Fragment II

Adam : But he tried. He tried everything, even offering his vital organs if that would...

Doctor : Yes, I know. He already told me how hard he tried to save his brother. But there’s one thing I still need to know. Tell me: how did he react after Peter died?

Cadence : Well... normally, I suppose... grief... loneliness... he cried for days...

Doctor : I’m sorry, but I was actually wondering if you describe the way he treated life, family, friends, that sort of thing. Perhaps he began to act differently than he had before.

Adam : Aside from the first few months of mourning, his behavior didn’t change very much. But those few months were very hard on him. I don’t think he really recovered what he lost in that short time.

Doctor : What do you mean?

Adam : While Peter was in the hospital, Joseph abandoned the few friends he had... to spend as much time as possible with his brother before he died. But the month after that was much harder on him. We thought - just as he did, I imagine - that his friends would’ve come to Peter’s funeral.

Doctor : But they didn’t.

Adam : Not even one. I guess there was a party at the time or something. One of them called to apologize; Joseph reacted so violently that he broke the phone against the wall.

Cadence : And that was the last we heard from them. When Joseph started his degree, he began to make new friends, though they were very different... compared to his old friends and to him...

Doctor : How so?

Cadence : To be honest, I’ve only met a handful of them... but they’re all at least three years younger than Joseph, and all of them have at least one problem or another.

Adam : Most are failures in the full definition of the word... high-school dropouts, drug-addicts, petty thieves...

Cadence : And it’s not like he’s turning into them... his marks are just as high as ever. And I don’t think he ever really participates in these strange benders they do. They hang out on weekends; Joseph usually disappears on Friday night and reappears Sunday morning, usually with a few people sharing his bed or sleeping on his floor. After awhile I got used to it... even cooking them all up a nice breakfast... they’re actually very nice, intelligent kids...

Doctor (smiling) : Yes, I had a few friends like that once, too. I think his friendship with these people comes from out of a need to help people, just as if each one of them represented a part of Peter that hadn’t died... Is there anything else you think I should know?

Adam : That’s about it, I think.

Cadence : Actually, there is something else. But I don’t know...

Adam : What else could there be?

Doctor : Anything might be helpful.

Cadence : After the funeral I noticed that Joseph had stopped painting. Before, he might spend hours at a time working on one thing or another - he was always working on at least three at any given time. I didn’t think much of it at first. I thought he just didn’t feel like it. But I haven’t seen him pick up a pen, pencil, or brush in the last two years - not even to doodle.

Adam : That’s funny. I didn’t even notice.

Cadence : I haven’t really thought about it much - he has been pretty busy with university - until this afternoon... I went into his room to clean up a bit, see if I couldn’t find something that might help. In his closet, I found the remnants of an unfinished painting. Once I put the pieces together, I could tell that the work had still been in progress when it been ripped apart. But I think I understand why it had been left unfinished - it was disturbing.

Doctor : How so?

The Doctor picks up his clipboard and places it on his lap to write this down.

Cadence : It’s hard to explain... It looked like he was continually painting over his work in smaller and smaller sections. The first layer and the entire canvas was a light blue sky with wispy clouds, about half of which was painted over with an angel. This angel was in the process of being painted over with a demon, who in turn had been partially painted over with a man. I can see why he threw it into the back of the closet and left it there.

Adam : It sounds Satanic.

Cadence : Doctor, please don’t tell Joseph what I just told you. He was always sensitive about his painting.

Doctor : Of course.

Cadence : Can I please see my son now, Doctor?

Doctor : By all means, my good lady. Would you mind if I stayed back and discussed a few things with your father?

Cadence : Not at all.

She stands up and walks over to the door at stage-left as the Doctor puts his clipboard back on the floor by his chair.

Doctor : He should just be finishing dinner... straight down the hall. Oh, why don’t you just bring him out here when you find him...?

Cadence : I’ll do that.

Exit stage-left: Cadence

Adam : My daughter didn’t mention that painting earlier.

Doctor : No, I imagine she wouldn’t have. She’s probably got more on her mind than one of her son’s old paintings.

Adam : Don’t you think that the meaning of that painting is important?

Doctor : Not really.

Adam : Why isn’t it? I think the image in that painting would say a lot about my grandson...

Doctor : That he fears God? That he fears the demon inside us all? I don’t think he’s as dumb as he wants people to think he is. He knows a lot more about his own life than many of the rest of us do about our own. That’s why he’s driven himself crazy - because he fears the dark side of human nature. What he really needs is to learn how to deal with that fear.

Adam : But don’t you want to dig down through his memories and emotions to the cause of the problem?

Doctor : No. Memories and emotions are irrelevant.

Adam : Pardon me?