Broken Bayou

Rita and Willa are talking. Rita asks about Willa’s infamous interview on Fort Worth Live. Willa confesses that the caller who had so unnerved her sounded to her like her sister Mabry. In fact, she was sure that the caller was her sister Mabry. Willa knew, and Rita knows, that this is impossible: Although Willa has been leaving messages on Mabry’s cell each day, the truth is that Mabry is no longer living. She took her own life after Willa got married and “left” her. Because of her fetal alcohol syndrome, Mabry had a dysregulated emotional response system and felt herself unable to survive without her sister’s constant presence. Although she knows that suicide is complex and that it was not her fault, Willa was devastated. She remains devastated, unable to move on or even admit to Mabry’s death. After she tells the story to Rita and Rita leaves, she takes out her straight razor, cuts herself quickly, and then opens a bottle of wine. Despite her years of mental health training and self-examination, she knows that she still has some truly unhealthy coping mechanisms.