We all have skeletons.
“Good afternoon everyone my name is Mark. For those of you who are new to group tonight, I just wanted to let you know that this is a safe haven for you to express the things you have a hard time talking about. Allowing those things to fester inside can eventually feel like tearing away pieces of your soul. Deep, yes I know. I know it’s been a week since we last spoke, and. I understand this may be a new experience for you guys but I will assure you, your voice is safe here. Mike, would you like to start the group off tonight? Just state your name and how you’re feeling tonight.”
“Hello, I’m Mike. I’ve been sober for about six months now. My drugs of choice were XO’s, Hydro’s, basically anything I could pop for a good time…I ingested. I just moved into a new apartment. I don’t plan on ever not having a place to stay again. Having to beg for money, shelter, and food because getting high was more important to me.”
Mike, a round shaped man with a long ponytail and a tie die shirt stands before me. The woman to the right of me is sweating like a nun in a whorehouse while the man to the left of me asks,
First time here?
A dark haired man leans over towards me extending his hand. The Listerine strip on his tongue failed to conceal the smell of alcohol lingering on his breath. –Typical– but whom I to judge? I shake his palm and introduce myself. “Pearl is the name.” he nods and reply’s “Frank, nice to meet you.” My purse begins to vibrate as a shuffle through it to find my phone. It’s him; I let the phone continue to vibrate as I miss his call. –I hope he doesn’t call again. – I place the phone back into my purse and sit back into my seat. I couldn’t bear talking to him, especially after what he did. My eyes notice a girl no more than seventeen sitting in front of me. Her hood covers her hair as the black jacket a size to small reveals bandages around her right forearm. She adjusts her sleeves to hide the bandages. Mike finishes up his story and the next person in the circle is a well-groomed man with blonde hair, fitted slacks, and a collard shirt that holds a pen protector. He stands and places his fist in front of his mouth to clear his throat; he then adjusts the sinking glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose.
“Hello, I’m Anthony. I’ve been sober I guess you could say for almost two years now. My two-year anniversary is actually in a couple of days, November sixteenth to be exact.”
My purse begins to vibrate again; I clinch it tightly into my torso. Ignoring the turbulence now rumbling in my gut.
“I’ve spoken to my wife since our last meeting. Her and my daughter are doing well. I…I drive by my daughter’s school in the morning to watch her drop her off. They look happy. I miss taking her to school. The excitement she would have coming down the stairs in her uniform for the day was everything. “
“Maybe if you kept it in your pants you wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
The girl with the jacket says. Mark interjects,
“This is a safe place to talk Ashton, you know that. First warning.”
Ashton sinks back into her seat as Anthony continues.
“I want her to forgive me. I haven’t been with anyone else since the last three those two years ago. That was the end of it. I just want a second chance to get my family back.”
Anthony sits down and the next person to go is Frank. As my phone begins to ring once more I exit the building to go outside to answer the phone.
“What do you want? I told you I never want to talk to you again.”
As silence follows, I hold the phone away from my ears to see if there is a connection. As I reapply the phone a voice follows,
“Pearl, Pearl, Pearl. Why have you been avoiding my calls? You know I hate being ignored love. You don’t get to do that we have an arrangement, remember? I like that you’re wearing that clutch I bought you.“
This startles me for a moment as I begin to turn in a semicircle checking my surroundings. There are no signs of him to be found.
Where are you? I ask to no avail. Where are you? I repeat but nothing. I walk down the sidewalk to find a black four doors parked across the street. The taillights are on and a unidentified character slumps in the driver seat. The front door open and he begins to walk towards me. I begin to back away returning towards the building. I can’t face him right now, after what he knows.
