My Husband’s Favorite Parrot Loved Him More Than Me Chapter 05

My Husband’s Favorite Parrot Loved Him More Than Me Chapter 05

During the days Derek was away on his trip, I got training videos from the academy every single day.

Day one. Crystal went into the mirror conditioning cage.

Mirrors on all four sides. Infinite versions of himself.

He thrashed, screamed, slammed his head against the walls.

Randy’s voice message said, “Pretty strong stress response. That’s normal—means the correction methods are working.”

Day two. He stopped thrashing.

Curled up in the corner, head buried under his wing. Randy said, “Started the positive vocabulary loop today. I’m a good bird, I love my owner. Three thousand times.”

Day three. In the video, the trainer stood in front of the cage with a clicker.

Click. The parrot opened his beak and let out a raspy sound.

“Good.”

Click. “Good.”

Click. “Good.”

Randy said, “The negative vocabulary has been basically overwritten. Everything coming out of his mouth now is what we taught him.”

I watched the video. That parrot’s eyes were hollow. I didn’t say anything. Holly was still inside that body. But her tongue had been

buried under three thousand “good”s, and her courage had been shattered by all those reflections of herself.

Day four. Derek came home early.

He didn’t tell me. Just showed up at the door.

When I opened it, he stood there with a sour look on his face.

“Babe? I thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow.”

“Work wrapped up early.” He stepped inside and swapped his shoes, eyes scanning the living room. “Where’s Crystal?”

“I sent him to training.”

He froze.

“Training? What training?”

“Parrot training school. You said he’s got a potty mouth, remember? I found a place that’ll train it out of him.”

Derek stared at me for a few seconds.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were on a business trip. I didn’t want to disturb your work.” I smiled. “Besides, you told me to handle it.”

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Then he walked into the living room, sat down, and pulled out his phone.

“What’s the school called? Send me the address.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to pick him up.”

I looked at him. Didn’t move.

“Honey, the correction’s only halfway done. If you bring him back now, the results won’t stick.”

“We don’t need correction.” His voice was tight. “He’s just a bird. So what if he says a few nasty things? Did you really have to send him away?”

“He tells me to ‘Go to hell’ every single day. You really don’t see a problem with that?”

“He’s mimicking! He doesn’t know what it means. Why are you picking a fight with a bird?”

I heard my own heartbeat. Steady. One thump at a time.

“Fine,” I said. “Go get him if you want. I’ll send you the address.”

Derek grabbed his keys and left. I stood on the balcony and watched his car pull out of the complex.

Then I picked up my phone and called Randy.

“Randy, my husband’s on his way to pick up the parrot. He might be a little emotional when he gets there. Could you handle it?”

“Mrs. Vance, the correction isn’t complete yet. Taking him now will hurt the results.”

“I know. But he’s insisting.” I paused. “But after he picks him up, I’ll

probably bring him back in a couple of days.”

Randy was quiet for a few seconds. “Okay. Got it.”

Less than an hour later, Derek was back. He walked in carrying the cage, looking even worse than when he left.

“What kind of place is that? Locking a bird in a mirror box—is that training or abuse?”

“It’s a professional correction method.”

“Professional?” He set the cage down hard on the coffee table.
“Crystal went in there for a few days and he’s already lost weight, lost feathers. Do you have any idea how much he suffered?”

I didn’t look at the cage. I looked at his eyes. “You know exactly how much he suffered. So tell me—do you know how much I suffered?”

He didn’t have an answer. Just for a second. But that was enough.

“Tessa, that’s not what I meant.” His voice softened. “I’m just saying—before you do something, can you at least talk to me first?”

“Okay.”

He looked at me for a moment, like he wanted to say something else. But in the end, he just sighed and carried the cage out to the balcony.

I stood there, watching his back.

That reaction wasn’t about a bird.

It was about the person inside the bird.

He knew what Holly had gone through in that mirror cage. And he

was hurting for her.