"Tina," her psychologist, Dr. Genovese, said, "the way your father treated you made you expect punishment from men when you perceive that you have incurred their disapproval. In other words, you have been programmed to believe that you deserve to be the recipient of men's violence. It takes a lot of work and time to reprogram yourself to realize that you are strong and that you are not responsible for the psychotic behavior of others and that you do not deserve abuse. You are accountable only to yourself. You have to treat yourself with respect and learn to demand that same respect from others. Given your history, however, it is understandable that you are still struggling to fully embrace your own empowerment. The first step is to realize, rationally, that you did not deserve to be treated the way your father treated you. And I think you've made that difficult first step."
"Yes. I have," Tina answered. "I know that my father was wrong to do what he did to me. It still feels strange to say...that he 'beat' and...and...and...that he...he fucked me."
Tina felt and immediately began to stifle that old familiar craving deep inside her as she spoke the word "fucked."
"I know in my mind that I didn't deserve it," she added.
Her mind might have known that nearly daily abuse she endured from her father wasn't her fault, but her body still responded otherwise. In her mind she could tell herself that she wasn't a piece of shit, a dirty fuck-up, a pathetic whore, but she still felt like she was. For so long she had felt that receiving abuse was her natural condition. She felt that she should be used and abused. She had developed impulses that welcomed, even craved, punishment. Her psychology had become so twisted that she really only felt safe when she was being abused. She wanted to change, to be empowered like regular people, but could she?
First, she knew, she would need to restore her relationship with her husband, Ted, who she had cheated on repeatedly with Thomas. Ted had been very good to her, always supportive and never cruel. Thomas, on the other hand, reminded her much of her father, and abused her like her father had, too. This is what drew her to him. He seemed to sense it in her, coming up behind her in a bar and whispering in her that he could see it written on her face that she was bad and that within hours he would be would be punishing her for it by fucking her throat. She nearly sank to the floor with humiliation and an open mouth when he did that. It was Ted's discovery of her affair with Thomas nearly a year ago that had been the impetus for her decision to begin therapy.
Dr. Genovese answered, "No, you didn't deserve to be victimized. No one does. And the first step to turning your life around is realizing that you didn't deserve it. Now you just have to convince yourself fully in your heart and soul that you didn'tβand don'tβdeserve to be abused so that you can change your behavior. How are things going with Ted?"
"Pretty good," Tina said. "It's going to take some time for him to trust me again. But he's super supportive and he wants to trust me, which gives me added incentive to work to change myself." Tina thought back to an episode a few days ago when Ted got mad at her for forgetting to buy something at the grocery store. "How could you forget? I specifically asked you for one thing and you forgot it!" When he yelled at her she felt the old way again for the first time in months. Something deep inside her started begging: begging to be slapped, fucked, hurt, humiliated, degraded. He quickly noticed how his words affected her and apologized, saying "it's okay, T., everybody makes mistakes. It's no big deal, really." She knew he was right. She knew he loved her and didn't want to hurt her. But when he put his arms around her to comfort her she wished that he would hurt her. She longed for him to use her. She felt she deserved to be treated as a filthy cumhole. Tina didn't admit this to Dr. Genovese, feeling that it was too much of a setback.
"That's great," Dr. Genovese said. It's really important to have someone in your life who values and supports you. And I think you're making great progress. I'm very proud of you." As the doctor said this she looked into Tina's eyes with what appeared to Tina a lack of conviction. Tina felt suddenly that Dr. Genovese didn't believe that Tina was progressing. Was this Tina projecting her own fears and lack of confidence onto Dr. Genovese's expression?
"Well," Dr. Genovese continued, "it looks like we're out of time. I'll see you next week. Keep up the good work and, as always, feel free to contact me in an emergency."
As she left the doctor's office, Tina knew she was supposed to be uplifted, but she didn't feel the normal reinforcement that she usually felt when she left the office. Instead, she felt confused and unsteady on her legs. Her mind was full of conflicting thoughts. She made her way quickly to the elevator. As soon as she hit the down button, the doors opened and, looking at the floor, she rushed into the elevator. When she did, she collided with a man exiting, spilling the cup of coffee he was holding all down the front of his suit.
"What the fuck!" he yelled. "Jesus!"
"I'm so sorry," Tina pleaded. "I...I...I...don't know what happened. Here, can I????"
She reached toward him. How could she be so stupid, she asked herself? God, she was such a klutz, such a dumb ass, such a piece of shit, such a fucking useless waste of a person, such a fucking whore.
"Fuck!" he screamed. The coffee apparently was still quite hot. "My fucking suit is ruined. Why don't you watch where the fuck you're going? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Tina's insides began to stir with the old familiar hunger as the man walked across the hallway and entered the restroom. He was quite a large man, overweight, balding, and shabby.
"Fucking bitch," he muttered.