Submitted by: Submitted by asasab
Views: 225
Words: 4776
Pages: 20
Category: Philosophy and Psychology
Date Submitted: 11/19/2013 07:43 PM
NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE
Josie: An Interdisciplinary Case Study of Madness
by Joan-Beth Gow, Environmental, Natural, and Technological Sciences, Anna Maria College, Paxton, MA Susan M. Nava-Whitehead, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Education, Becker College, Worcester, MA Kerri W. Augusto, Teacher Education and Family Studies, Becker College, Worcester, MA
Part I – The Apartment
A sliver of sun peaked over the roof of the apartment building across the street, creating just enough shadow to keep Josie from working the tiny key into the rusted lock on her front door. Her fingers tingled slightly, pins and needles, and she switched the key to her other hand. Leaning against the doorframe, a familiar round of nausea washed across her body, pounding and retreating like waves on the Sunderland beach of her childhood. Taking deep breaths, she pressed the key into the lock and slid inside, careful to avoid catching her fishnet stockings on the loose nails sticking out of the jamb. “If I rip another pair of stockings,” she yelled to the empty hall, “I’m suing. This place is a dump!” The landlady, Mrs. Beck, opened her door a few inches, not bothering to release the chain. “If you don’t like it,” she yelled back, “move! But keep it down or I’ll call the cops and have you arrested for soliciting.” Soliciting. That was a nice word for what Josie did; others called her a tramp. But Josie preferred the term “escort,” noting that most of her clients were repeat customers, drawn to her unique Goth look and special talents. Josie raised her black-gloved hand in a one-finger salute and continued up the creaking stairs to her second-floor apartment. Once inside, she latched the five deadbolts she’d installed against Mrs. Beck’s wishes, tapped each lock three times, and then muttered her brother’s name exactly three times: “Patrick. Patrick. Patrick.” A sheen of cold sweat gathered on her brow and she shivered. Her eyes darted around the room,...