STAN
I sigh as I open my eyes tired from the long day of helping kids with their problems. Sometimes I wonder why did I decide to even go into this field, I just like to help kids. The world is not getting any better, things are getting crazier, even more confusing. My mom was great at helping me deal with issues to the extent she could. My dad tried but he was terrible at giving any kind of real advice. I hear a knock on my door drawing me out of my thoughts.
"Yes," I call out. I see Bebe enter my office.
"Stan, your 4 o'clock is here," she smiled. I guess down time is not going to happen today, at least they're on time.
"Alright, send them in and can you please fix me a cup of coffee," I request.
"Sure," she replied. Bebe stepped aside allowing Mrs. Broflovski inside and her son Kyle. His body language is clearly telling me he does not want to be here. I stand up and walk from around my desk over to Mrs. Broflovski to shake her hand. Bebe closes the door.
"Hi Mrs. Broflovski it is really nice to see you," I reply shaking her hand. Mrs. Brokflovski lives down the street from my parents. I remember when she gave birth to Kyle. The first green eyed, red hair kid I have ever seen, most of times I see features like those are in comic books.
"Nice to see you too Stanley," she smiled. "I'm hoping you will be able to help out Kyle." Kyle has his arms crossed and huffs when his mom says this. "That is part of the problem. Anyway, we have got to get his temper under control. He just most recently broke a student's nose at school. We're lucky they aren't sewing us!" I had to keep my face in check because this little guy broke someone's nose. He is not short but stands at 5'7 compared to my 6'1. He is not big but not small either. I try not to stare at him too hard as I'm wondering if he has muscles under all those layers.
"I will see what I can do," I replied. I turn my attention to Kyle. "How are you doing this evening?" He rolls his eyes.
"I feel like shit," he announced shocking me at his boldness. Well this session is going to be fun.
"Kyle!" exclaimed Mrs. Broflovski. "See, his brother would never act like this." I can see that comment really bothered Kyle as he shifts uncomfortably.
"It's fine," I replied. "I did ask him how he was feeling. Mrs. Broflovski our session is scheduled to be an hour today. You can either wait in our waiting room where we have complimentary water and coffee or you can come back."
"I will go ahead and take care of some things," she replied. "Thank you so much for seeing him."
"It is not a problem, really," I hear a knock on the door. I step between Kyle and his mom to open the door. I took my coffee from Bebe. "We will see you in an hour. Kyle, would you like anything before we start?" He shakes his head no. I bid Mrs. Broflovski farewell before closing the door. I lead Kyle to the part of my office that is set up like a living room. I find that most clients find this to be more of a comfortable environment. "You can sit anywhere you like." He plops down on the love seat and I sit on the single chair.
"This blows," he growls. "I don't have any problems."
"We all have problems," I shrugged. "Some people just need more help than others in sorting them out."
"Whatever," said Kyle looking away. "Aren't you a little young to be a doctor?" I get this a lot.
"To most, yes. I worked very hard to get where I am. I did the same course work as everyone else. We can talk more about myself later. Want to tell me why you feel like shit today?" Kyle looks surprised that I used a cruse word. I'm not like the other doctors. Sometimes for clients you have to get on their level, Kyle strikes me as one of those people.
"My day was not that terrible," he replied letting his guard down a little. "I just don't want to be here. I did not mean to break his nose."
"Care to explain what happened?" I asked. Kyle pinches his nose and this surprises me. I don't see many people do that. I use to do that a lot as a kid but worked hard to break the habit in college. As a doctor I can't give away what I'm thinking, pinching of the nose is a clear sign of agitation.
"This kid name Craig was being a total asshole," he started to explain. "He thought I was hitting on his girlfriend but I wasn't. I told him repeatedly I'm tutoring her in chemistry. For some strange reason, he thinks otherwise." I nod yes encouraging him to continue. "He tries to make this huge scene in the hall trying to make me look like I'm weak. He pushed me and he got a nice elbow to the face in response. I didn't expect to have such great contact."
"Did you not have other options of handling the situation?" I asked.
"This is Craig! There is only one option," he replies.
"Why do you think you're here?"
"Because my mom wants me to be her perfect little child like Ike."
"Can you tell me more about Ike?" I asked. "You seem to really dislike him."
"I don't dislike him," sighed Kyle. "My mom adopted him when I was 4. I was excited to have a little brother. I kind of hated being an only child. Next thing I know everything he is doing is being held up like he is the greatest thing on god's green earth. It was even worst when he was tested and we found out he is close to being a genius. In my mom's eyes he is a genius. I have to work twice as hard to stand out." I learned a lot about Kyle just this quick. I do remember his mom constantly carrying Ike around when they adopted him. I was a kid myself so I never paid attention to stuff like this. Kyle certainly has angry issues and this is not helping matters at all. "Sorry that didn't really tell you about Ike."
"It's fine," I reply. I take a sip from my coffee. "Thank you for answering my question. Want to tell me more about yourself?"
He shrugs. "Not much to tell. I pretty much hate school, I hate the kids at my school, and I'm looking forward to getting away from here."
"Going to college out of state?" I ask.
"No, I'm staying in the area" he replies a little sadly. "I didn't get into the school I wanted and of course my mom made sure to say that wouldn't happen to Ike."
"Let's focus on the fact that you are going to college, that is great."
"If you say so," he replies.
"What is your major?"
"Computer software," he smiled. "I want to be able to build programs, things like that." Interesting, you have to be smart as hell to do something like that. I only know the basics to do my job and that is all. I'm happy to see him smile which better suits his face.
"Seems like this makes you happy," I note.
"I would not be to school for it if it did not make me happy. I'm trying to see if I can convince my friend to get an apartment with me. Living at home would be too much of a distraction." I have to agree with him on this but I'm not going to tell him that. "You're not going to tell my mom anything I say in here are you."
"That depends," I replied.
"Well," said Kyle. "I feel my mother is dangerous and I can't have you telling her anything I say in here."
"How so?" I asked curiously as I should be.
"Who do you think I get my temper from. I know the law, if I'm in danger you can't tell her shit." This kid did his homework. I will have to take his word on it for now.
"I only tell what I have to," I replied. "I will not repeat anything. It's in our contact." Kyle looks at me as if he doesn't believe me. "Let's focus on something nicer. What do you like to do in your spare time?" Kyle starts to tell me how he likes playing the games on Facebook. He likes to read but he likes to read engaging books mostly. He likes cleaning as it provides him a peace of calm. I can tell he more relaxed after this because he starts to talk about his plans for college and all the things he wants to do. He wants to leave South Park and travel the world and live a little before settling down. Kind of cute how this kid has his whole life planned out. "So are you going to tell me how you become a doctor so young?" I smile because he actually remembered.
"I did the same course work as everyone else," I explain. "I went to school all year around which was very hard and exhausting but worth it in the end." Kyle had long ago removed his shoes and was more comfortable on the loveseat.
"Did you go to the college up the street?" he asked.
"No, I went to school in Georgia,"
"That's pretty cool," he smiled. "What was that like? I heard they have a lot of gay men there." I keep my game face on as he stated a true fact. It depends on where you are in Georgia. The part I went to school in had plenty of them, myself included.
"It was great going to school there," I replied carefully. "I didn't get to enjoy the sites much seeing as I had to focus on my studies. Anything else you wanted to let me know about? Our time is almost up."
"Wow, really?" he asked. "That was fast," I smiled glad to know he lost track of time. That means it felt more like a social visit for him not therapy. Kyle leans forward to put his sneakers back on. He sits up once he is done. "Hey you never told me how old you are. Are you one of those people who don't like people to know your age."
"Not at all," I reply standing up. "I'm 28."
"I thought you were 31," he replied standing up.
"Really!" I exclaimed breaking doctor mode. Kyle laughs making me feel like a stupid teenager.
"It's not a bad thing doc," he says walking towards the door. "I would much rather have a young male doctor anyway and not some old boring lady who thinks she understands the male mind." Something tells me he would have not done well at all with a female doctor. "We're good, right?"
"Yes," I reply. Kyle opens the door and his mother is sitting down reading from a kindle tablet.
"Hey," she smiled standing up. She put up the tablet she appeared to be reading on. "How did everything go?
"Everything is fine," I replied. "For now, I would like to see Kyle twice a week."
"Okay," she replied. "Like why he like this?" She is going to be one of those parents.
"Kyle is fine," I reassure her. "He just needs to sort some things out and I am going to help with that. Bebe can schedule you for your next appointment. Kyle, I will see you next week." He is no longer listening as he is texting on his phone. I head back into my office glad that the day is over. I go to sit down and make notes from my session with Kyle. I didn't have a pen and paper out for our first session because I know that would have shut him down. I turn on my laptop and started to making notes of the information I learned in this session and what I want to discuss in the next session. I feel like there is something more to his anger. I'm going to have to find out what that is for us to deal with it properly.
"Stan," said Bebe opening the door slowly.
"Yeah," I reply looking up.
"I have cleaned the waiting room. Did you need anything else before I go?"
"Nope you're free to go," I reply.
"Thanks!' she exclaimed hail tailing it quickly to the door. I will be right behind her. I'm meeting Token for drinks this afternoon. I will not be able to stay long but at least we can catch up. Token went to school to become a doctor like me. He deals with adults mostly. I feel like the adults are worse than kids. I would rather not deal with them and their issues. I save everything I need to, closing and locking my computer. I lock up the office and head to my car.