As Marge scanned the notes, she realized that Maryam had been improvising. Baldwin didn’t believe in complete sentences, using abbreviations whenever he could. There were more single words and fragmented phrases than actual sentences. The first page was more like an appointment sheet, dates written in the left-hand column on grid-lined ledger paper. What looked like check numbers and the abbreviation FF were written in red ink after each date. No monetary amount was recorded, however. Several of the lines were inscribed with the word “progress,” but several others were marked with the word “regression.”

The actual notes were penned on blank sheets of paper. The first was titled FAMILY HISTORY—written in block letters with a red, felt-tip marker.

Intake by Father. Mother AB “out of picture by age ten” as quoted by F. Refuse to talk about it. Only child of Preston and Myna Holt. Accord to F, FT baby with norm Apgar, but F doesn’t know. Speaks of precocious child but F doesn’t know milestones…walking, speaking, toileting. Bhav problems started at 10, progressed into adolescence. Concomitant with AB of Mother?

F: cold, distant…very wealthy!

Marge said, “He mentions that the father was rich.”

“Let me see…” Maryam read the notes. “In this context, I believe Dr. Baldwin was presenting a psychological profile of a man more concerned with money than with his child.”

“It doesn’t say that,” Marge said.

“That’s because you have to know how to read between the lines!”

“If you say so.”

Marge read on to page two. More dates and check marks and FF. Some diagnostic notes:

Hos & Ang, unre ID crises with mix-race—M 1?2 black, unre OE con, origin; bad breast. Mother???? Deserted or removed????”

She pointed the abbreviations out to Maryam. “Translate for me, please.”

Maryam sighed again. “Hostile and angry, unresolved identity crises—mother was half-black, unresolved oedipal crises stemming from a bad-breast mother—that’s a Freudian way of saying a cold, unresponsive mother.”

“What does Baldwin mean by ‘deserted or removed’?” Marge asked. “Did the father kick the mother out or something?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” Maryam stated. “Obviously, this was something that Dr. Baldwin was dealing with Darrell about.”

Marge said, “Is it unusual that the father refuses to talk about the mother?”

“Lots of men have communication problems. Usually…” Maryam made a face. “When a party is that resolute in his or her silence, it obviously means the situation was very, very painful—beyond the usual stress of divorce.”

“An affair?”

Maryam shrugged.

“Did the mother suddenly desert the family?”

“I couldn’t say. But it was obviously very traumatic for the father.”

Marge turned back to the ledger page. “What does FF mean?”

Maryam blushed. “I think it means full fee.”

She thinks.

“That would make sense,” Marge said. “It goes along with Mervin stating that the father was wealthy.”

Maryam looked away, not wanting to deal with the implications.