The Daylight Memories (Short Story/Murder Mystery)

“Dr. DeHay,” the receptionist’s soft voice said over the phone. “Your 2 o’clock is here.” Dr. Dravin DeHay flipped through the patient’s records one final time. The one’s a doozy.

“Send her in,” he calmly said in response. “Hello, Dr. DeHay, Dr. Sawyer recommended me to you.” Dravin nodded. Yes, Sawyer loves to pass these cases onto me. Why couldn’t he treat her again?

“Yes,” he nodded as he stood and walked over to her. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Ducksworth.” He smiled and extended his hand, and she slowly took it. “Same here Dr. Sawyer, but please call me Margarita.” Well, at least that makes it more personal. That’s good. It shows she trusts me. “Thank you, Margarita. So, what brings you here today?” He gestured for her to sit.

“Well, I’ve had the same nightmare every night since I was a little girl. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She took a deep breath. “Dr. Sawyer couldn’t figure it out. So, he sent me to you.” She sighed. “It’s about these nightmares. Every night, it’s a man waving a gun around and shouting and then a gunshot and more yelling. I always wake up out of sleep from it. I’m trying to rebuild my life. I have a great boyfriend now. It freaks him out all the time. He was the one who suggested I get help.”

That could be a repressed memory. I should check it out at least. “As you may already know, my specialty is hypnosis, Margarita.” She nods. “Would you like to try this today?”

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Instantly, Margarita stretches out on the couch and closes her eyes. “This is what I’m supposed to do right?” That was quick. She has to be desperate to get help with this. “Thank you, Margarita. Now, take some deep breaths and relax. We’re going to go back to the man and the gun.” Margarita instantly starts to tense up. “You can relax Margarita, remember you’re safe here.” Her shoulders slumped down.

Dravin opened his notepad. His pen was ready. “How old are you during this time?” Margarita concentrates. “I’m almost six years old. I know because my birthday is next week.” So, she was a child during this. “Who are you with, Margarita?” “My uncle and his girlfriend at the bank.” She smiles. "Where are you?" “In a bank in New Harieta." She smiled. Dravin paused for a moment. Then, he continued to write. "They just bought me a lollipop. Cherry is my favorite flavor. This way I’ll stay quiet while I eat it.” So, her memory up until this point is pleasant. It seems like an ordinary day.

Just then, Margarita's brows tensed. “What’s going on, Margarita?” She squeezed the couch cushion. “Everyone’s screaming! Two men in masks and gun are in the bank. They’re talking about shooting people if they don’t get the money.” Wow, this is serious! No wonder she has nightmares. Wonder if they ever caught the guys?

“One man is doing most of the yelling. Another man is standing behind, guarding the door. The bank tellers are saying they don’t have any money. The men say they’re lying cause they just saw the truck.” Margarita starts crying. “I don’t know what’s going on. I see this in movies, but is this actually happening? My uncle and his girlfriend look terrified. They’re holding me behind them.”

Hopefully, no one dies after this. “That’s when the tellers try to call the police. The guy in front fires a warning shot. He tells him the next one will be In his head. ‘I’m a sharpshooter, that’s why I missed this time.’ He runs to get the money and brings armfuls of it to the counter. He made three trips he dropped some money and tripped on it. Then he got back and handed it to them. They grabbed the money and put it in brown paper bags, the big grocery ones. Then, one female teller said, 'I’m calling the police.' The loud one shot her in the back of the head. He said, ‘I said one more word about the police.’ The other robber yells at him for shooting the woman. He said, ‘this way they’ll take a little longer.’” Margarita sobbed after she said those words. "The louder robber grabs the other one, and I can see his diamond-shaped birthmark on his right arm. They run away to a noisy car.”

Dravin DeHay had never been speechless in all his years as a popular and sought after therapist. He’s known for his hypnotherapy expertise. He quickly regained his composure as Margarita cried softly. He then brought her back to her senses. “I finally know what happened. Thank you, Dr. DeHay!” “Just being curious, do you remember when and where this was?” “I don’t know the name of the bank. But I know it happened in New Harieta, where I grew up.”

So, this happened when I was almost headed to high school, judging by her age. I used to live in that town too. That’s funny. I don’t even remember hearing anything about it on the local news. I’ll look it up online when I get home.

That session bothered Dravin all the time till he went home. He looked online, and there it was in a newspaper archive. Why didn't I hear about this? They said it was the biggest robbery in the city’s history! He even called down to the local police station to find out if they ever caught the guilty parties. The robbers left without a trace. Strange, they would’ve found them. The robbery happened a couple of days after I graduated from eighth grade. We moved the next day after that. No wonder I don’t remember this. Maybe, my folks will know something.

The next day, Dravin went to his parent's home. “Oh, hello son! It’s so good to see you. I know your father will be glad.” He hugged his mother in the living room. I can already smell the cake she's baking. “Save me some of that cake, will you Mom?” “For my baby boy, I’ll do anything. Your father has always loved you. He’ll do anything you need to make it. I’m so happy to see you so successful in your career!” She beamed. My mom is the perfect housewife. She’s as sweet as a peach. I love her so much.

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“Hey, Dad.” He waved at his father in the backyard. “Well, if it isn’t my son, the doctor.” They exchanged hugs. “So, how’s work going? You still helping people with their problems and all?” “As always dad,” Dravin smiled. “I am so proud of you, did I ever tell you that?” “Only every time we chat, Dad.” That’s my old man He wouldn’t hurt a fly even if you asked him. Yep, my parents could have a sitcom. They’re that perfect.

“Oh, Dad, I wanted to ask you about something.” Dravin furrowed his brows. “What’s going on?” “I recently heard something about a robbery at First New Harieta Bank. You know the one in the middle of New Harieta.” His father fell silent and turned around. “Yeah… I heard it was horrible. Did they ever catch the guys who did it?” Dravin walked up. “Not that I know of Dad.” His father wiped the sweat from his brow.

Right on his arm was that diamond birthmark. Dravin just stared forward. It can't be! Maybe, she just confused him with someone else. That has to be it. “Dad… were you there that day?” I have to know the truth. His father grew silent and dropped his tools to the ground. “Dravin…” His father droned on in a tone he had never heard before. “You don’t know the first damn thing about hard work.” His father closed in on him. “Do you see the calluses on these hands?” He pulled him close. “I love you, son.” He took a sharp breath. “I had to make sure that you went to college. You had to live a better life than me and your ma.” Dravin was speechless.

“Yea, I was there. I was there alright.” Dravin’s father walked into the house. “Louise, get me a cold one!” Dravin’s mother slowly handed him the cold beer. “You don’t have to tell him anything. He doesn’t need to know.” Dravin’s mother said as she slowly wiped her hands on her apron. “It’s time. He’s a big boy now. He’s old enough to ask questions. So, I’ll tell him the truth. Sit down son.”

“Back when you were a kid you told me, ‘Dad, I want to help people. I need to go to school to become a psychiatrist.’” Dravin's mother sat next to his father. “Where was I gonna get that money?” I… thought you said you had saved up for me.” Dravin’s father smirked. “From what? We barely had enough to make it day to day. I knew you could get into debt. That’s what happened to your cousin. Hell if I was going to have you paying somebody for the rest of your life.” His mother placed a hand on his father’s back. My father, did that... for me?

He took a long drawn out gulp from the can. “I told an old high school friend of mine about the situation. I had heard he did some fishy things before. I asked him if he knew a way to get fast cash without getting caught. That’s when he told me about his last big score. He was going to straight after this. He told me to help him knock over a bank. I was terrified. But, he said we’d split it in three's. Some for him, some for me, and the last of it for the driver. I hesitated about helping for a minute. Then, I looked at you there asleep on the kitchen table. Your head was laying on the books, and you had a school paper thing in your hand.” His eyes glistened. I didn't notice he saw how hard I was studying back then. I didn't know I meant that much to him.

“Yeah, I robbed the bank. But, I didn’t kill anybody, he did that. I feel sorry for that lady. I dropped off some cash for her kids in the mail and said I was sorry in a letter. I hope they got some help with it." He leaned over and looked at the ground. "She was a single mom. Her oldest was working to help pay for the family too. They weren't much different from us.” He took a deep sigh.

Then, he started to sob. “So, are you going to sell your old man out to the cops?” Dravin was overcome with emotion and tears overflowing ran to his father. “Dad… I had no idea.” He held his sobbing father close. “Don’t worry. I won’t call the cops. Everything will go back to the way it was before.

Dravin returned to his office like any other workday. “Your 2 o’clock is here.” Just a typical workday with my normal patients. Everything is fine. I’m still the same. Everything is fine. A tall older gentleman walked into the office and shook his hand.

“Doc, can you help me forget something?” Forget something? What in the world is he going on about? “I can help you cope with your past, but I don’t know anything about making you forget it.” “You do that hypnosis stuff. Do it on me so I’ll forget a certain event.” Dravin tilted his head at the man. “Why not work out your issues with it?” “I killed someone, and I want to forget about it because I can’t sleep.” “I’m sorry, I can’t be involved with this.” Dravin stood next to his phone and picked up the receiver. “Oh, you would rather I tell the news that Dr. DeHay’s got through school for bank robbery money.” He put the receiver back down. The patient pulled out a gun. “My buddy at the police department told me about your snooping around. If you expose me, I’ll expose you. Now make me forget it!”

Dravin took a deep sigh and smiled. “Let’s get started.”

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