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Dr. Balis:
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Good afternoon Sarah.
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Ms. Wright:
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Hello Dr. B. I should warn you I'm in kind of a bad mood today. I thought about canceling my appointment but I always feel better after talking to you, so I decided to keep the appointment.
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Dr. Balis:
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What has you in such a bad mood today?
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Ms. Wright:
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Jeff. He left Saturday night and hasn't been back. And if he does come back I'm going to kill him.
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Dr. Balis:
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What happened?!
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Ms. Wright:
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The bastards. I'm going to kill both of them.
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Dr. Balis:
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Please Sarah, tell me what has happened.
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Ms. Wright:
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Jeff and Robby.
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Dr. Balis:
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What about Jeff and Robby?
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Ms. Wright:
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Have you ever heard the song Ironic? I love it. "An old man turns 98, he won the lottery and dies the next day. It's a black fly in your Chardonnay. It's a death row pardon, two minutes too late. Isn't it ironic, don't you think, it's like rain on your wedding day. It's a free ride when you've already paid. It's the good advise that you just didn't take. Mr. Play-it-Safe was afraid to fly. He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye. He waited his whole damn life to take that flight, and as the plane crashed down he thought, well isn't this nice?"
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Dr. Balis:
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I'm afraid I don't understand, Sarah. What is so ironic?
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Ms. Wright:
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Jeff and Robby. They're lovers.
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Dr. Balis:
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Excuse me?
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Ms. Wright:
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[Singing] "A traffic jam when you're already late. A 'No Smoking' sign on your cigarette break. It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife. It's meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife." Yup, I think I'll kill both of them. I wonder what would be the best way. I mean should I kill them at the same time, or would it be better to spread it out a little.
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Dr. Balis:
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Sarah I know you're upset right now, but try to tell me what happened.
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Ms. Wright:
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Dr. B., Jeff and Robby have been in love since high school. Since high school! Can you believe that? Isn't that about the funniest thing you've ever heard? I just think it's hilarious. It was all a big set up. The whole thing. Everything was planned. Every detail for the last 15 years was a friggin' plan. They set me up. I need a cigarette. Do you mind if I smoke?
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Dr. Balis:
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I'm very confused. How did they set you up?
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Ms. Wright:
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Why do you think they chose me for their plan? Was I that stupid? Well, I guess it doesn't matter now. Live and learn, eh Doc? That's okay, I'll have the last laugh. Bastards! I hate men. No, I hate Jeff and Robby. They have fucked up my life for the last 15 years.
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Dr. Balis:
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Sarah please tell me what happened.
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Ms. Wright:
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Sure. We got a new answering machine last week. Our old one just died, so Jeff got one of those new ones that does everything. It has caller ID and last number memory re-dial...all that neat stuff. Well, Saturday morning I'm cleaning house and doing laundry. Jeff plays golf on Saturday mornings. No wait, that's not exactly true. I thought Jeff was playing golf, but it turns out he was playing with Robby. I guess he had a better chance of getting a "Hole-in-One!" with Robby than he did on the golf course! So anyway, I picked up the answering machine to dust the table underneath and I accidentally hit last number dialed. It flashes the number, day and time. I recognized the number right away. It was Robby's number. The call was made that morning, right before Jeff left the house. I must have been in the laundry room. I'm thinking to myself, "Who the hell called Robby?" Okay, so this was really bad of me, but I remembered one time when we were out to lunch and he called the office to get his messages. I remembered his code was #22. I wasn't sure what I was doing, or what I might find, but I hit the re-dial button and got Robby's answering machine. When it beeped, I put the code in and sure enough it still worked. There were four messages on his machine. Two was business related, one was his sister, and the last one was from Jeff.
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Dr. Balis:
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Why was Jeff calling Robby?
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Ms. Wright:
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To tell him he was running a little late that morning but would be there as soon as he could. At first I thought maybe they were just meeting to hash over all the old bullshit. They haven't talked much since Robby came back to town; well, Jeff always said he was uncomfortable knowing his best friend was gay. I don't know what I thought really. There just didn't seem to be a logical answer and I was trying to make some sense out of it.
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Dr. Balis:
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What made you come to the conclusion that Jeff and Robby are lovers?
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Ms. Wright:
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At first it was just a gut feeling. I called my friend Lisa and told her what I had done and what I suspected. She thought I was nuts! She told me to take my medicine and call my shrink then she hung up on me. She called me back a few minutes later and apologized, but anyway we decided to take a drive by Robby's house. Lisa figured it would satisfy my curiosity to go by and see that Jeff was not there.
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Dr. Balis:
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Was Jeff there?
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Ms. Wright:
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Well we weren't sure at first. We didn't see his car, but I had a feeling it might have been parked in the garage, so we drove around the back alley and Lisa jumped out to look in the garage window. When she got back in the car, I knew without asking she had seen Jeff's car. Her face was totally white! She said, "Let's get the hell out of here!"
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Dr. Balis:
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What happened then?
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Ms. Wright:
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I wanted to watch for Jeff to come out of the house, but I was afraid he'd see my car, so we went back to Lisa's house and borrowed her husband's car. We drove back to Robby's house and parked down the street. Jeff was still there, and we waited for almost 2 hours before he finally came out. The garage door started going up, and just as it reached about the half way point, I could see them both fairly clearly. Jeff was already in the car and Robby leaned in and kissed him.
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Dr. Balis:
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Did you confront Jeff with what you witnessed?
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Ms. Wright:
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Oh, you better believe I confronted him! I got back home and called my mother to come get the kids. I didn't want them to be around when Jeff got home. Apparently he did go play golf, but it was after he played with Robby. He walked in the back door and I was sitting at the kitchen table having a cup of coffee. I asked how his game went and he said, "Not bad." I said, "That's good. How was your visit your Robby?" You should have seen the look on his face! It was priceless! His knees actually went limp and I thought he was going to faint. I loved it!
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Dr. Balis:
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What did he say?
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Ms. Wright:
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He recovered quickly and naturally tried to deny it. I let him go on and on, telling me he had no idea what I was talking about. He said, "Sarah, I think you've finally gone over the edge." I just sat there very calmly and listened to his bullshit. "I know you've been having a lot of problems lately, but I think you've gone too far this time. What the hell do you think I am..." Then right in the middle of his sermon I said, "Jeff stop it. I've seen you two kissing." He just stood there staring at me, then he turned around and went back out the door. That was the last I've seen or heard from him since Saturday.
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Dr. Balis:
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What do you plan to do now?
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Ms. Wright:
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I told you. I'm going to kill both of them.
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Dr. Balis:
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Sarah, you don't really mean that.
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Ms. Wright:
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Yes I do. I just haven't decided how to do it yet.
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Dr. Balis:
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Sarah, you're not thinking straight right now. Think about what you're saying. What about your children? How will they feel if you kill their father?
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Ms. Wright:
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Well, I'm certainly not going to tell them I killed their father. I've thought about this calmly and dispassionately. It's the right answer. It'll have to be an accident of some sort. Maybe cut the brake line on his car or something. No, the cops always figure that one out. I have to give this some more thought.
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Dr. Balis:
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Well, perhaps some time away would do you some good. You are under a time of enormous stress which can't be good for your heart in addition to your peace of mind. I know of a place in St. Helena in the wine country which could be just the place for you to get your thinking together. You'll feel a lot better if you can get some rest and really sort out how you feel and what you want to do.
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Ms. Wright:
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Oh thanks that's nice, but really I feel fine. Anyway the sooner I get this over with, the better I'll feel. In fact, I'd better get going. I have to stop at the hardware store on the way home this afternoon. The mice are acting up and I was thinking about some poison. Next week same time okay with you?
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Dr. Balis:
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Sarah, you've come here obviously in crisis. As I understand what you've told me, the cornerstone of your belief system has just been knocked out by your husband and by the man you love. You are acting a lot like somebody suffering from emotional shock, which is understandable. But you can't pretend to be calmly analytical when you are plotting a rage double murder. Can you skip the rat poison for a moment and just talk to me?
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Ms. Wright:
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Sure Doc. I didn't mean to upset you. What do you want to talk about?
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Dr. Balis:
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Well I want to be sure that you aren't actually serious about trying to harm either Robby or Jeff. That's not a solution here.
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Ms. Wright:
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Don't you think just a tiny bit of castration would be fair turnabout? No Doctor. Don't worry. It's just a fantasy. I'm sure that Jeff and I are going to come to some reasonable understanding. As you said, there's the kids to think about after all. See? I'm calm and rational.
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Dr. Balis:
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Perhaps you would like me to prescribe something for you to get over the rough spots?
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Ms. Wright:
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Well I've been taking the Xanax and that seems fine to me.
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Dr. Balis:
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Have you been feeling any chest pain or breathlessness?
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Ms. Wright:
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Actually it's a bit surprising, but physically I feel fine. Robust even. Somehow this event has energized me. I feel like a new woman. And I really do have to go, Doctor.
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Dr. Balis:
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If I let you just walk out of here, you aren't going to do anything rash, are you?
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Ms. Wright:
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Rash? Well I might I guess. But I won't kill anybody Doctor. I promise. Set your mind at ease.
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Dr. Balis:
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Can you call me tomorrow? I'd like to hear from you about how things are going. And I'd like to hear from you when Jeff returns.
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Ms. Wright:
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Sure Doc. I'll be sure to call you if I need to, okay? And I'll see you next week at this time.
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Dr. Balis:
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You've been through quite a shock. I'd really like it if you checked in with me tomorrow. We can work through this thing.
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Ms. Wright:
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I know Doctor. Thank you again. Goodbye.
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###
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Doctor Balis' Notes on this Session
Transcripts of Sarah Wright's Communications
