To Run Away And Truly Running Away From Home
With the bite block firmly secured between her teeth the attractive, well dressed, petite, African American, 21-year-old female patient muttered, “doctur did hu know I ied to un haway”?
The dentist quickly responded, “did you say try to run away”. “I sure did” the patient said rapidly.
Immediately the dentist’s hands began shaking violently and uncontrollably. Questioning thoughts started racing through the patient’s mind. “Did I upset my favourite dentist”? “Is she nervous about taking care of me”. “Am I going to be okay”, and “should I say anything more”.
“My older sister is going to laugh uncontrollably when she hears this” the pleasant, young, confident, 31-year-old African American female dentist whispered under her breath.
“I just can’t believe this is happening” she continued. The patient wondered if the dentist was speaking to her and what she was thinking.
The patient recalled vividly the precise details of her trying to run away. It was 10 years ago when she and her sister, who was two years younger, decided they had had enough of their parents.
Washing the dishes by hand, cleaning the bathrooms, keeping their individual rooms clean, and keeping up with their schoolwork had become overbearing.
Her father who had been born in the United States was not the problem. He was laid back, somewhat uninvolved, and left much of the discipline to his wife. Passing gas all day as an anesthesiologist had somehow induced a relaxed demeanour in Joe, her husband.
Regaining her composure the dentist continued to work quietly except for the occasional buzzing from the dental drill.
The unusually quiet, minimal conversation with the dental assistant was mostly nonverbal. This very experienced dental assistant did not need to be asked by the dentist for the next required supplies for the ongoing dental procedure.
The patient felt the increased pressure being applied as the dentist diligently filled in the cavities in the upper right central and lateral incisors. Soon the procedure was over, and the patient thanked the dentist and left the office.
While driving home the patient called her friend Sandy and recounted her experience in the dental office. Sandy cogitated about why the dentist reacted the way she did to the revelation that someone ran away.
And Sandy was curious as to why the dentist did not seek further clarification regarding this runaway episode. Meanwhile the dentist, distracted by the runaway conversation, did not engage in any conversation with several of her patients that followed.
These patients pondered quietly if the dentist was unwell. This stoic, unfriendly, nonverbal demeanour was unusual for her. Not sure what to do, they followed the cue of the dentist and remained quiet.
Mrs. Howell, the wife of another anesthesiologist and mother to the dentist, Jackie, was born in Port Maria, St. Mary Jamaica. She grew up in extremely poor, somewhat dire circumstances.
She had ten other siblings. Seven older brothers and three younger sisters. They grew up in a two-bedroom house that was about 20 square feet and had an outhouse and an outside roofless bathroom.
Mrs. Howell, after being trained as a nurse in critical care in Jamaica, migrated to the United States. It was while working as an ICU nurse that she caught the eye of Joel. He was captivated.
Overwhelmed, he was left speechless by her beauty, poise, expansive knowledge about almost every subject and her amazing humility. He soon proposed. Two years after their marriage, when she was 26 years old Mrs. Howell had their first daughter Jackie, who eventually became a dentist.
As soon as she got home from work that night Jackie called her younger sister. She did not take her usual shower. She passed up catching up on the news summary for the day. She did not even have time to change out her work clothes.
“Guess what happened today?” she asked her sister, Jill. “Your guess is as good as mine’ Jill answered, “the lottery called and said you won $100 million dollars even though you didn’t play”.
“I thought you had outgrown your young, inexperienced, crazy phase” Jackie replied, “but it seems you are only getting worse”. “Well, you started it “Jill retorted, “what happened today”?
“It is unbelievable,” Jackie started, “my very first patient this morning was telling me about how she”. “Hold up”, Jill interrupted, “I have to take this call from the hospital, I am on call”.
Jill was a family physician. She and her sister grew up in a traditional, conservative, protestant home in the United States (US).
They were awash with every luxury. They both went to one of the most exclusive and expensive Christian elementary and high schools in New Jersey. Immediately after graduating summa cum laude from high school, she went on to a small historically black university in Huntsville, Alabama.
This university excelled at preparing students at the undergraduate level to later study medicine. Many of these students were accepted with full scholarships to the very best, most competitive, prestigious Universities in the US.
Not long after matriculating at the university, against her parents’ best advice and counsel, Jill became consumed in a misguided, ill-advised intimate relationship.
There was nothing anyone could say that would change her mind. She was smitten, yes bitten, and it was by an irresponsible, uncouth and uncaring serpent. Just before completing medical school Jill had her beautiful baby girl. By this time that smooth, silky, slippery, serpent had slithered away, never to engage with Jill again.
Sandy was beside herself. She was still upset the dentist had failed to get her friend’s account regarding the runaway episode.
Sandy recalled her own experience. How, from 9 years old she had been sexually abused, in St. Thomas, Jamaica by her stepfather. He preyed on her. Her mother was uncaring and disengaged. Since the man provided financial resources, he ran the house and could do as he pleased.
This kind of abuse was normal behaviour in that St. Thomas community. Sandy called her friend. “Are you going to say anything to that dentist about how your friend from church raped you in your own house when you were 9 years old”. “And how your parents never believed you”.
“Instead, they sided with your friend from church and his family”. Overcome with emotions and distraught, her friend remained speechless. She quietly wondered if the dentist knew she was not really a girl. Of all her friendship circles, only Sandy knew her struggles. The denial and total rejection of her concern about being molested by her own, very Christian family had irreversibly changed her life.
While in the Aquarest Superior jacuzzi Jade was upset that her call to her sister, Jill was interrupted. “Why did she need to get an emergency call from work just when I needed to talk and decompress”, she questioned.
The day at work was horrendously difficult. Jade wondered aloud. “What would have happened to their lives had their abhorrent childhood neighbour not seen them as they threw the flimsy bedsheets out the third-floor window”.
And their silly, planned run away from a home with every creature comfort had not been prematurely aborted.
Guest Author: Adam Zapel
Remember to share this article on Facebook and other Social Media Platforms. To submit your own articles or to advertise with us please send us an EMAIL at: [email protected]