“What’d I do now?”

With a gentle but firm voice, Cornelia Wilbur said, “You did nothing wrong, young man. There is nothing for you to be upset about.”

He was quivering, pressing himself back into the wall as if trying to go through it. His hair had fallen into his eyes and he peered through it, making no attempt to brush it back.

“I realize you don’t know it, Billy, but everyone in this room is here to help you. Now, I think you should get off the floor and sit in that chair so we can talk to you.”

It became apparent to everyone in the room that Wilbur was in control and knew exactly what she was doing, touching the right mental buttons to make him respond.

He got up and sat in the chair, knees jiggling anxiously, body shaking. “I ain’t dead?”

“You re very much alive, Billy, and we know you’re having problems and you need help. You do need help, don’t you?’ He nodded, wide-eyed.

“Tell me, Billy, why did you smash your head into the wall the other day?”

“I thought I was dead,” he said, “and then I woke up and found myself in jail.”

“What was the last thing you remember before that?” “Going up to the school roof. I didn’t want to see any more doctors. Dr. Brown at the Lancaster Mental Health Center couldn’t cure me. I thought I jumped off. Why ain’t I dead? Who are all of you? Why you lookin’ at me like that?”

“We’re doctors and lawyers, Billy. We’re here to help you.”

“Doctors? Daddy Chal will kill me if I talk to you.”

“Why, Billy?”

“He doesn’t want me to tell what he done to me.”

Wilbur looked questioningly at Judy Stevenson.

“His adoptive father,” Judy explained. “His mother divorced Chalmer Milligan six years ago. ’

Billy stared around him, dumfounded. “Divorced? Six years?” He touched his face as if to be sure it was real. “Hows that possible?”

“We have a lot to talk about, Billy,” said Wilbur. “A lot of missing pieces to put together.”

He looked around wildly. “How’d I get here? What’s going on?” He began to sob and rock back and forth.

“I know you’re tired now, Billy,” Wilbur said. “You can go back and rest now.”

Suddenly the crying stopped. The expression on his face turned instantly into an alert but confused state. He touched the tears running down his face, and he frowned.

“What’s going on here? Who was that? I heard someone crying, but I didn’t know where it was coming from. Jesus, whoever he was, he was just about to run and crash himself into the wall. Who is he? ’

“That was Billy,” Wilbur said, “The original Billy, sometimes known as the host or core personality. Who are you?”

“I didn’t know Billy was allowed out. No one told me. I’m Tommy.”

Gary and Bernie Yavitch were permitted back into the room, and Tommy was introduced to everyone, asked a few questions and taken back to his cell. When Yavitch heard what had happened in their absence, he shook his head. It all seemed so unreal—like bodies possessed by spirits or demons. He said to Gary and Judy, “I don’t know what it means, but I guess I’m with the rest of you. He doesn’t seem to be faking.’