AI Summary
5 min readIn 1991, Tamara was a senior at a Christian boarding school when her roommate, B, began confiding in her about painful childhood memories. Tamara was the only person B trusted with this. Concerned, Tamara went to the school guidance counselor—a 65-year-old former missionary who mostly showed students his hunting trophies. When B later screamed at a photograph, insisting a white mark above her head was a demon, and then screamed at a bare cinder block wall, Tamara turned to a friendly teacher named Mr. L. His verdict was not psychiatric help, but a spiritual diagnosis: "You guys are under attack from Satan." That Friday night, in Mr. L's kitchen, he and his wife performed an exorcism on B while Tamara and another friend, Christy, were told to lay hands on her. B writhed and screamed in a voice that didn't seem like hers. Tamara was terrified. "I was like, holy crap. This is for real. I'm next to a demon."
Afterward, B acted as if nothing had happened. But Tamara could no longer look at her without wondering: Am I talking to B, or to the demon? The two spent the rest of senior year as roommates in a cold, broken silence. Tamara could not wait to graduate and go home.
A Father’s Parallel Crisis
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:22) **Setup: Tamara's Guilt and the Exorcism** - Tamara describes her close friendship with "B" at a Christian boarding school, which unravels during senior year when B shares painful traumatic memories.
- 2 (10:19) **The Exorcism** - Mr. L performs an exorcism on B in his kitchen, with Tamara and Christy laying hands on her.
- 3 (13:31) **Crisis at Home: Father's Suicide** - Upon returning home, Tamara learns her father has developed paranoid religious delusions and believes Satan is tormenting him.
- 4 (16:09) **The Weight of Guilt** - Tamara rereads her yearbooks, finding a blank page reserved for B in senior year, and struggles with her role in the exorcism.
- 5 (22:02) **Searching for B** - Tamara finds B on Facebook, looking happy, and sends a message explaining her regret, but B stops responding whenever senior year is mentioned.
- 6 (24:00) **Finding Christy's Obituary** - Tamara looks up Christy and discovers she died the previous year from an overdose, described by a neighbor as "battling demons."
- 7 (26:38) **A Decision to Stop Trying** - After years of silence from B and the news of Christy's death, Tamara decides to stop reaching out, fearing she is only reopening old wounds for her own relief.
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Show Notes
Tamara and B were best friends and roommates at their Christian boarding school. Then, in 12th grade, a teacher declared B to be possessed by a demon and an exorcism was performed. B and Tamara stopped speaking soon after. Tamara’s worried about B ever since.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, dial the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. Those outside the US can find your local helpline at befrienders.org.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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