Four pair of eyes trailed her down the stairs and made Psyche feel like a fly under a microscope. Cybil's worried looks and Harold's defensive posture over his plate made her want to run back to her room. Somehow life in the mental institution seemed easier to her.
It wasn't enough that she had Aphrodite to deal with but now she was in the middle of a family blow out.
She sat down at the end of the table and glared at her family and her psychiatrist.
"What?" she grouchily murmured and threw a lump of mashed potato on her plate.
"The serving spoon is rather hot so are the mashed potato. Cybil, pass me the chicken." She stared back at her family and at Melissa with a mulish pout. Their concern was pissing her off.
Cybil raised an eyebrow and asked "Lost your manners Psyche? No hugs or kisses for your sister?"
Psyche dropped her gaze and stared at the Chicken Platter. The food looked delicious but she had no appetite left.
She selected a thigh and dropped it on her plate. "There doesn't seem to be much love lost between us, Cybil. You didn't want to acknowledge a mentally deranged sister so why all the concern all of a sudden?"
"That's enough Psyche. It was too painful for your sister. She couldn't deal with the sight of you....." Harold's voice trailed off and he took a quick gulp of his wine.
Psyche let out a sardonic laugh and completed the sentence "Being in a strait jacket? The one time that I needed my family I was let down and now that I am up and about you guys want to throw me back in there. Am I such an inconvenience to have around?
"No one wants to send you back to the hospital." Kevin tried to reason with his irate sister-in law. 'She had seemed to be in a happy mood a while ago but now was acting like a sullen puss. What was going on?' Kevin wondered and then decided to stay out of the family argument.
Psyche glared at Kevin and responded sarcastically "Sure, Kevin, unfortunately for you we aren't the Brady Bunch. Making happy conversation is a rarity for this neurotic family"
The succulent juices flooded her taste buds. Her father had made her favorite dish -- roast chicken and mashed potatoes; Cybil and Kevin had flown half the continent out of concern. Her family was putting their best foot forward and she was being a bitch.
She sighed and said "Look I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...."
Cybil interrupted her "Act like a spoilt, self-pitying bitch? It's always about you. You have dad wrapped around your little pinky."
Psyche felt a rush anger flood rush through her veins, "I have dad wrapped around my fingers? You are the one who tried to climb into his...."
"Enough!" Harold's voice rang through the kitchen. "I won't have you two tear into each other like a couple of catty women. Both of you need to grow up. The past is in the past, Psyche, you should know better than to throw it at your sister's face."
Psyche opened her mouth to say something but the angry look that clouded her generally congenial father's face quelled the words.