Your Girls Are in Your Corner
A weasel and wolf talk their friend, a Bengal cat, into accepting help for her depression.
Jeanice
tipped her head down and became quiet. She sat on the couch
stoically, her hands lightly clenched on her lap. Sue, her wolf
roommate and friend, looked on from the kitchenette. She was becoming
quite disconcerted. It was rare for her to see even the mildest frown
on the face of her normally chipper weasel friend. "But
what can we do?" Sue broke the silence as she nervously twirled one
of her grey curls in her finger. "Cassie - she said for us to
leave her alone. If we go over there, maybe we'll make things
worse."Jeanice
thought for a moment, then turned her head to look at Sue. With
determined eyes she said, "We've known Cassie since we were in
middle school. You know how timid she can get. I don't care what she
said - she's just not going to be able to get through this on her
own." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "We've got to go
over there."Sue
gave a sigh punctuated with a slight whine. She was never good at
dealing with serious issues. The good part of her sheltered
upbringing was that she had never had to face poverty, or a hostile
or unsupportive family growing up. The bad part of it was that her
lack of experience with true adversity meant that she was helpless in
a crisis.
"Well...I
mean, I want Cassie to get better, too, but...we're not
therapists....""Sue!"
Sue was startled when Jeanice suddenly barked her rebuke. The weasel
scowled and shook her head. "I don't like this either. Honestly,
I'm kind of scared to go over there. But...." Jeanice's expression
changed to one of a mixture of sadness and worry. "We've been
through so much together, the three of us. I just think of us
abandoning her and her-" She couldn't say the words. She was not
the type of woman to be candid about the issue of self-harm. "Sue,
honey, sometimes you have to stick your neck out for a friend even if
you really don't want to do it. Let's go see her. Please."After
several seconds of hesitation, Sue sighed and nodded. "I guess we
have to."Fifteen
minutes of driving and Jeanice pulled into Cassie's condo driveway,
with Sue as her nervous passenger. The ignition was turned off and
the two women got out of the car. Jeanice steeled herself towards
whatever scene she might have found in Cassie's home. Sue had her
ears pinned back, the inside of her mouth dry. They walked to the
door and Jeanice carefully knocked.
No
answer. Another set of knocks with no answer and Jeanice took it upon
herself to call Cassie on her cell. After
enough rings that Jeanice feared her call would go to voicemail: ".
. . Hi Jeanice. 'Sup?""That's
me knocking, Cassie. Open up." Jeanice heard a slow sigh and then
the phone cut off. After a moment she and Sue saw the front door open
to reveal their mutual friend.She
was not doing well. Even with the short hair of her breed, a Bengal
feline, she looked disheveled. Her coat lacked luster, and the
stripes patterned on her head seemed to smear into each other; all in
all, she desperately needed to groom herself. Her shirt and pants, a
favorite outfit that her mother had bought her as a birthday gift a
couple years prior, were horribly wrinkled with the shirt being
buttoned up in a childishly lopsided fashion. Her eyes were
bloodshot, and her head was low. She barely lifted her head up enough
to look her friends wearily in the eyes."Why'd
you guys come over?"Sue
gave Jeanice an anxious look. The weasel was the first to step
inside, letting Sue close and lock the door behind her. Jeanice
replied, "Cassie, look at yourself. You've been a mess for months.
You've become so withdrawn lately. We're worried about you!"
Cassie
looked sadly at Jeanice, then Sue. Despite the lump in her throat,
Sue was able to say, " . . . Yeah. You were always so fun to be
around. But lately you've just been so sad. I know Jeanice has been
calling you every week-" She was silent for an instant as a sudden
pang of guilt hit her. She'd been too scared to call Cassie. But she
was here now, she thought, so it was best to focus on what she could
do for her friend - "But you keep giving her one-word answers. We
just want to know what's going on with you, and if we can help
somehow.""Mhm,"
Cassie grunted wistfully. She reflexively stroked a whisker - they
were the only part of her person that wasn't disheveled. Sue and
Jeanice waited a moment, and were both relieved when Cassie nodded
and motioned for them to sit on her living room couch.Sue
sat down and took a glance at the furnishings, which were in their
proper places, but in obvious need of dusting. She noticed two
unorganized piles, one of various documents, the other of what were
presumably clothes that needed to be washed. Jeanice had headed
straight for the kitchen, hoping to find tea or some other calming
drink. All there was a 4-pack of bottled mocha, so she too sat on the
couch, using her hands to ensure that her long tail dangled elegantly
at her side.
Cassie
joined her girlfriends at the end portion of the couch where they
weren't sitting. She leaned her head against the couch and looked at
nothing in particular. "I
. . ." the Bengal sighed. "I don't know. I've just been . . . not
enjoying my life right now. Life's stressful, you know? It's just
hard to get away from your problems."Jeanice's
expression was full of empathy. She replied, "But sweetie, you're
just not yourself anymore." She looked to Sue for agreement; the
wolf gave a somber nod. "Have you seen yourself lately? You're a
mess, baby! You look like you haven't been outside for months. I
don't mean to be mean, but I'm surprised Fly Fashions hasn't fired
you yet!" Fly Fashions was Cassie's job of two years. It was a
boutique store for trendy women; Cassie's knowledge of what looked
best on her clients caused her to be promoted from part-time
assistant to assistant manager in rapid time. "I
don't look a mess when I'm at work," said Cassie with absolutely no
enthusiasm. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna make myself homeless. It
just sucks having to be there until closing."
".
. . Does your boss give you shit?" Sue questioned."No,
she and the other workers are actually alright," Cassie admitted.
"It's not them. I don't even know if it's the job. I used to really
like helping other women choose a new wardrobe, but for some reason .
. . the fun's just gone out of it. It's like, one day I was happy
with my life and career, and the next everything became so blah for
some reason."Jeanice
twiddled her hands, thinking. "Really? You just got into a
depression for no reason? I mean, I know that happens to people, but
you seemed to be so happy. I can't see why - hey, where's
Kent?" Cassie
got very sad, and looked downcast. "He left me."Jeanice
gasped. Kent was Cassie's boyfriend, a lion. Jeanice and Sue didn't
see him very much but when they did, he seemed to be a good match
with their friend. Sue gave an awkward "Oh," and looked away.
With her eyes wetting, Jeanice said. "Oh, honey, what did I tell
you about breakups? You don't throw your life away because a man
leaves you!""No,"
Cassie sighed, "I'm not like this because he left." Seeing
Jeanice be so concerned reminded her of her wounds after the end of
the relationship. She lowered her ears and became misty-eyed as well.
"I started feeling depressed months before that. Kent tried to help
me get over it. He told me to see a doctor about it but I wouldn't. I
didn't feel like a doctor could do anything to help me. I'm sure he .
. . got tired of me hiding under the covers as soon as I got home in
the evening." Her frown turned into a grimace in a show of
regretful realization. "I wasn't fun to be around, we weren't
having sex, I didn't want to do anything to change the situation -
no wonder he couldn't do it anymore."
Sue
also made a grimace when she saw that the tears welling up in
Cassie's eyes were threatening to cascade down her cheeks. "Hm.
Well, it's true that no one can help you if you don't want to help
yourself," said the wolf. She absentmindedly stroked her lap. "But
are you sure this depression came out of nowhere? Because if it did,
it must be clinical. I mean, lots of people have to take medicine
because their brain chemistry is out of whack. You . . . don't have
to be ashamed if that's what you need to do to get better. I mean,
girl . . . you've got to get your life back together. Seeing you like
this - scares the hell out of us.""It
really does. It really does," Jeanice repeated, nodding sincerely.
She patted a hand on the couch cushion. "Sweetie, come
here."Cassie
looked questioningly at her. At length, she scooted over close to
Jeanice. The weasel placed her hand on top of Cassie's and eyed her
with compassion. Cassie looked down, feeling guilty but silently
accepting the gesture. Being on the other side of Jeanice, Sue leaned
in and focused on Cassie, one hand on Jeanice's shoulder, the other
placed on her own chest. Now she, too, had moist eyes.
For
several moments, the friends were quiet. When Jeanice felt that
Cassie was ready to receive advice, she said, "You should've told
us you were struggling. This isn't something you have to deal with
alone. We've been girlfriends since we were eleven. Did you think
we'd ignore you if you came to us for help?"Cassie's
ears flattened and her features, including her whiskers, dropped. "I
just . . . didn't want to bother you guys. I mean, if my mom died or
something like that, well, that's a reason to be depressed. But
having you see me sad and crying for no reason . . . I wanted to
spare you. I didn't want you to worry about me over
nothing.""Nothing?!"
exclaimed Sue. "Look at the mess in this place. You're a mess! And
Kent left you! You're gonna ruin your life if you don't do something
to get over this. Here," thought Sue, "why don't Jeanice and I
find a list of psychologists, and you can call one to get an
appointment?""Yes!"
urged Jeanice. "All we want is to help you to get better. Let your
girls help you, Cassie." She wrapped an arm around Cassie's
shoulders and squeezed. "Okay?"
Cassie
looked away. After several moments' thought, she quietly nodded her
head. Her
two best friends smiled. "That-a-girl!" said Sue
happily.Jeanice
added, "Okay, honey. We're a family, and Sue and I are going to do
whatever we can to help you get better." She gently squeezed
Cassie's hand. "We'll always be here for you."With
that, Cassie gave a small, but sincere smile. She had newfound hope
that her friends would get her through this time in her life.