to talk now?’
Darius re-entered his bedroom. Mikayla’s unorthodox icebreaker seemed to have worked. Darius began to open up to Mikayla about how he was feeling. They talked about his feelings for Denise and his history with the Inquisitives. He even told her what his initial plan was regarding the curry powder bombs. They laughed about it. They talked for over two hours. The rest of the Bramley family waited in the lounge.
Mikayla entered the lounge. ‘How did it go?’ asked Janice.
‘We are off to a good start, but he needs more time with a professional,’ replied Mikayla.
‘Would you be able to visit him regularly to help out?’ asked Jacob.
‘I would love to, but my expenses would not be covered for these kinds of trips,’ replied Mikayla. ‘I am located in Jeed, which is several hours by train.’
‘Is there a local equivalent?’ asked Janice.
‘There is Spiro Company, but they don’t offer the same approach, and I’m not sure they do home visits,’ replied Mikayla.
‘So, what do you recommend?’ asked Janice impatiently.
‘I recommend he stay at the Jeed facility for a few weeks,’ replied Mikayla. ‘I would be able to help him every day.’
‘I disagree,’ interrupted Demarcus. ‘I think you demonstrated today that his problem has been isolation. He needs more interaction, not professional care.’
‘Stop being difficult, son,’ said Jacob in an annoyed tone.
‘It’s okay,’ replied Mikayla. ‘His isolation is the main cause of his depression. Mixing with others would greatly help him. However, if he refuses to do that, he won’t ever get him on the path to recovery. That’s why he needs professional help to get him started.’
‘Sounds like a done deal,’ said Jacob.
‘Not quite,’ said Mikayla. ‘It is only right for us to get consent from Darius first.’
Darius entered the room. ‘So you want my consent for something?’ he asked.
‘She wants to take you to a nuthouse in Jeed,’ said Demarcus.
Janice frowned at him.
‘It’s a bit more than a nuthouse,’ said Mikayla. ‘It’s like a nut region. Well, a fruit region too. The yummiest natural stuff you can get.’
‘Sounds strange,’ replied Darius.
‘It’ll be more like a holiday,’ said Mikayla. ‘Most days we’ll be doing just fun stuff.’ She pulled out a brochure.
Darius flipped through it quickly. ‘This place looks like fun,’ said Darius as he looked up at Mikayla.
‘When was the last time you had fun?’ asked Mikayla.
‘Just now,’ replied Darius.
‘So, do you want to try out this adventure?’ she asked.
‘Yeah, I think I need it,’ replied Darius.
‘Just to confirm, this is covered 100% as a “right”,’ inquired Jacob.
‘Absolutely 100%,’ replied Mikayla.
‘Would it be alright if I came to visit my brother?’ asked Demarcus. ‘I’ll be going to university in a couple of weeks. I’ll be just one region away.’
‘No problem. Let me know a day in advance,’ replied Mikayla.
‘You should stay with me,’ said Darius. ‘Skip the first few weeks. It’ll only be admin.’
Demarcus looked over to Mikayla. ‘You could stay a few days once Darius has settled down, but remember, the experience is tailored for him,’ replied Mikayla. Both Darius and Demarcus nodded.
‘I can have everything arranged for you by tomorrow,’ said Mikayla. ‘Just a bit of paperwork to do first. I assume you have some packing to do.’
Mikayla went back to her temporary accommodation to complete the paperwork. Darius went to his room to collect his clothes for laundry. ‘Hey mum, could you get this lot washed and dried for tomorrow?’ Darius asked Janice.
Janice sighed and then smiled. They both hugged. Then she grabbed the three baskets of clothes Darius had lined up for her.
Demarcus sat next to Jacob on the sofa. ‘I’m concerned. How can we trust Mikayla?’ Demarcus asked his dad. ‘We know nothing about her.’
‘We can’t fully, but I doubt he would be any worse off than he is now,’ replied Jacob. ‘You saw his room. He’s in a very dark place.’
‘Thinking of bedrooms. Just when I can finally have a room of my own. I’m off to university,’ joked Demarcus. They both started laughing.
The next day, Mikayla arrived at the apartment. Jacob welcomed her in for a drink of pineapple juice. They had a casual chat as they waited for Darius. Janice had been up late doing all of Darius’ laundry. Darius had been hard at work, tidying his room before he left. Demarcus wanted to scrub off the vandalism on the walls, but Darius was not ready for it to be scrubbed off yet. He thought painting the whole room might be a better idea when he returned.
After about twenty minutes, the Bramley family gathered in the lounge. Darius hugged each of his family members.
Darius, Demarcus, and Mikayla headed off to the train station. ‘Oh wow, this feels good,’ said Darius.
‘Just a bit of fresh air can make a huge difference,’ said Mikayla.
‘It’s one of those little things you just don’t realise is important until you haven’t experienced it in a long time,’ said Darius.
‘My crystal ball tells me you will be getting lots of fresh air very soon,’ said Mikayla in a creepy voice.
They reached the station. They took the lift to the platform. The train was just pulling in. Mikayla pulled out the tickets. ‘I have two tickets for second class,’ said Mikayla. ‘It includes a hot drink and a donut each.’
Darius turned to his brother to give him a hug. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve treated you so badly recently,’ he told Demarcus.
‘It’s okay,’ replied Demarcus. ‘You’ve been through so much. I doubt I would have handled it better.’
‘Look forward to seeing you in a week or two,’ said Darius. ‘I’m sure there is lots of mischief we can get up to in Jeed.’
‘I’ll take good care of him,’ Mikayla said to Demarcus as she boarded the train with Darius.
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