Jenny had her bath and was ready for breakfast. She called her mom, and she served her breakfast.
Jasmine:(Placing a tray of food on a table in Jenny's room) Breakfast's here.
Jenny: Thanks. What about dad? I haven't seen him all morning.
Jasmine: Your dad's at work.
Jenny:(Confused) Work? Isn't it too early?
Jasmine: Early? Do you know what time it is?
Jenny: I can't remember what time it was when I hit the alarm clock.
Jasmine: Alarm clock? I turned that off three hours ago since you refused to wake up.
Jenny:(Surprised) Three hours ago?!
Jenny picked up her phone and saw that the time was 10:30 am.
Jenny: What the fu-
Jasmine:(Interrupts) No vulgar words in my house.
Jenny:(Confused) But how?
Jasmine: You woke up by 10 o'clock, Jenny.
Jenny:(Surprised) What?
Jasmine: Did you stay up late?
Jenny: No, I didn't.
Jasmine: Then why did you wake up late?
Jenny: I don't know. I'm also surprised.
Maybe, it has to do with my condition, PGAD. It must've been part of the hormonal disorder, right? (Picks up a glass of orange juice to drink).
Jasmine: Maybe. Have breakfast and I'll go call Mr. Lucas.
Jenny:(Spits out the juice from her mouth) Mr. Lucas? Isn't it too early?
Jasmine: Early? This is 10, Jenny.
Jenny: Sorry, it's still coming as a shock to me. But I haven't had any personal time.
Jasmine: Sorry but he's supposed to arrive at 11 or 12.
Jenny: Can't we reschedule our therapeutic sessions?
Jasmine: I don't think so honey. Just get ready, he may come in an hour.
Jenny:(Sadly) Yes, mom.
Jasmine was about to leave then she turned back to meet her.
Jasmine: I just remembered something. Jenny, what did you order? What was in the package?
Jenny: Umm, just some led lights.
Jasmine: Led lights?
Jenny: Yeah.
Jasmine: Which colour?
Jenny: I haven't checked it out, yet. So I don't know the colour.
Jasmine: Can I see it?
Jenny: Of course, you'll see it later.
Jasmine: Can I see it now?
Jenny: I'm eating, mom. Later.
Jasmine: Okay, enjoy your food. (Leaves the room). (To herself) I almost got her there but she's playing it safe. I can't lie — she's kinda good at hiding things. But can she keep it up for long? I know she'll loose guard someday.
After breakfast, Jenny stayed in bed and went online. Meanwhile, Jasmine was in her room, calling Mr. Lucas.
Jasmine:(To herself) If I have to make Jenny to tell me, I must let Mr. Lucas know about this, so that he can help her open up to us, her parents, about masturbation.
She picked up her phone and dialed his number. Mr. Lucas picked up the call and they began to converse.
Mr. Lucas: Hello, ma'am.
Jasmine: Hello. Where are you?
Mr. Lucas: I'm on my way. I'll be at your house in 10 minutes.
Jasmine: Okay, but there's something we have to talk about privately.
Mr. Lucas: Go ahead. It's just you and me now.
Jasmine: Okay...
Jasmine then told him everything that happened last night and this morning.
Mr. Lucas: So, you picked up a package for Jenny. Then you caught her masturbating late at night. And she woke up late and her bed was wet. Right?
Jasmine: Yes. And she tried to hide it from me.
Mr. Lucas: Okay, is that all?
Jasmine: No. Also, as she was masturbating, she....
Mr. Lucas: What?
Jasmine: Yes, I'm not lying — I heard her wide and clear. Please, just try to help her.
Mr. Lucas: Okay, ma'am. I'll talk to her and try to convince her that....
Jasmine: Thank you. See you later.
Mr. Lucas: Goodbye. (Ends the call).
I know what y'all must be thinking, "Why didn't you complete those sentences?", "What are the blank spaces for?" But trust me, there's a reason. Back to the story...
Mr. Lucas arrived at Jenny's house 5 minutes after ending the call with Jasmine.
Mr. Lucas:(Rings the doorbell).
Jasmine: I'm coming. (Opens the door) Good, you're here. Come in.
She leads him to Jenny's room, like always.
Jasmine:(Knocks on Jenny's door) Jenny, are you ready?
Jenny: Yeah.
Mr. Lucas: I'm coming in.
Jenny: What? Mr. Lucas? I'm not ready, yet. Wait a minute... You can come in.
Mr. Lucas came in to Jenny's room and saw her sitting on her bed. He sat down opposite her, on an armchair.
Mr. Lucas: Okay, your mom told me that your sleeping habits were affected by your condition which resulted you to wake up late. So how do you feel now? Are you sleep deprived or well-rested?
Jenny: I'm well-rested.
Mr. Lucas: Okay, did you wake up late because you were up in the night watching a movie or something else?
He then gave her the stare, the stare that made her to tell him everything.
Jenny: No. Although I was up late at night, I don't think that's the reason why I woke up late.
Mr. Lucas: Then what do you think was the reason you woke up late?
Jenny: I don't know.
Mr. Lucas: Really?
He gave her "the stare" again.
Jenny: Yes
Mr. Lucas: You look so happy, your mom told me that a package was sent to you.
Jenny: Yes, I ordered somethings online.
Mr. Lucas: Okay. What did you order?
Jenny: I prefer not to say now. I'll tell you later.
Mr. Lucas: Okay. Your mom also told me that your bed was wet this morning. Why was that?
Jenny: Why does my mom tell you everything? You know there's something called privacy?
Mr. Lucas: Yes.
Jenny: Well, I'd love to keep it.
Mr. Lucas: I didn't mean to make you angry. I just thought that you had sensations at night, so I thought you might've came on your bed.
Jenny: Well I haven't felt any sensations at night, yet.
Mr. Lucas: Okay. So did you put what I said to mind?
Jenny: Yes, and I turned my burden into an opportunity.
Mr. Lucas: Go on. What did you do?
Jenny: Since the sensations came without sexual desires so I decided to fight it with sexual desires. So, I got a vibrator.
Mr. Lucas: So, is this an opportunity?
Jenny: Yes, it's an opportunity for me to exploit my condition. And it also makes me happy.
Mr. Lucas: Um, this doesn't make sense to me. But let me make it clear to you, you can't masturbate.
Jenny: Why?
Mr. Lucas: It may worsen your condition.
Jenny: Well, I called my doctor and he said it was fine, if my body was okay with it. And I'm still in Stage 1 of PGAD, which is onset.
Mr. Lucas: So, is your body okay with it?
Jenny: Yeah.
Mr. Lucas: But you woke up late today. And all of a sudden, you wet the bed. Are you sure your body is okay with it?
Jenny: Yeah. And the real reason why I woke up late was because I stayed up all night masturbating. And the bed was only wet because I came alot.
Mr. Lucas: That means you lied to your mom.
Jenny: Yeah.
Mr. Lucas: Wait, does she know you masturbate?
Jenny: No.
Mr. Lucas: Why?
Jenny: I don't think I'm ready, yet. And you know it takes me a long time to really open up to somebody.
Mr. Lucas: If I can remember, I came here 3 weeks ago. I'm not your relative or friend, but you opened up to me. But your mom has been with you since you the day you were born and she's your relative, but still, you can't open up to her? Stop making excuses, Jenny.
Jenny: I'm not ready to tell her.
Mr. Lucas: Why don't you want to tell her?
Jenny: I'm not-
Mr. Lucas:(Interrupts) Why don't you want to tell her?
Then he gave her "the stare".
Jenny:(Sighs) She may not approve of it. And she'll make me turn in my vibrator, and I don't wanna do that.
Mr. Lucas: It's better you tell her now, cause if she finds out, she won't only take away your vibrator.
Jenny: I know, but-
Mr. Lucas:(Interrupts) Jenny, you have to tell her.
Jenny:(Groans) Ughhh! Okay, fine. I'll try to talk to her.
Mr. Lucas: Good. Is there anything else, you'd love to talk about?
Jenny: Yeah. I think it's time to leave my room.
Mr. Lucas: Really, I didn't expect you to heal this fast. Although, I said you'd leave your room before next week, I didn't expect it to be today.
Jenny: Well, I'm ready. I want to break out of this cocoon and come out as a free and beautiful butterfly.
Mr. Lucas: Okay. Wanna do it now or-
Jenny:(Interrupts) Now.
Mr. Lucas: Can I ask a question?
Jenny: Yeah.
Mr. Lucas: Why do you think your mom would take away your vibrator?
Jenny: Because... I don't actually know, but I just feel so.
Mr. Lucas: Why do you feel so?
Jenny: Cause I think that Black Americans are strict, especially the moms.
Mr. Lucas: Why do you think so?
Jenny: Cause my mom won't really allow me to do as I please. If I want to do anything, she'd judge it and ask a lot of questions.
Mr. Lucas: What do you mean?
Jenny: Anna's hosted alot of parties, which I was invited cause we were friends. But I couldn't attend them because of my mom. She'd say "the time is too late" or "there's no adult supervision" or "you're still 16, you're too young to go to night parties-"
Mr. Lucas:(Laughs) Ha ha ha.
Jenny: What's funny?
Mr. Lucas: Jenny, your mom doesn't disapprove of anything you do. She's just watching out for you.
Jenny: But Anna's mom also watches out for her, but she still allows her to attend parties.
Mr. Lucas: Okay, let me make it clear to you. Your mom's overprotective.
Jenny: Overprotective?
Mr. Lucas: And you're the only child so... She's just trying to watch out for you.
Jenny: But my dad doesn't treat me like that. He allows me to do anything I want, I have my freedom when I'm with him.
Mr. Lucas:(Laughs) Ha ha ha.
Jenny: Why are you laughing? It's not funny.
Mr. Lucas: Look Jenny, your dad only treats you like that because you're the only child. And most only children are being spoilt by their parents. So your dad spoils you, but your mom don't want you to be too spoilt. She still wants you to be disciplined and be a good girl.
Jenny: Okay.
Mr. Lucas: So are you ready to break out of this cocoon?
Jenny: Yes, I'm tired of staying in bed all the time. I want to walk around my house, go outside and have fun while I'm still a teen.
Mr. Lucas:(Opens the door) Okay, this is the moment we've all been waiting for. Just walk through the door.
Jenny:(Breathing fast) I... I... I'm scared.
Then Mr. Lucas held Jenny's hand.
Mr. Lucas: Don't be scared. I'm here, we can do this together.
Jenny: Thanks.
She gave a bittersweet smile and took a step forward, then another, until she reached the line that separated her room from the passage, then she paused. She thought she was taking things too fast, she thought she wasn't ready to come out of her room, yet.
Mr. Lucas: You can do it, I know it.
After hearing his words, confidence surged into her body and she took another step, which led her out of her room.
Mr. Lucas: Now just take the final step.
She took the final step and was standing out of her room. Jenny was amazed, she thought it was a dream cause she never knew she could ever come out of her room. Out of amazement and happiness, she ran around the house exploring everywhere. After that, she came to the sitting room and saw Mr. Lucas, sitting on the couch and she sat beside him.
Mr. Lucas: How do you feel now?
Jenny: I feel amazing, Mr. Lucas. I never knew I could come out of my room, having a sense of freedom, and not having the burden of Anna's party hung on my back.
Mr. Lucas: It isn't a crime to like anyone, Jenny.
Jenny: Yes, but I couldn't have done it without you. You made all this to happen. Thank you, Mr. Lucas.
Mr. Lucas: I was just doing my job, not-
The feeling of Jenny's body being pressed against his, cut him short. She pulled him into a heartwarming hug.
Jenny:(Crying: happy tears) Thank you. I thought I'd stay in there forever. I didn't believe I could ever forgive myself for what I did to Anna that day. I never knew I could come out without feeling shameful or embarrassed. Thank you.
Mr. Lucas: I didn't do anything. I may have persuaded you but I didn't give you the courage or confidence to walk through that door. Neither did I force you to do it, but you brought it upon yourself to walk through that door. And that was the most amazing and bravest thing I've ever seen anyone do.