| General Fiction posted September 7, 2024 | Chapters: |
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A shocking exchange with Julia's mother
A chapter in the book DUEL with the DEVIL
DUEL with the DEVIL - Chapter 35
by Jim Wile
| Background A brilliant young chemist creates a new painkilling drug with unknown benefits and pitfalls. |
Recap of Chapter 34: Brian has the spinal cord stimulator implanted and begins to feel immediate relief from his pain. He, Daniel, and Kimi rent an apartment together for the summer and upcoming school year. Julia visits often during the summer, and the four become good friends.
Brian begins working for Dr. Rieke in his lab and attends support group sessions for addicts. He and Dr. Rieke become quite close, and Rieke invites the four friends to a 4th of July party at his house. They go and have a wonderful time. Julia plays the violin for the crowd and realizes how much fun most families can have together. Part 1 concludes with everything going well after the trauma of the overdose.
Part 2
Chapter 35
I’m going to skip over the remainder of the undergrad years and just touch on a few of the highlights. That first summer went extremely well for me. I absolutely found my calling by working in the lab with Dr. Rieke. I became totally absorbed in the research we were doing, and biochemistry became my declared major.
As part of the agreement that Dr. Rieke and I had made, I began attending a support group for addicts, where I learned a great deal about addiction from the group. Everyone’s story is different, yet also the same, and I began to appreciate how difficult overcoming an addiction was and stopped beating myself up so much about my perceived weakness. Certainly, there was a weakness there, but I also learned that some people, through no fault of their own, are genetically more prone to it. Answers to so many things were locked within the genes, and much of Dr. Rieke’s research was involved with unlocking their codes.
My four years at NC State went very well. The spinal cord stimulator was doing its job, and there were no more problems with my addiction. I graduated Magna Cum Laude and decided to go for a master’s degree in biochemistry.
Julia also flourished during these undergrad years. She became the best violinist in the undergrad program at Juilliard, perhaps even among the grad students. She adored her violin teacher, an older gentleman named Arnold Rathbun, who had once been the concert master of the Philadelphia Orchestra. I met him once, and he raved about Julia, whom he declared to be his star pupil.
Let’s jump back and take a look at the one bit of unpleasantness that occurred during our sophomore year. This involved Julia and her mother, the infamous Doktor Schmidt that we liked to call her.
Fall, 2011
I got a disconcerting call from Julia one night in mid-October of our sophomore year. She was living in an off-campus apartment now with two roommates.
“Brian, I just got off the phone with Mother, and you’re not going to believe this. This couldn’t come at a worse time for me because I’m going to be the soloist in a concerto in two weeks, and it’s the most difficult piece I’ve ever played.”
“What is it, Jules?”
“Mother just got hired by the New York Philharmonic. This was, like, her third try at auditioning with them, and she finally got in.”
“Well, good for her. She’s wanted that for a long time.”
“Yeah, well, I’m happy for her about that, but the apartment she’s planning to rent isn’t ready yet and won’t be for two more weeks. She asked if she could live with me for those two weeks. I know she’s going to drive me nuts. She’s going to start telling me how to play the piece, and I know she’ll be criticizing everything. Why can’t she get a hotel room for two weeks?”
“Maybe because living with you would be free, and hotels cost a fortune in New York.”
“I’m sure that’s it, but I just… I don’t want her here with me. She caught me by surprise when she sprang it on me, so I just said, okay. But now, I’m a wreck about it.”
“Are your roommates okay with that? It’s a pretty small place.”
“I told them about it, hoping they’d put up a fuss, but no, they said it would be fine for two weeks. They don’t know the woman like I do, though. Besides, they have their own bedroom that they share, and now I’ll have to share my one small bedroom with Mother. I wouldn’t mind if I could stand her, but you know we’re like oil and water. What am I going to do, Babe?”
“I don’t know. I guess it won’t kill you if it’s only two weeks.”
“Easy for you to say. You’ve never lived with her.”
“Yeah, you’re right…. Perhaps you could set some ground rules, like maybe you’ll do all your practicing at school and she can’t come listen to you.”
“I could try, but I can predict how that will go over.”
“But you’re doing her a favor. At least she could honor your wishes, couldn’t she?”
“She’ll hit me with, ‘Julia, I’m paying for your education. The least you could do is let me see if my money is being well spent and they’re teaching you the way I think you should be taught.’ I know she’ll hold that over me.”
“I don’t know, Sweetie. That’s a tough one. Look, if it gets that bad, I’ll come up and get a hotel room, and we can stay there and let her have the apartment. We could get a cheap place; they can’t all cost a fortune.”
“You’re sweet, but I couldn’t ask you to take off from school and do that.”
“Don’t ask then. I’ll just do it.”
“Oh, I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
I was not all that surprised when I got a frantic phone call from her early one morning about a week later.
“Mother is driving me absolutely bonkers. I can’t stand it anymore. All we do is argue constantly. She insists on hearing me practice, and she just can’t keep her big mouth shut and her opinions to herself. I am so uptight; I wish I had some Seconal. I swear I’d take it.”
“Alright, I’ve heard enough. See you in a few.”
“No, Brian. You shouldn’t have to come rescue me. I should be able to handle this. I’m a big girl.”
“Yeah, but she’s a bully. I’m not going to let her badger you like that. Just leave and don’t tell her where you’re going. I’ll see you in nine hours. I mean it. Go somewhere and text me where you are.”
I ended the call without another word and got ready to leave. I would have to miss a few classes, including one of Dr. Rieke’s, and I called him to let him know about it. He told me not to worry, just go. I thanked him. Then I texted the other profs whose classes I would miss. I texted Daniel, who wasn’t there at the time, packed a few things, and left. I didn’t exactly know how long I would be gone, but I would be there for her the way she had been there for me following my overdose. That’s what you do when you love someone.
I had been texting her about the progress of my trip, and we agreed to meet at the Museum of Modern Art on W 53rd Street, about a mile from her apartment. She had been hanging out there. With some difficulty, I found a parking spot in a lot and walked to the MoMA, where I found her inside the foyer.
“Babe, I hate it that you felt compelled to come, but I’m so glad you did,” she said tearfully. I held her in my arms for a long time and let her cry it out.
We started walking to the lot where my car was parked. I suddenly noticed I was starving, so we stopped to buy some hotdogs from a hotdog cart along the way. They were really good, and what a unique flavor! We sat down on a bench at the lower end of Central Park and ate them.
The lot where I parked was about halfway between the MoMA and her apartment, so we decided to leave the car there and walk the rest of the way to her place. When we got inside the building and up to her apartment on the eighth floor, her mother was sitting in the living room, reading. She looked up, saw me with Julia, and frowned.
“Hello, Dr. Schmidt.”
No response.
“Where have you been all day, Julia? You weren’t practicing because your violin is here.”
“Mother, I needed some time to myself. I think we’re going to go to a hotel for the remaining few days of your stay, and you can stay here. I think it will be better this way.”
“Oh, you do, do you? And what if I forbid it? Maybe I don’t want you shacking up with this addict right before an important concert. You still need a ton of practice, and you’ll probably end up screwing the whole time and doing drugs together. I won’t have it.”
Julia tried to remain calm, but she could barely hold it together. “Mother, you don’t know what you’re talking about, and I’m not going to listen to any more of this. We’re heading out.”
“You’re not going anywhere if you want me to keep paying for your education! You’re not shacking up with this… with this—"
I cut her off. “Dr. Schmidt. I suggest you stop right there. We are getting Julia’s things together, and we’re leaving. You can think what you want about me, but you’re not going to stop us. Do what you want about Julia’s tuition too, but we’ll find a way for her to continue with or without your help. That’s just the way it’s going to be.”
“Oh, big talker. You can’t even remain off drugs for more than a few months, and you’re going to help her get by? Fat chance. Julia, I mean it. Once you leave with this boy, you won’t get another dime from me.”
Julia was livid now. “God Damn It, Mother! I appreciate that you’ve helped finance my education, but I am not going to let you bribe me into giving up the man I love. I would rather drop out of school. You stay here for the next few days, and then get the hell out. I don’t want to see you again! Now, I’m getting my stuff together, and WE ARE LEAVING!”
Doktor Schmidt was stunned by the vitriol with which Julia spat out those words. Julia told me later she had never before shouted at her mother like that. It was a horrifying exchange, but liberating for Julia in a way that she didn’t regret afterwards. I was proud of her for standing up to her mother. I was sad that it had come to this, but the relief we later felt after we got out of there and things calmed down was palpable.
I knew that it would be a challenge for Julia without the financial support of her mother, but she still had a relationship with her father, and perhaps most important of all, Juilliard loved her. When the situation was eventually explained to Dr. Rathbun, her teacher, he told her not to worry and that something could be worked out.
Julia and her mother were estranged after that and had nothing further to do with each other. I don’t know if that will ever change or whether someday they will be able to reconcile. What I do know, though, was that that episode gave Julia a boost of confidence in herself. Free at last from the constant badgering from her mother, she was able to forge her own way in the violin world and develop her own style of playing that serves her very well.
 Recognized |
Brian Kendrick: The narrator of the story. At the beginning of the story, he is 12 years old and in 6th grade in Kernersville, North Carolina.
Francine (Fran) Kendrick: Brian's older sister. She is 18 at the beginning of the story and goes to junior college, where she studies law enforcement.
Rafael Ortiz (Raffi): Youth therapy group leader at the rehab facility.
Julia Entwistle: One of the six members of the youth therapy group at rehab. She is 16 when we first meet her, plays the violin, and is addicted to barbiturates.
Robert Entwistle: Julia's father.
Dr. Marie Schmidt: Julia's mother.
Mike Pekarsky: Fran's boyfriend who she met on her Caribbean cruise.
Daniel Molebatsi: Brian's undergrad college roommate. He is from Botswana and is a business major.
Dr. Paul Rieke: Brian's organic chemistry professor.
Kimiko Yamada (Kimi): Brian's organic chemistry lab partner. She is from Japan and also resides in his and Daniel's dorm.
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