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polished agates or so I’ve been told. Jill’s are blue, like cornflowers. I take her hands in mine. They don’t spark. Maybe we have some kind of sister immunity. “I showed you what I could do. You saw it with your very own eyes.”
    “I…well…” She flicks her eyes nervously over to Aunt Topaz.
    My aunt’s mouth is pressed into a crisp, baked slit, like the peanut brittle smile of Dr. Beasley.
    Jill pulls her hands away. “This is for the best, sis, I know it. You’ll get better in here, I promise.”
    Tears pool in my eyes. “I’ll get better when someone believes me, and I get out of here. They’re giving me Haloperidol, Jill. That’s for schizophrenics. I am not a schizophrenic. You know that. I’m sensitive, I keep to myself, but I’m not crazy.”
    Aunt Topaz stands up. “I think we’d best get on our way. Jill?”
    “Get better, sis,” Jill whispers in my ear.
    “Believe in me,” I whisper back. I’m desperate for my sister’s acceptance of who and what I am. There’s got to be someone in the family who will believe in me. “Please. Please. Believe in me.” We give each other one last tearful gaze.
    “I’ll show you out, ladies,” All Smiles says , striding up to us.
    I glance over at him and notice Rafe sitting in the corner with his visitor. He’s sitting with a guy around his same age. They’re hunched forward, leaning into the space between them and having a heated conversation.
    He must feel me staring at him because he looks over at me. His face closes down , and he positions his back to me.
    What is that guy’s secret?
    All Smiles unlocks the door leading to freedom, and my sister and aunt disappear through the opening. He strides back to me. “Wasn’t that nice to see your family?”
    “I wouldn’t say that.”
    “What would you say?” he asks, smiling. He unlocks the door to the inner sanctum for us freaks who abide there. “After you.”
    “I’d say it was necessary, it was a beginning step , and I am so not finished talking to them and giving them a piece of my mind.”
    “I see,” he says non-committedly. He smiles and nods at staff as he tramps down the hall. When he gets to my doorway, he opens the door , and beckons me inside. Following after me, he says, “I believe in you, Ms. Engles. I just want you to know that.” He fluffs my pillow and smoothes the white covers with his large, dark hands.
    “Why would you say that?” I ask, perplexed. “I seem to be the big ticket freak around here. I’ll bet people are laying odds at how well I do or when I’ll snap and end up in isolation.” We’re interrupted by a staffer who wanders in with the dreaded blue tray and paper cups of sedation.
    “Afternoon, Debra. Here to see to Ms. Engles?”
    “Good afternoon, Matthew. Yes, I am. Dr. Bellows has requested a medication change for you, Ms. Engles.”
    A lightning quick flash of concern passes over All Smile’s face. It is replaced by his big , generous smile. “I see. Well, I’ll leave you two to it.” He gives the covers one final pat and makes his way to the doorway. Before exiting he turns, looks at me, and opens his mouth as if to say something. His mouth shuts, his head gives a small shake and he disappears, leaving me with Debra, new drugs, and a whole lot of hurt and rage at seeing my sister and my goddamned aunt. Someone is going to pay.

Chapter 6
    The food here is tolerable, at best. I’m used to lots of wholesome, natural fare, prepared simply. I’m sitting at a dining table, picking at the warmish canned peas and carrots, stirring them into the sorry-looking instant mashed potatoes, when Rafe comes over and sits down next to me.
    “Hey,” he says.
    “Hey,” I say. “How are you?”
    “I’m in a mental hospital. What can I say?” He smiles at me.
    “That’s my line.” I return the smile. He’s got white, white teeth. A clean, fresh complexion. He looks a little pale, but then don’t we all when stuffed full of a pharmacopoeia of