25.5.2009
ACT 15
ACT 15
When Violet mentioned to John that she wanted to go to see Brandur Brandsson again, he was understanding. It was Solla friend who yet again had advised this course.
Brandur Brandsson received Violet with the same friendliness and formality as before. Violet told him what had happened, and the psychic healer listened. When she had finished telling him, he stepped off the chair and crossed the floor and washed his hands. Then he dried them on a little white towel with a yellow and blue fringe and remounted his chair across from Violet.
"This is a complicated matter," said Brandur Brandsson, "and therefore we have to examine it in demarcated parts. Perhaps there is no reason to examine all these parts. Let's start on the most important ones. As I see it, this began for you as a girl at age 10. You are returning home to your parents from a stay in the country. At this age you have begun to sense the beauty of life; you are maturing early not only physically and spiritually, but also sexually. You are becoming a woman, a very pretty and attractive woman. I assume that the boys out in the country?and the men also?have started to notice you. You have begun to look at yourself in the mirror and are more and more convinced that you are pretty and desirable. But although you are becoming a woman at this time, you are nevertheless a child deep inside, in your soul. So are we all, in fact, until the end of our lives, but that is another matter. When you are in the bus and are returning home from the country, you feel some inner joy because at home you have parents who love and protect you. You are also proud to have a dad who is famous, a champion not just in Iceland, but also in Europe and not far from being World Champion. When your father makes sexual advances, these ideas collapse. He is no longer your friend and protector, but your enemy who wants to trample your character and besmirch you."
The psychic healer had finished his analysis for the time being. He stepped down from his chair, and Violet took his outstretched hand: "My child, let's now think a little about what happened later." He remounted his chair, and she settled back into the sofa.
"We have talked before, Madame Violet. If I understood correctly, the relationship between you and your father has been rather cold. I also understand that your father, Simon, has always favored your sister, Edith, over you. Edith was 14 when you came home from the country, and it was she who got to accompany your father to sporting events, not you. She was Daddy's girl, and you were left out. After Edith left home two years later, your feelings toward your father did not change, and he did not give you any fatherly warmth."
Violet's face had become flushed, and she followed every word that Brandur Brandsson uttered.
"Do you want to say something?" he asked in a mild voice.
"He sexually abused Edith." She found it difficult to speak: "I think that Mamma knew it." She had started to cry: "But she never said anything."
The psychic healer handed Violet a handkerchief and waited while she dried her eyes and face. He stepped off the chair, took a few paces and wrung his hands. Then he stopped and looked at the woman: "My child, why did you not speak up all these years."
She started to cry again, sobbing heavily: "I don't know," she said, and her inner turmoil was obvious: "I don't know. I don't understand. I don't understand myself."
Brandur Brandsson had remounted his chair: "I think that we have gone far enough for now. I will see you in three days." He stepped off the chair, said good-bye and went into the side room.
Over the next two weeks, Violet went three times for appointments with Brandur Brandsson. After the last meeting they decided to take a break from the interviews.
John was very upset about this, not just because of Steina, who, he believed, had acted heroically, but more because of Violet. He was determined to get to the bottom of the matter.