“Whitney, you…you can’t mean it about your mother.”, Grace replied, surprised at Whitney’s request.

“ Of course I mean it. The woman is awful and shouldn’t be allowed to practice medicine.”

Grace took a long look at Whitney. She didn’t realize how hard it’s been on Whitney. She noticed the change in Whitney’s aura. In her eyes. Gone was the innocence that had been so sweet about Whitney. Her eyes were hard, cold and bitter.

“ Whitney, do you want to talk about it?”

” About what?”

” How angry you are.”

” I’m not angry. I’m over being angry. Eve is a liar, and a bad doctor, and she shouldn’t be allowed to be around patients. How clear does that need to be?”

” I guess..”

” So, you’ll do it. You’re going to testify against her, right?”

“ I don’t know.”

” What?”

” Whitney,  I don’t know. I’m going to think about it. “

This wasn’t what Whitney wanted to hear, but she would have to make do with it, and hope that Grace saw the right way.

“ Well, I have to go. Just think about what I said.”

” I will Whitney. And, you can talk to me anytime you want.”

” Ok.”

Whitney left the Bennett House, and Grace got on the phone.

” TC? Can you come by here? I think we need to talk.”
 

Simone was sitting on the couch, curled up like a ball, shaking, when Hakim got there.

“ I didn’t know you were..”, Hakim barked until he saw that something was wrong with Simone.  “ Girl, what’s wrong?”

“ Oh Hakim! I’m so happy you’re here. It…it was awful. “

“ What?”

“ He was awful.”

” Girl, talk some sense. “

“ A guy named Rocky came by. He scared me.”

” What did he say? WHAT DID HE SAY?”

” He just said to tell you that he dropped by.”

“ Shit.”, Hakim muttered to himself. “Are you sure, that’s all?”

“ Yes.” Simone looked to Hakim, hoping that he would see that she needed to be comforted.

Hakim got up off the couch and went to the phone, taking it in the bedroom and closing the door.

Left alone, Simone knew that she’d get no attention here, so she put her shoes on and left, not knowing where to go.
 

“ Grace, I got your message.”, TC said, entering the Bennett kitchen. “ What’s wrong?”

” It’s Whitney.”

” WHAT? Has something happened to her? Is she hurt?”, TC said panicked.

” No, TC, come sit down and have some tea.” Grace poured tea for the both of them.
“ I had a visit from Whitney today.”

” Oh?”

” She wanted me to assure her that I was going to make sure that I testified against Eve at the Medical Review Board. She wants her mother to lose her medical license.”

“ That woman is NO MOTHER!”, TC exclaimed.

” TC, calm down. I know Eve hurt you. I know it was bad. But, I’m worried about Whitney.”

” Worried?”

” The level of bitterness in her voice. The light that isn’t in her eyes anymore. She’s in a lot of pain, TC, and she’s not dealing with it.”

“ Whitney is doing fine. Her tennis has never been better.”

” TC, this is about Whitney, your daughter, not Whitney, the tennis player.”

” I can take care of my own daughter!”

” I know you love her. But, she needs help. She is very confused right now, and the anger is eating her up. Just like it’s eating you up.”

” I’m fine.”

” No, you’re not. You are betrayed and devastated, and you have every right to be. TC, I want you to be happy.”

” What is happiness, but a lie.”

” No, the lie is what Eve told you. Happiness isn’t a lie. Happiness is possible.”

” Don’t say it, Grace. It’s not possible. I was delusional and a sap…a sucker…for 20 years. I…I don’t even know what happy is anymore.”, TC said with such a level of defeat and resignation in his voice that it scared Grace.

“ TC, you can do it. You can move on.”

” How? It eats me up.”

“ You can work through it.”

TC begins to cry. “ I’m failing both my girls. I only wanted to be a good father and husband, and I failed at both. I thought tennis would be enough for Whitney, because I don’t have a clue as to how to help her. And, Simone….we’re strangers. The anger I feel scares me. Because Eve always used to be there to balance me out. She calmed me down. Nothing seems right anymore. I’m making mistakes at every turn, and I keep on having the same nightmare that I’ll wake up one day and my daughters will be gone because of something I’ve done. How could I wind up such a failure.”

Grace got up and hugged TC. “ You’re not a failure. You’re in a dark place, but you can get out.”

“ I wish I could believe that.”

” You have friends, TC. You have Sam and me. And the girls love you. Don’t lose sight of that.”

” I need help.”, TC said softly.

Grace held his hands. “ That’s always the hardest step- admitting it. It’ll get better. I promise.”
 

Eve was reading some material Alexis had sent over for her case when she heard the doorbell ring. Since the list of allowed visitors was short, she was happy for the interruption. She opened the door.

” Simone!”

” Hi, Mom. I’m sorry I didn’t call.”

“ Baby, you never have to call. Please come in.”

Simone came into the apartment, and went to sit over on the couch. Eve came back with some iced tea. Simone took a sip.

” I’ve missed your tea.”

Eve touched Simone’s hair. “ I’m glad there’s something about me worth missing. Simone, is everything ok?”

Simone took a deep breath. She knew she couldn’t tell Eve about Hakim – she wouldn’t understand. So, she shrugged her shoulders. “ It’s ok.”

” You sure?”

” Positive”, Simone said, a little defensiveness creeping into her voice. Eve decided to switch tactics.

” Well, what do you have planned for the evening?”

” Not much.”

” How about spending it with me? I put a wonderful chicken into the oven, and I was just going to have leftovers for days, but I’d love to share a meal with you. And, I made my cheesecake…”

” With the strawberry/cranberry sauce?”

” Yep. And, I rented a few movies. Or, we can play some checkers, or backgammon. Just spend time together.”

Simone looked at the pleading in her mother’s eyes. Truth is, she wanted it too.

” Sure.”, she said, non-committingly.

“ Well, I’ll put on the popcorn, you go pick out the movie.”, Eve said, glad for the chance to spend time with her youngest child.