TALES OF DANSVILLE: EPISODE TWO PART TWO

Click here to read part 1

As he searched the market, Kenneth could only think of his wife. Not the intense noise, air, and land pollution or the large crowd would stop him from trying to make amends. He was going to prepare Stella's favourite dish and take it to her at the hospital.

He got frustrated that night, leaving her alone to spend time to reflect. His first instinct was to pray once he sat in the car, then tried to make sense of the situation. He wanted to go back but couldn't bring himself to it so he decided to just go home. Stella must be distraught, he thought as he got out of the car to open the gate, entered the car to drive it in, then got out to close the gate and entered the house.

In the morning, his head cleared and wanted to make amends with a grand gesture. Here he was, trying hard to get the ingredients to make the food. He watched a YouTube video and wrote the ingredients down as they flashed on the screen as the cook picked them up. Ken couldn't cook to save his life, but he was determined to make things right.

In a few minutes, all the ingredients were checked off the list and he came out holding a big black polythene bag. Now he regretted parking the car far from the market because of the traffic instead of being patient.

When he finally opened the door to their house, the fatigue vanished and he was rejuvenated. To his surprise, Stella was already seated and a mini travel bag set on the coffee table. Stella turned her head to face him, smiling. He felt so ashamed.

"Hey sweety, I'm so sorry for-"

"Kay, no. I get it. It's been tough on you. It hurt but Dr. Akwasi said I should try and understand how you'd feel" she got up now.

Ken sent the items to the kitchen. "I was going to prepare your favourite food and bring it to you at the hospital"

Stella laughed. "Cook what? I'm glad I came home. Only God knows what you'd have brought to the hospital"

"Seriously I'm sorry.", He stopped smiling and assumed a serious puzzled face. "But what's with the traveling bag?"

"Oh yeah. This morning I went to see Dr. Akwasi, a psychiatrist. Thanks for asking", Stella paused to pout her lips to shame him. "He thinks or suspects I have Dissociative Identity Disorder. He wanted me to be admitted to the hospital so he could run more tests to be sure"

Ken looked confused. He was trying to process the information as he stood by the kitchen door and his hand clutched on the doorknob. He then walked to sit on the couch in the living room.

"He says you're crazy?"

"No, he doesn't like the use of the word 'crazy', he says it's too brash". Somehow Stella enjoyed his funny confused face, still smiling.

"Yes you aren't crazy, it's demons madam. And you're going to let these science sheep fool you?"

Stella's smile vanished, but he continued.

"I already set up a meeting with the pastor this evening. I had to convince him to do it since it's Saturday and he needs to prepare for tomorrow. And you're doing this?"

"Ken, see I think the man is legit. He seemed to understand what I was going through and assured me I would get well." Stella was still calm but didn't like how this was turning out.

"Can't you see? Now they're promising you something only God can give, deliverance. Don't let them deceive you. Let's go to the church tonight"

"How long have we been doing this? I'm getting tired of it"

"It doesn't matter," Ken said, then got up, "the answer will surely come, no matter how long it takes"

"That's what you've been saying and it's been five months!" Stella suddenly rued staying behind to wait for him. She could've just left before he came.

"Are you serious right now?! You're considering going to see that shrink over the pastor? What did I do?"

"See, I'm tired of you making this whole ordeal about you. You claimed these 'demons'," she raised her fingers to illustrate quotation marks, "are in me because of an attack on you. Have you stopped for one second to think of what I was going through? How did I feel? What the heck? I'm tired of you pushing me around!" She started crying at the thought that her husband was this self-centered.

Ken was about to talk, clearly angry but Stella interrupted him

"I'm going to make my own decision this time. And I'm going to start therapy. If you don't want to be involved that's okay. But you aren't going to tell me what to do. "

Ken was more dumbfounded than angry.

This demon has grown horns for real, he thought. Things were getting away from him.

Stella picked up the bag and proceeded to the door.

"Stella, are you serious right now? If you leave, consider us done, I can't live with the devil"

New tears trickled down her face. She opened the door, told him to do whatever he wanted. She then went to pick a taxi to the hospital.

She followed Dr. Akwasi after she called him to meet her.

This man called me the devil. Ken's last words haunted her.

Anxiety welled up in her as they got to the doorway. The doctor sensed she was anxious, assured her of her safety and then he opened the door.

The brightly lit hallway, full of people, led to a large open room. As she looked on, she realized all the people in the room had different problems. Her eyes were drawn to a man in his 50s, who stood on the leg and leaned on the corner of the room. And another woman who religiously repeated the months of the year.

"I want to go home!"

"This place scares me"

"Girls, calm down. The doctor said we'll be fine"

When they got to the nurses' booth, Dr. Akwasi did the final registration processes while she stood behind him, feeling anxious. It worsened by the minute and then she felt her shoulder jiggle. Oh shit

"I don't want to be here! I want to go home!" Agitated, she dashed the door. She almost reached the door when she felt strong hands held her tight. Stella tried to wiggle herself out of his grasp but failed. The doctor came over to calm her, she was still aggressive. She then felt a sharp pin poke through her arm and everything went black.

She woke up to a nurse gathering some medical instruments. When she looked down at herself, there were chains tied to her hands and legs.

What happened?

The nurse shot up to check her vitals and called Dr. Akwasi in. Stella felt calm

"One of them in my head did something stupid right?" Stella said before the doctor got closer.

"No Stella, don't say that. You were expressing dislike for the new environment, which is understandable"

"Except it wasn't me, it was the rascals in my head"

Dr. Akwasi just smiled, kept everything to himself. He motioned for the nurse to prep her for her session.

"The nurse is going to get you ready then we'll meet in hour alright? Don't worry. You're safe here"

02:03 PM

Stella sat in the chair waiting for Dr. Akwasi to begin the session. He was busily going through his notes. Stella was anxious, didn't know what to expect. The doctor broke the silence by briefing her about the Dissociate Personality Disorder, previously, Multiple Personality Disorder. He explained to her that it is usually caused by trauma from childhood. 

"This produces a lack of connection in feelings, thoughts, and self-identity. The disorder is thought to be a result of your brain coping with the disorder. It copes by literally dissociating or disconnecting you from those traumatic experiences that your conscious self cannot deal with." He went on to stress that it wasn't anything demonic and the "voices" she heard were part of her. 

She remained quiet, trying to make sense of what she'd heard. 

Trauma? My childhood was ok, great in fact. 

 He then asked how she felt since the last time they met.

"Nothing has changed. It still happens"

"Do you feel differently about it now that you know what it is?" 

"Kind of. At least now I know they will leave me alone soon enough"

He smiled, but heartbroken. "Stella, when I explained the DID, I said that all those "voices" had their memories, YOUR memories that were shut out."

"Shut out how? My childhood was pretty sound"

He explained to her how the brain can cast out traumatic experiences into the unconscious mind, then went on to show her the Sigmund Freud iceberg model of the mind, revealing that the conscious memory is only the tip of the iceberg of the mind and that the unconscious housed some of the most traumatic experiences the conscious part couldn't handle.

She was dumbfounded, it made sense but found it difficult to think she had been through any abuse or trauma.

"Earlier, you asked if they, the people in your head did something stupid. Stella, those people are you. You are them."

"No, I'm not like them. They're monsters"

"They aren't. They are you at different times in your life. You aren't separate from them."

"No! I don't want to be them. I want them out". 

After Stella said this she felt her shoulder shudder and then she zoned out. Her eyes turned red, raging. The doctor was caught off guard but remained calm. He needed her to trust him.

"Stella?"

"No", Stella said in an extremely cold voice. "That's not my name. It's Doris"

"Okay, Doris What's wrong?"

"I don't know!" Doris yelled at Dr. Akwasi

"You can trust me. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone"

"I'm stupid. And weak.", She softened and began to cry. "I'm a stupid fool. I just let him!"

The doctor shot up, let who what? He thought. Then asked it out loud

"Uncle Kojo. He has been touching me " shy about mentioning "vagina", she motioned her hand in the direction of her crotch. "then he'll put his mouth on it. Then he'll put his..." paused for a while, "thing inside"

The doctor was incensed but needed to keep his composure. He'd had seen a lot of cases where children had been assaulted by relatives, including his sister. He didn't find out until recently and wanted to tear the culprit apart with his bare hands. He had to keep his emotions in check.

"So why did you say you're weak and stupid?"

"Because I couldn't stop him. I was afraid. And he did it a lot of times. I should have-" Dr. Akwasi cut her short.

"It's not your fault. He took advantage of you. You couldn't have done anything okay. It's his fault, not you" he paused to jot the new revelations down. "How old are you?"

"Ten years."

"Uncle Kojo can't do anything to you anymore. It's not your fault. He is a bad person. Is that okay?. It took Doris a while for him to come around, but she finally said okay and Dr. Akwasi requested to speak to Stella.

Jiggle.

"Stella?" she responded and he continued, "Do you remember the conversation we just had?"

"Not really, it felt like I was locked up somewhere"

"Do you know Uncle Kojo?"

"Yes, from my dad's side. He used to stay with us when I was young"

"How were things like with him?" Dr. Akwasi recognized the need to tread carefully here.

"It was okay. He used to buy me toffees every Saturday. He was nice." She smiled as if she had just thought of something and then continued "No actually, it was so much fun. We used to play all the time"

"What kind of games?" Dr. Akwasi wasn't amused.

"He had a desktop computer so I'd play games on it in his room, or hide and seek, a lot of games"

"Do you remember being touched inappropriately? Or sexually abused this Uncle Kojo or any relative?"

Abused? Uncle Kojo? 'Daabi da'. No never. She thought, then disagreed with Akwasi. He gave her a little time for her to remember but it was futile.

He then asked her if he wanted to hear the conversation he'd just had with her and she gave him the go-ahead

"Okay. When you switched, I met Doris. She doesn't seem to be a fan of Uncle Kojo"

"Another one now?" Unamused and annoyed. "What did she say?" He didn't like her use of the third person but let it go.

"She said you were sexually assaulted by him, regularly and that's why she's so angry." he licked his index finger and turned to the next page of his notebook. "That's probably why you had the injury."

"Uncle Kojo? No way. He couldn't have. She's lying!"

"Stella, Doris is you. Whatever memory she has is what was pushed in your unconscious and detached from you."

"No. I'm Stella, that's my name. My uncle is a good person!" Stella got up, agitated. She felt the jiggle again

"I want to play a game! I want your phone to play the game!"

"I'm coming okay. I want to talk to Stella first, then you can play the game all day okay" Dr. Akwasi forced a smile. Stella came back

"The first step in managing this is you accepting that they are you. They aren't monsters. They're just you with different memories from what you have."

Dr. Akwasi, after taking her through Cognitive-Behavioural therapy, saw that Doris was beginning to accept that it wasn't her fault and Stella had generally improved. The psychotherapy also helped her accept them as her self.

Another session was spent talking to another person, Mr. Ben. He was the oldest and loved the peace and calm of the night. Unfortunately, with all the chaos, he always had to deal with controlling the kids. But they had a mind of their own and it was difficult maintaining peace. When he first manifested, he gave an unforgettable first impression, in his opinion. He picked up shades from the bag and put them on, crossed his legs and anticipated most of Dr. Akwasi's questions before he asked them. When he realized the poor doctor was getting frustrated, he said mockingly "I'm smart, you know"

In two weeks, Dr. Akwasi had met every one of the different personalities. Four in all.

Efua: Four-year-old girl whose only wants were ice cream, biscuits, and video games.

Doris: Ten-year-old. The top student in her class and plagued by a disease called Uncle Kojo. She was mostly angry at herself but over time, she's learning to understand the only one at fault is that man.

Abena: Snarky, 19 years old. Self-absorbed and exuberant. She had a crush on Dr. Agyemang, the innocent first-year doctor who had treated her cut.

Mr. Ben: Cocky, arrogant and loved shoes. He hated sports with his life, said: "only dumb people do sports." The retired lecturer who still spends time reading anything he could find.

The next sessions were about controlling impulses. They had scheduled times each of them could appear so they didn't interrupt Stella's daily activities. They all had one hour each to enjoy the world. The only problem was Efua, so the doctor asked Mr. Ben to help in that aspect. Abena chose late afternoon, Dr. Agyemang closed around that time so she could hang around with him. Mr. Ben chose dawn, he would just sit outside and watch the sunrise in the peace. Mr. Ben chose evening for Efua since Stella would be alone then. Then the rest was for Stella to do her own thing. It was tough in the beginning but with Dr. Akwasi's guidance, things were normal. Stella felt so much better

After Dr. Akwasi was convinced things were considerably under control, he asked her to go home. But she still had to come for sessions twice a week. Stella wasn't exactly thrilled to go home. It had been a whole month and Ken hadn't called or visited.

She felt considerably better about herself and the doctor helped her cope with losing Ken. It still hurt, maybe a little, but she was fine. When she called Ken and he didn't pick up, she left a voicemail telling him she wanted a divorce. He agreed, in a text message that evening. They finalized things, it was smooth and he didn't try to resist or take her back. Ken wasn't slightly remorseful. After all, he was parting ways with the demons.

Wow, he meant it.

She had resigned her work as a teller at Access Bank since her predicament began and so was relying solely on Ken. Since Ken had moved on with his life, Stella spoke to Dr. Akwasi, who helped her get a job at the hospital in the records keeping department. Abena leaped out for joy, apologized and then switched back. Slowly with the schedule, the impulses had reduced massively, which helped with her anxiety as well.

I'm glad I made this decision. She thought after she switched back from Abena, and entered the taxi.