"Hi, Jeremy?" I said to the lone man sitting in the waiting room, who had been sitting up straight as he typed out a message on his phone, but immediately looked up on my arrival. He was my first appointment of the day, 11am, preferring to get this over with as early as possible (he would have done an earlier time if I had any).
He stood, gave me a firm handshake, and followed me quietly to my office.
Upon arrival, he sat in the same seat Joeie had, near the door, far from me. I could have guessed that by the lack of interaction so far. My heart pounded inside my chest, remembering what Joeie had said about his "toxic masculinity" and "anger issues." That's not my usual type of client.
"Thanks for coming in," I said as I sat.
"Of course. This was important to my family. I can spare a few minutes of discomfort if it keeps my family together."
Interesting way of looking at it. I got the sense that he just wanted to get down to business, not chit chat. He would probably dodge my emotional questions and respond with logic. Why was I so anxious around him? "What's your understanding of everything going on with Joeie?"
"Which part?"
"... All of them."
He nodded. "My biggest concern is her wanting to go live with this Sebastian guy over the summer. We don't know him, he's been in Jo's life for what, 2 months? Who offers a stranger to live with them?"
I raised my eyebrows. "Why do you think he offered her?"
"I don't know, but isn't it fucking weird?"
I considered his question for a moment. Yeah, it is kinda weird, but also maybe not. How many people found out randomly that they had a half-sibling? It's not like I'd had this experience before. "You're feeling really protective of her."
"Well, yeah, someone has to be. Justin tries, but he mostly wants to keep the peace. Our mother was fucking useless. If I don't think about this stuff, nobody else will."
Made sense that he was the more protective one. Jeremy was the type to step up where Justin fell short, probably embedded into their family dynamic since early childhood. Which, in my mind, leaves Jonnie as likely the one who acted out. Just my hypothesis.
"And about the drugs," Jeremy continued. "Look, do I agree with it? No. But she's a teenager, of course she's going to experiment. I just want her to stick with the legal substances, none of which are legal for her right now."
I nodded. "That's understandable."
"Justin gets sensitive about this shit. He's the one who found our mom when she ODed. I think it kind of fucked him up. It would kill him if something happened to Joeie. He was 16 when she was born... basically her second parent. He'd blame himself."
"What about you?"
Jeremy paused, gave me a look between amusement and annoyance. He thought about it for a moment and I felt the sadness that washed over him. "It would probably kill me, too." He looked down and away, twiddling his thumbs restlessly. "When she was little, like 2 or 3, I would take care of her a lot. When Justin was getting certified. She was attached to me. I felt bad to leave for the army, but Justin was always kinda possessive of her anyway. He listens to me mostly, but has the final say. Which you probably figured out already."
I smiled. "What do you think about Joeie coming to therapy?"
"It's up to her. Right now she won't admit it, but I think she likes you and wants to come back. If she's going to do it, she needs to be committed, which will only happen if she chooses to go."
"What's your own personal experience with therapy?"
Jeremy rolled his eyes (Joeie-style) and gave a chuckle. "I'm guessing Joeie has told you I refuse to go. She doesn't know this, but I did see my school social worker in high school for a bit. It was a good experience. But right now there is no reason for me to go to therapy."
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