95
You can’t keep a genius down forever.
Wednesday, September 22nd, 1988, 6:07 P.M.
The atmosphere in room 148 had an eerie glow that night. There was a blueish haze that seemed to hang over the entire room. Everything was in its place, the room had been cleaned by the housekeepers earlier in the afternoon. The nursing staff would often turn the lights down to mid-level in order to keep the patients more relaxed and subdued. It was a tactic that was used in most mental healthcare facilities for obvious reasons, as well as the general care hospitals.
Belinda was in one of those very same, relaxed conditions. Her anxiety level was at a minimum and she didn’t feel like crying at the moment. Her daily dose of Thorazine had been reduced to once every other day because she had been exhibiting signs of improvement, and this was the staff’s way of “rewarding” her. She was also allowed to receive visitors now pending approval of the administrator in charge. Her bed was tilted back one quarter of the way as she was watching television with the sound turned down very low. She could barely hear it, but that didn’t matter. She wasn’t really paying much attention anyway.
As to be expected, the abundance of her thoughts centered around why she was in this wretched Hell-hole in the first place. It didn’t make any sense. She was never arrested for anything, therefore, no court order was ever given.
Who gave the order to do this?
Who had the power to put her in such a place?
She spent most of her days thinking about her relationship with Myles. Right up to her time of being committed, the two of them had been fighting more than they normally did, but it was nothing serious. They were simply wrestling with the ordinary issues that every married couple squabbles about from time to time. Belinda being a celebrity, the issues sometimes stretched beyond that of a typical, everyday couple, but it was all still relatively mundane in her mind.
The most complicated matter was that it all seemed to revolve around Charlotte somehow.
Every time she would come over to the house, Myles would begin acting uptight and unsettled. Belinda would occasionally catch the two of them having a quiet conversation, then notice that they would stop talking when she entered the room. It made her suspicious that something was going on, yet she was positive it did not involve a sexual affair between the two of them. That was impossible. Charlotte had openly told her on numerous occasions that she had moved on from her infatuation with Myles a long time ago, and Myles never seemed particularly attracted to her in the first place. Besides, it would break an unwritten code between her and her sisters that was worthy of death. It just wasn’t done — EVER.
Then it all happened.
Myles found what appeared to be an entire ounce of white powder in a sealed, plastic bag under the couch and went absolutely ballistic.
But the bag did not belong to Belinda.
Someone had planted it there.
Unfortunately, her persistent denial and pleading did not appease Myles in the slightest. He insisted that she had been lying to him about her drug use and demanded that she get some help. The truth was, Belinda’s drug use had all but disappeared after the birth of her daughter, and now she had a son to go along with the family. In her eyes, it was the most beautiful gift in the entire world.
That did not convince Myles, however. He stormed out of the house and did not return that evening.
Belinda awoke the following morning to the sound of commotion at the front door. She put on her robe and her slippers and exited the bedroom to see what all the noise was about. Standing in the front foyer along with Myles, she spied a man in a suit and tie, a police patrolman, and two men wearing white pants and white shirts, which Belinda instantly recognized as the regulation-style, standard-issue uniforms of nuthouse employees.
The next thing she knew, she was lying in a bed at the Kaiser Mental Health Center.
Suddenly, Belinda could hear the sound of her door opening up. Whoever it was, they knocked softly as they entered. Belinda could tell by the sound of the woman’s “hello” that it was Nurse Nowels coming in to check on her and take her blood pressure for the millionth time.
“Belinda?” she called out softly.
Belinda did not respond.
“You have a visitor,” Miss Nowels informed her.
“Hey, kiddo…” said the voice.
It was Charlotte.
“Oh, Charlotte.. Oh, my.. I’m so glad to see you,” said Belinda in a groggy fashion.
“How ya’ doin?” asked Charlotte, as the two of them embraced. Belinda’s arms were free, but her body was still in restraints.
“Oh, Charlotte, this is awful. When am I going to get out of here? I don’t even know why I’m here,” Belinda relented.
“You’re here because you need help, honey,” Charlotte informed her.
“I don’t need help, you know that… This is ridiculous. Charlotte, you gotta’ help get me out of here.. please! Use your influence. You gotta’ help me,” Belinda begged.
“We don’t think it’s a good idea yet, Belinda,” Charlotte replied.
“We?” wondered Belinda.
“Well, you know.. me.. and the girls.. and Myles,” Charlotte told her.
“You’ve discussed this with my husband?” Belinda asked with a very serious tone. She instinctively used the word “husband” instead of the name “Myles” in order to stress to Charlotte that he was her possession.
“Of course,” Charlotte replied. “Myles and I have become very close since you’ve been in here… Actually, the four of us have.”
“The four of you?” inquired Belinda with the same serious tone.
“Well, you know.. Myles and I… and Lorna and Michael,” explained Charlotte.
Belinda’s eyes became wide as saucers. She glared at Charlotte for several seconds. The very thought of Charlotte including her children in this whole scenario was more than outrageous in Belinda’s mind. She was incensed beyond words.
Although she could barely speak, Belinda managed to spill out—
“Should I be worried about the things that you’re saying, Char?”
Charlotte looked down at her as an evil smirk started to slowly spread across her face.