‘So they switched his medication?’
‘Yes — and put him on Lithium. The thing is, because of his attack on the state police officer, and because of his explosions at the hospital, the state decided to press for ongoing incarceration. I asked my lawyer to see if we could make a case against the hospital for misdiagnosis and putting him on the sort of medication that turned him psychotic. The lawyer got me in touch with a criminal attorney down in Portland. The guy charged nearly four hundred dollars an hour. He told me that if I was willing to spend twenty grand, they could mount a case against the state. But he felt the state would win out in the end, as Billy was already violent and unstable before he’d been wrongly put on Paxil. I took out a loan against my house — something Muriel truly objected to — and we mounted the case. And we lost. Even on Lithium, Billy was still showing signs of serious mental disturbance. The state had all the cards. The state was granted the right to lock Billy away in that hospital until such a time as they considered him fit for reintegration into society.’
Is there any chance of that happening? I felt like asking, though I already knew the answer. Again clearly reading my thoughts Richard said:
‘But that will not happen anytime soon. Because in addition to his bipolar diagnosis, he was subsequently classified as a dangerous schizophrenic. And now — now — there’s that phone call from the state hospital an hour ago. For the first time in four months he was allowed back in the common living area that is shared by the other male patients on his ward. A fight broke out and he stabbed someone in the throat with a pencil.’
‘Is the man all right?’
‘The wound was a superficial one, according to the psychiatric head of the unit where Billy is kept. But this means that my son is back in solitary confinement. And the chances of him being let out again in the foreseeable future. ’
He broke off and put his face in his hands. I reached over and put my hand again on his arm. This time he did not pull away.
‘Of course I called his mother as soon as I heard the news from the hospital. And I told you her response. “He’s lost now forever.”’
‘Do you believe that?’ I asked.
‘I don’t want to believe that. But. ’
Silence.
‘If you have to run up to the hospital now. ’ I said.
‘My son is back in solitary confinement. Which means no visitors. The resident psychiatrist told me that they would be keeping him isolated until they felt he was stabilized. The last time this happened, it was eight weeks before we could see him. The only reason I told you earlier I had to run was because I didn’t think I could face recounting all this to you. And you’ve been so kind, so patient, so. ’
The waiter was back at the table, all smiles. Richard withdrew his arm from my grasp.
‘So. any thoughts about brunch?’ the waiter asked.
‘We still need a few minutes,’ I said, and the waiter headed elsewhere. As soon as he was out of earshot I whispered to Richard:
‘Please go if you need to.’
‘Where would I go to? Where? ’ he asked. ‘But if, after hearing all this, you want to run off. ’
‘Now why would I want to do that?’
‘You sure about that?’
‘I’m sure about that.’
‘Thank you.’
‘No, thank you.’
‘For what?’
‘For telling me about your son.’
‘Even though it’s a terrible story?’
‘Especially because it’s a terrible story.’
Silence. Then Richard said:
‘There are moments in life when one really needs a second drink.’
To which I could only reply:
‘Good idea.’
Three
WE DRANK THE second round of bloody marys. We ate the omelets that we ordered. We didn’t mention the subject of Richard’s son again during the course of the brunch. I would have continued the conversation about Billy, as there was so much I wanted to ask Richard about — especially when it came to finding a legal way through this nightmare story. Surely there’s a way of exploring other forms of treatment for him. Though he’d had violent episodes, he had not actually broken any laws — which had to mean there was some way for him to be in a form of managed care that was not state-sanctioned incarceration. And (this was the mother in me talking) surely heaven and earth could still be moved to rescue this boy from such an ongoing horror show.
But Richard had spent serious money on a lawyer. Unlike his wife he was not giving up hope. Though Muriel really did sound unable to cope with Billy’s monstrous illness, I knew it was wrong to judge her reportedly distanced reaction to her son’s mental collapse. That’s the thing about other people’s tragedies. You can stand on the sidelines and make all sorts of pronouncements about how they should be handled. But in doing so you forget an essential truth: there is no appropriate way to react to the worst that life can throw at you. To attempt to impose your own so-called ‘game plan’ on a nightmare that you yourself aren’t living is the height of heinous arrogance. That’s why we find other people’s tragedies so compulsive: because they so terrify us; because we all privately live with the knowledge that, at any moment, the entire trajectory of our lives can be upended by the most terrible and unforeseen forces.
But getting us off the subject of his son and onto my own children, he now got me talking about Sally and her considerable adolescent heartaches.
‘Maybe this Brad guy dumping her will make her consider looking beyond status when it comes to choosing the next boyfriend,’ he said. ‘But let me ask you something. Is Brad’s father Ted Bingham, the lawyer fellow?’
‘Sometimes the world is just too small.’
‘Especially when it comes to Maine.’
‘And yes, his dad is indeed Damariscotta’s big-cheese lawyer — though I might have just uttered an oxymoron.’
Richard smiled, then added:
‘Of course, had you said, “Damariscotta’s big-headed lawyer”, you might have stood accused of uttering a tautology.’
‘Well, Ted Bingham has the reputation of being both big-headed and very grand fromage. Don’t tell me you insure him?’
‘Hardly. He works with Phil Malloy, who has basically cornered the Damariscotta insurance market.’
‘Tell me about it. Phil insures our home and cars.’
‘That’s Maine. And the reason I know Ted Bingham is because his wife was at school with Muriel in Lewiston.’
‘That’s Maine again — and, of course, I’ve met the famous Julie Bingham.’
‘Hard to believe she ever grew up—’
‘—somewhere other than Palm Beach,’ I said.
‘Or the Hamptons.’
‘Or Park Avenue.’
‘Still, that big place they have on the coast by Pemaquid Point—’
‘—is my dream location,’ I said. ‘And I now feel so tacky for being so catty about Julie.’
‘But she is one of those people who invites cattiness.’
‘I’m afraid I know all about that. Sally actually once heard Julie on the phone with a friend, telling her: “Now I think Brad’s girlfriend is a cutey. but it’s a shame her parents are struggling.”’
‘And you worry about being catty about her. Sometimes people deserve cattiness. Especially when they look down their long noses at everyone else. And I’m certain that your daughter saw right through Julie’s noblesse oblige act.’