“You keep asking me that.”
“Yes, I do. And I will keep asking until you tell me.”
“Okay. I’ll tell you. It makes me feel fucked up.”
“Guilty?”
“Only in that Renaldo sort of got caught up in what happened, and maybe he shouldn’t have been taken out with the others.”
“Then why was he?”
“Because he was there.”
“Didn’t your connection with him mean anything to you? Didn’t your friendship with him make you doubt what you were doing?”
“No. Like I said, he was there. So he was included.”
“I see. And now, what would you say to his wife and children?”
“I wouldn’t say a word. They’re probably never going to make it here now, right?”
“That’s awfully cold, Tory.”
“You think?”
“Yes, I do. And it doesn’t seem like you. It seems to me that you are posturing and that you feel a great deal of remorse about Renaldo.”
“Well, you’re the shrink. You oughta know better than me, I guess.”
“Do I? Do I know better than you? Am I correct?”
“I’m done for today.”
“Tory—”
“I’m serious, Doc. I’m done for today.”
“Very well. We’ll pick up tomorrow from this point.”
“No we won’t. I don’t want to talk about Renaldo anymore. Give me a test tomorrow or I’m not saying a word.”
“All right. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
21
Dr. Baraku Bexley
Mrs. Viviana Troy
“Hello, Dr. Bexley.”
“Hello, Mrs. Troy. Thank you for seeing me again.”
“Anytime, Doctor. I will do anything I can to help my daughter.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that, Mrs. Troy, because I am going to ask you to do something that might be a little difficult.”
“Oh?”
“I would like to speak with Tory’s father.”
“No. Out of the question.”
“May I ask why?”
“He has been out of her life for many years—and for good reason. I don’t want that despicable monster to have anything to do with my daughter, especially now.”
“Your ex-husband would have no contact whatsoever with Tory. I can promise you that. On my word as a doctor.”
“Then why do you want to speak to him?”
“Considering Tory’s history with the man, it might be useful for me to discuss a few things with him. Let me put it this way, Mrs. Troy. Any trauma from Tory’s past that could have contributed toward the state of mind she was in when she committed the crimes may serve her well.”
“How would what happened to her in the past have anything to do with her fitness to stand trial?”
“It wouldn’t. But it would have something to do with her mental state at the time of the crimes. And since my reports will certainly be entered into evidence, her defense lawyer may be able to … help the jury better understand what happened, and why it happened.”
“I see.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Will you give me contact information for your ex-husband?”
“Yes. But I hold you to your promise, Dr. Bexley. He is under no circumstance to have any contact whatsoever with Tory.”
“Understood. I will be the only one who speaks to him. The only one.”
“Very well. Do you have a piece of paper?”
22
Tory Troy
Dr. Baraku Bexley
“Are you ready for your second test?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose. What’s this one called?”
“‘Could You Break the Law?’”
“You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Well, due respect, Doc, but don’t we already know the answer to that question? I did, after all, break the law, right? Six times, according to the indictment.”
“Yes, Tory, you did break the law. We know that. But many people break the law in a state of mind completely antithetical to their true personality. You did break the law, but I need to know if you could break the law when you are in what I’ll have to call for now a ‘normal’ state of mind.”
“I see.”
“Do you understand?”
“Sure. I may not have been ‘the real me’ when I did what I did. That’s what you want to find out, right?”
“In a sense.”
“Okay. Fine with me. Fire away.”
“Okay. This test is a little different than the first one.”
“How so?”
“I will make ten declarative statements to which you will answer ‘true’ or ‘false.’”
“Okay.”
“Any questions?”
“Yeah. How’d I do on the first one?”
“You know I can’t answer that.”
“Yeah, I know. Took a shot.”
“May we begin?”
“Shoot.”
“Number one. ‘I am highly sensitive when rebuffed or put down by someone.’”
“Highly sensitive?”
“Yes, that’s how it reads.”
“False.”
“Number two. ‘I am chronically angry, upset, and frustrated.’”
“Chronically?”
“Yes, chronically.”
“False.”
“Number three. ‘I have gone through very low periods where I have felt utterly worthless.’”
“Utterly?”
“Yes.”
“False.”
“Number four. ‘I am, or have yearned to be, on my own—free and independent of people and the restraints of society.’”
“True.”
“Number five. ‘Compared with others, my need to do risky things to find excitement is high.’”
“Very false.”
“Number six. ‘I have had episodes of boundless optimism that exceeded the reality of my situation.’”
“Boundless?”
“Yes.”
“That means completely limitless, right?”
“Yes.”
“False.”
“Number seven. ‘I have often done or craved to do things that are forbidden by society.’”
“Forbidden? That’s a foreboding word, Doc. Have I craved to do forbidden things? Craved? This is a weird question.”
“I’m sorry, Tory, but we cannot discuss the questions. You need to answer them on your own.”
“Okay, then, false.”
“Number eight. ‘As a youngster, I often got my way by bluffing, bullying, or using physical force.’”
“Yeah, right. Look at me. I was even skinnier when I was a kid. False.”
“Number nine. ‘As a teen, I often committed petty, illegal acts like shoplifting, driving too fast, or cheating on exams.’”
“Could we go back to ‘rarely,’ ‘sometimes,’ or ‘often’ for this question?”
“Very funny. True or false, Tory.”
“Well, the key word is often, so I’ll say false.”
“Number ten. ‘I lose my temper easily.’”
“Unequivocally false.”
“That’s it. Would you like to go on to the third test or do you need a break?”
“No, I’m fine. What’s the third called?”
“‘How Empathic Are You?’”
“Oh.”
“What do you think? Are you up for it?”
“Ah, what the hell. Yeah, let’s do it.”
“Okay. This test consists of ten questions consisting of declarative statements, and for each statement you must answer using one of the following five qualifiers: ‘not at all,’ ‘somewhat,’ ‘a good deal,’ ‘very much,’ or ‘exactly.’”
“Really? I get five choices?”
“Yes. It gives you a wide range of levels of agreement or disagreement with the statemen
t.”
“Okay. Take it away, Doc.”
“Number one. ‘In emergencies, I become emotional.’”
“Wow. A tough one right off the bat.”
“Take your time.”
“What are the five choices again?”
“‘Not at all,’ ‘somewhat,’ ‘a good deal,’ ‘very much,’ or ‘exactly.’”
“Do I become emotional in emergencies? That’s a really good question. I’m trying to remember emergencies from my past. There really haven’t been that many, thank God. Do I become emotional in emergencies? I think I’m going to go with ‘very much’ for this one, Doc. I put up a good front when there’s a crisis, but inside I’m falling apart.”
“Is ‘very much’ your answer?”
“Yes.”
“All right. Number two. ‘Even when I’m pretty sure I’m right, I’m patient enough to listen to other people’s arguments.’”
“Oh, that is so true about me. Sometimes, when I’m listening to some idiotic argument, I wonder where I get the patience. I remember one time my friends and I were at a bar, and this guy kept trying to convince us that the story about Ivy League colleges taking nude posture photos of incoming freshmen in the fifties and sixties was an urban legend.”
“Nude posture photos?”
“Yeah, you must have heard about them. Diane Sawyer, Meryl Streep, Dick Cavett … they were all photographed completely naked when they started college.”
“Is that true?”
“Completely.”
“Is there evidence?”
“Yes. The photos themselves still exist and are in a vault somewhere in the Smithsonian. Some journalist spent months tracking them down and interviewing former students who had posed for the pictures. The writer even saw some of the pictures.”
“And this gentleman in the bar kept insisting you were wrong?”
“Yes. He went on and on about it being a big hoax and that nothing of the sort ever happened, blah, blah, blah.”
“Yet you knew he was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“Did you argue with him?”
“Sort of. It all stayed pretty friendly, though, and was fueled by many beers and many shots.”
“You patiently listened to him put forth his incorrect argument?”
“Yes.”
“So, getting back to the test, what is your answer to question number two—‘Even when I’m pretty sure I’m right, I’m patient enough to listen to other people’s arguments’—?”
“I’d have to go with ‘exactly,’ Doc.”
“Very well. Moving on. Number three. ‘I feel deeply for the characters in tearjerker movies.’”
“That’s an easy one too. I cry at movies all the time. Did you see Titanic, Doc?”
“Yes, I did.”
“The scene where Leonardo DiCaprio lets go and drowns? And you can see his face, and his outstretched arm reaches toward Kate Winslet as he falls deeper and deeper? I’m tearing up now just talking about it.”
“Yes, it was a poignant moment.”
“You’re not kidding. And it doesn’t have to be a movie for me to start bawling like a baby.”
“What else made you cry?”
“Bobby’s death scene in NYPD Blue got to me. Big time.”
“What was it about that scene that moved you most?”
“Probably Sipowicz promising Diane he’d always take care of her. Bobby and Andy were partners. The love and loyalty and commitment he felt toward Bobby, and his promise to take care of his partner’s wife, was really touching.”
“So do you have a response to this question?”
“Yeah. I’m going with ‘exactly.’”
“All right. Continuing on. Question four. ‘When I am with a depressed person, I become uncomfortable and it is difficult for me to talk.’”
“I’ll go with ‘very much’ on that one, Doc. I don’t like being around depressed people.”
“All right. Question five. ‘I feel uneasy when someone I know casually tells me about a personal problem.’”
“It doesn’t usually bother me when people I know tell me about their personal problems, but I think the key word in that question is casually, so I’m going to say ‘exactly.’”
“Okay. Question six. ‘When a disagreement with someone becomes intense, I can’t deal with it at the time.’”
“I’d have to say that’s true. I’ve been known to walk away from a heated argument rather than deal with it right then.”
“Your answer?”
“Exactly.”
“Question seven. ‘Others have said that I am soft-hearted.’”
“Who’ve you been talking to, Doc? Did you write these questions specifically about me?”
“Of course not. These are standard questions.”
“I know. I’m only kidding. But, man, some of them are sure on target.”
“So you’re saying that people have described you as soft-hearted?”
“Well, actually people have called me a ‘softie,’ but I guess it’s the same thing.”
“So how would you respond?”
“Exactly.”
“Question eight. ‘I daydream about things (good and bad) that might happen to me.’”
“Damn. Another bull’s-eye.”
“You daydream?”
“All the time.”
“Your answer?”
“Exactly.”
“Question nine. ‘The true answer to the great majority of issues is not clearly black or white—usually the truth is somewhere in between.’”
“I’ve believed that for a long time. I once knew a guy who used to say that everything is black or white—no grays. I never agreed with that. Nothing is that carved in stone, although one solution may have a preponderance of logic in its favor.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s all a matter of perception. Let’s say there are two neighbors who share a property line. One of the guys puts up a fence to keep his dog from wandering around the neighborhood and getting hit by a car, but the fence blocks the view of the other guy—who bought his house for the view of the mountains out his window. One guy’s solution is another guy’s problem.”
“I see. So how do you respond?”
“Exactly.”
“And the final question. ‘I feel sad when I see a lonely stranger in a group.’”
“That’s easy. Exactly.”
“Okay, that concludes the third test. Since it’s getting late, why don’t we stop here and pick up where we left off tomorrow?”
“You’re the doctor, Doc. It’s almost time to eat anyway. Mental-institution food. Mmmm. That’s good eatin.’”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Tory.”
“Hasta la vista, baby.”
23
Dr. Baraku Bexley
Crouch Troy
“Mr. Troy?”
“Yes?”
“This is Dr. Baraku Bexley.”
“Who?”
“I am the court-appointed psychiatrist assigned to determine whether or not Tory Troy is fit to stand trial.”
“Oh …”
“Mr. Troy?”
“Why did you call me?”
“Are you aware of the case, sir?”
“Only what I’ve read in the papers.”
“If you have no objection, I would like to meet with you briefly to discuss Ms. Troy.”
“Why?”
“As her father, you may be able to provide some useful information.”
“What kind of useful information?”
“Background on her childhood, her schooling, her home life … that sort of thing.”
“Her mother and I are divorced going on fifteen years, Doctor.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“I haven’t seen or spoken to my daughter since the divorce.”
“Yes, I know that too.”
“Then why do you want to talk to me? You should talk to her mother.”
>
“I’m talking to a great many people about Ms. Troy, sir, including her mother.”
“Is this for real?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you really her doctor? Tory’s doctor?”
“No, sir, I did not say I was Tory’s doctor. I am a doctor the court has appointed. Technically, she is not my patient and I am not treating her. But I can assure you that I am, indeed, a doctor, and I can provide complete credentials when we meet—including the court assignment.”
“I don’t know about this …”
“Mr. Troy, you have nothing to be concerned about. I am only compiling background information. You are not under subpoena.”
“Do I need a lawyer?”
“No, but you are free to bring one to our meeting if it will make you feel more comfortable.”
“All right. We can meet. One time. And I will bring my lawyer. And I will tell you this, Doctor. We will be out the door instantly if she hears one thing she doesn’t like. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.”
“All right, then. How will this work?”
“Let me have your attorney’s name and I’ll call her to set up a meeting.”
“You’re definitely not a cop, right?”
“No, sir, I’m not. I’m a doctor.”
“Okay. But bring those credentials you were talking about so my lawyer can get a look at them, all right?”
“Yes, sir, I will.”
“Are we finished?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then good-bye, Dr. Bexley.”
“Good-bye, Mr. Troy.”
24
Tory Troy
Dr. Baraku Bexley
“Good morning, Tory.”
“Hi, Doc.”
“How are you today?”
“Tired.”
“Why’s that?”
“Some guy in one of the unlocked wards screamed ‘Beverly!’ all night long.”
“Who’s Beverly?”
“I have no idea, but I now loathe her with a deep and heartfelt passion.”
“I don’t blame you. Are you up for the next test?”
“Yes. I’d like to get them over with.”
“Fine. Then let’s dive right into it.”
“What’s this one called?”
“‘Can You Keep Yourself in Check?’”
“Boy, you sure know how to pick ’em, Doc.”
“Why, thank you, Tory. Shall we begin?”
“Go ahead.”
“This is a ‘rarely,’ ‘sometimes,’ or ‘often’ test, Tory.”
“Oh, good. My favorite.”
Dialogues Page 9