In the Mind of Madness

As she entered the room she had been in just the day before, Kenna kept a very calm outward appearance. On the inside she was ready to puke and run away screaming, but her face was composed into a soft smile and she didn’t fidget as she sat down across from The Joker. Kenna noticed that he did look surprised to see her, but only for a brief second, before his face melted back into the polite smile. So his makeup wasn’t his only mask.

“Hello.” said Kenna pleasantly, looking through the papers on her clipboard.

“Observing me again?”

Kenna looked up at The Joker, forcing herself to stare directly into his cold brown eyes. It was like looking down the barrel of a gun. Down the eye of a hurricane.

“No. I’m assessing you.”

“They send me a student? I’m a little insulted.”

“I assure you I won’t do anything to offend you further.” Kenna replied, her voice taking on a slightly snappish edge. The Joker’s eyebrows rose, but Kenna didn’t let it show she was shocked by her odd behavior as well.

“What will we start with? My past, why I wear the makeup, why I kill people, how did I get these scars? Oh, I know! How about if my parents abused me?” asked The Joker, who appeared to be holding back a smile.

Kenna kept staring at him. “So you’re dropping the anti-social act?”

“I never pretended to be anti-social. I just prefer my psychoanalysts to be a little less wrinkly and gray and a little more busty and blonde.”

Kenna narrowed her eyes, proud of herself for not blushing. “Now who’s being insulting?”

“Forgive me. I can behave myself…If so inclined.”

The Joker seemed to be finding her discomfort hilarious. Kenna was becoming increasingly annoyed by his careless demeanor, and decided to see if she could get him talking.

“No, we don’t have to start with those things. We can talk about anything you want to.”

The Joker let out a loud cackle, making Kenna flinch quickly. “Nice try, toots! You come up with the questions here.”

“Why don’t you just tell me about yourself? I’m sure a lifestyle such as yours can make one lonely at times.” Kenna tried, jotting down on her clipboard how stubborn the patient was, underlining ‘stubborn’ twice.

“With a lifestyle such as mine, one doesn’t have time to get lonely.” The Joker looked uninterestedly at the table, then back to Kenna.

She sighed in frustration. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I like nothing more than to curl up with a good book and a glass of Cabernet, and I love long walks on the beach, jazz, and contemporary artwork. Me in a nutshell.” The Joker said in a highly amused voice, sucking in a giggle at the end.

Leaning back in her seat, Kenna chewed on her pen and replied: “Seems to me that homicidal maniac with a clown complex is you in a nutshell.”

The Joker busted up laughing, but Kenna didn’t cringe this time. She kept chewing on her pen with a bored expression. A thought came to her. Dr. King had said what an ego-maniac The Joker was. Maybe if she acted bored with him she could at least get a rise out of him.

“Listen,” Kenna said in a rough whisper, bending closer to The Joker. “I have real work to do. My boss is making me do this, or I would spend my time in a much more productive way. Can you give me something to work with so I can get out of here?”

The Joker didn’t seem to know what to say to her, though his face didn‘t move. He watched her own visage carefully, which Kenna kept in a bored mask, covering her fear and apprehension. The Joker leaned in closer to her, so their faces were only about four inches apart. Kenna resisted the urge to jump back, making herself look at him.

“Again…very nice try, toots.”

Kenna groaned and put her face in her hands. The Joker giggled and sat back, smiling smugly. Kenna reluctantly lowered her hand to her evaluation sheet and scrawled ‘genius’.