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“Where were you?” a faint voice of a woman came followed by a deep maniacal laughter.
John woke up on a very firm couch in a place he did not recognize. John did not know if he was dreaming or not but heard a blender. John got up and looked around the small but exceptionally clean apartment. He saw a figure in the kitchen by the blender. It was Mike from AA. Mike turned around and looked at John with the same determined look that John noticed when he first met him five months ago.
“Afternoon, John. You should have called me,” Mike said with a look of disappointment.
“What time is it?” John asked sluggishly. The pounding of his head made the light too unbearable, so he had to cover his eyes with his hand in the form of a salute.
“Oh, it is quarter past one in the afternoon. Do you feel better than you did before you fell off the wagon?” Mike said sarcastically while pouring a very unappealing color drink into a cup.
“No, I... shit I have to get to work!” John said in a panic.
“Do not worry about that. Your captain called, and I told him that you were at an AA event, and you forgot to tell him. So now we get to spend the day together. This will cure the hangover,” Mike said handing the beverage to John.
“Should I ask what is in it?” John said with concern.
“I would just shut your mouth and chug it. It gets rid of hangovers almost immediately. I made you a sandwich. It is roast beef,” Mike said.
“Thank you. How am I here?” John said as he began to chug the beverage. It felt like lava and tasted like dog shit, but his headache was gone almost immediately.
“Looks like fate is on our side. I drive by that bar after my shift every night. I was waiting at the light and saw you stumbling to your car and took a nasty fall. I brought you here and that was that,” Mike said.
“I had a rough day. It will not happen again. I promise,” John said apologetically.
“It will not be that easy for you. Like I said, we are going to spend the day together. I have been doing this for quite some time now and let me tell you, you are stubborn. Usually with newer sponsors, I have gotten a few calls about urges they have. With you I have not received one call. Now I can be the annoying sponsor and call you all the time, but I am not like that. I know that you want to do this on your own, but no one can. I needed help just like you need help. That is why they created AA,” Mike said.
John finished the drink and ate the sandwich. John used the bathroom to brush his teeth, thanks to Mike having a spare toothbrush. John smoked a couple of cigarettes as he told Mike about the cases from yesterday and the difference between being sober and being drunk dealing with these horrific murders.
“Sounds like it was a rough day. As you already know, your binge last night did not bring that kid back or his mother back. It also did not make you feel better judging by the way you are telling this story. I can tell it still bothers you. Guess that drink did not help,” Mike said sarcastically with a smirk.
“You’re right,” John said.
Mike checked his watch and told John that they were going to go on a little drive. During the drive, Mike and John were mostly silent. John smoked a few cigarettes during the drive and Mike bummed one from him. After about an hour, they arrived at a parking lot at the Hanover Middle School. John admired the look at the school and Mike sat there with eyes waiting.
“See that woman over there?” Mike said pointing by the entrance of the school.
John could see a dark beautiful woman in her late forties picking up a young girl coming out of school. The woman smiled at the child, and they hugged each other and walked back to the car as the young girl waved goodbye to her friends.
“Who is she?” John asked.
“Little over twenty years ago, she was my wife. Her name is Charlotte. Boy did we have an enjoyable time during our marriage. We also had a beautiful boy together named James. One day, my son needed to be picked up from school and it was my day to pick him up while Charlotte was working her shift in the hospital. She is a nurse and a particularly good one too.”
Mike looked down at his seat and sighed. He then looked back up and stared at Charlotte talking and laughing with the other parents.
“I used to hide my alcoholism very well by containing it to only at night. That day, I was fired from my job at the warehouse and was drinking during the day. I passed out drunk and missed the time I was supposed to pick him up. My wife came home that night, woke me up asking where James was, and it hit me that it was my day to pick him up. We were yelling at each other and frantically called his friends. No one knew where he was. The police came to our door to tell us that our ten-year-old son was hit by a car and died instantly. He waited an hour for me and then decided to walk the four miles back to our house, which is too much for a ten-year-old to walk by himself. The car that hit him drove off and my beautiful boy died alone on the side of the road because I was too drunk to pick him up. My wife kicked me out of the house that night and we were divorced soon after. I have not talked to her since.
“I am so sorry, Mike. Have you tried to ask her for forgiveness?” John said empathetically.
“I thought about it, but it would not have been good for either of us. I have shown up here every Wednesday since I have heard that she remarried and had a child. I watched her pick up that child from preschool to now. I do not know the name of the child and I never will. All I do is sit there and watch them as a reminder to myself of the happiness I took from her because of my alcoholism. This is my punishment for what I did to our son, and I have accepted it. I have not touched a drink since that night and this reminds me of why,” Mike said staring at John with a deep sadness in his eyes.
“John, I got the help I needed, and I am willing to help you. My penance for life is to dedicate myself to help those who are struggling with the same addiction I have. I have helped quite a bit of people with this battle, and I would like to help you, but you need to want the help. Alcoholism does not just go away by toughing it out for a few months. It is a lifelong battle that gets better with time and help. Trust me, it gets better,” Mike said reassuring.
“I never really thought of it that way. I should have called you,” John said.
“Do not feel bad for me, John. I am ok and accepting to this. Enough about me though. Let us grab a burger and talk about you,” Mike said.
John and Mike drove to a fast-food restaurant. In the parking lot they ate their meals and smoked a cigarette.
“John, what caused you to start drinking?” Mike asked as he took a drag of his cigarette.
John looked out at the window and began to tell his story.