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| Figure One - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong. Could Anton Chigurh use a shrink? |
In CLOCK STRIKES THREE, I wrote about a troubled young man who
is sent to a court-appointed psychiatrist by the judicial system. What did I
know about psychiatry or psychology when I wrote this story? Nothing, except
for some movies about the subject and a couple of psychology courses in
college. Although, I was a somewhat successful manager in corporate America for many years, and all good people managers are part time psychologists, as well as their boss duties. I once had a boss who dabbled in
psychology quite a lot and tried to use psychology to manipulate his management team,
not from a positive perspective mind you, but as a way to control and undermine
the cooperation between the members of his management team. He was a manipulative micromanager
who loved being the pivot point for all important decisions and the conduit for discussions
between his managers.
When I wrote CLOCK STRIKES THREE about this
troubled young man named Joey Gellar and his court-appointed psychiatrist, Dr.
Holbrook Devon, I drew part of my psychiatrist character from the boss I
mentioned in the previous paragraph. I wanted to portray Dr. Holbrook Devon as a
person who needed to be in control of every second of every day. Ultimately,
this obsession extended to his patients. In CLOCK STRIKES THREE, I attempted to demonstrate how Dr. Devon manipulated a few select patients. I wanted to show how Dr. Devon looked for psychological weaknesses in his patients and if the patients were ripe for manipulation, he pushed them down his path. You will have to read CLOCK STRIKES THREE to see where Dr. Devon's path led.
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| Figure Two - CLICK FOR MORE INFO ON CLOCK STRIKES THREE |
Now, let’s meet Dr. Devon and one of his patients, shall we? The passage below is from CLOCK STRIKES THREE. In this scene, Dr. Devon is meeting with a long time patient, the elegant Helen Duvall. Dr. Devon has gone too far in his treatment with Helen Duvall and she is beginning to realize what he is doing.
Back at Dr. Devon’s office, he
was meeting with one of his woman patients by the name of Helen Duvall. She was
in her late fifties, but she still possessed the striking image of a fashion
model. She was tall and willowy and walked with the grace of a gazelle. Her
hair was gray, a beautiful dye-free, natural gray. She wore her hair in a loose
bun, free enough to cover the tops of her ears. Her face was long and thin with
a perfect nose set on it. Helen did have some wrinkles etched in her face, but
they were slight and on her distinguished face, they symbolized wisdom and
experience rather than age. She sat up straight in her chair, her posture as
straight as an arrow, yet
she did not look stiff and uncomfortable. Tiny trails of tears followed the
contours of her cheeks, getting lost in pools on her long, pale neck. Dr.
Devon, with fountain pen in hand, was taking careful notes and thinking through
what Helen was telling him. Finally, she stopped talking long enough for the
doctor to feel comfortable interrupting her.
“Please accept my
condolences to you and your family in regards to the unexpected passing of your
uncle,” Dr. Devon declared while shoving an open tissue box across the coffee
table that separated him from Helen.
“Thank you,” Helen
responded, slightly winded from unloading her emotions onto the doctor. She
reached down with long manicured nails and plucked two tissues from the
cardboard box. She gingerly dabbed at the tears on her cheeks.
“You have spoken
about your uncle so many times in our sessions that I feel I knew him,” Dr.
Devon declared and then after a pause, he stated, “But, I do feel it quite
unusual for you to react the way you are in regards to your uncle’s death.”
Helen stopped
drying her eyes and cheeks. Her facial expression tightened. “Why do you think
that this is unusual, Holbrook?” she questioned, using the doctor’s first name.
Dr. Devon cleared
his throat while thinking about the best way to answer Helen’s question.
“Well…uh…I am not sure that this is the appropriate time…I mean…to revisit all
of the horrific things your uncle did to you as a child,” the doctor hemmed and hawed.
Helen continued
glaring at Dr. Devon, patiently waiting for him to finish his thought. She
balled up the tissues in her white-knuckled fist. For the longest time, the
doctor and Helen just sat there, she staring at him while his eyes looked down
at the coffee table. The only sound came from the rhythmic ticking of the mantle
clock as it measured the uncomfortable pause between doctor and patient.
Helen broke the
silence, asking, “Well, doctor, are you finished?”
“Uh,” Dr. Devon
mumbled, knowing that he was opening up a can of worms. After a long pause, he
responded, “Your uncle was one of the main reasons you came to me five years
ago. It has taken you most of your life and all of your inner strength to find
the courage to forgive this monster for the emotional and physical damage he
inflicted on you as a child.”
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| Figure Three - The beautiful and elegant Helen Duvall |
What did her uncle do to Helen and how did Dr. Holbrook
Devon get involved? Dr. Devon cannot stand not controlling every situation when it comes to his patients. You will
have to read CLOCK STRIKES THREE to see what happens between Dr. Devon and
Helen Duvall. I promise, you would never guess….CLICK TO ORDER CLOCK STRIKES THREE
