From Smoke To Flames— Amazon: A West Brothers Novel

by A. M. Hargrove

  “I was telling Sylvie that it sucks she has to get a new battery.”

  He regarded us skeptically and then said, “I’m going to let this one pass. But I’ll get it back somehow.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, frowning.

  “That’s for me to know and for you to find out.” He winked and meandered away.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Pearson

  * * *

  As we walked out together, Rose said, “Wow, your family is awesome. What a great support system, not to mention Evan.”

  “Yeah, I’m a lucky guy.” When we reached the parking lot, I said, “I’ll follow you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Hudson brought my car, so I’ll be driving. He’s already loaded my bags for me.” I scanned the lot and saw where he parked. “I’m right over there.”

  “That’s your car?” She gawked at the black Mercedes AMG. No doubt, it was a beaut. She packed just under six hundred horses and could hit sixty mph in under four seconds. I wanted to laugh at Rose’s expression but didn’t.

  “Uh huh.”

  “Wow. You must’ve been really successful.”

  “Oh, yeah, and see where it got me?” I spread my arms wide and spun around. “A place at the head of my class at Flower Power.”

  She pressed her lips together as though she was suppressing a laugh. “I’m sorry. The situation is far from funny, but the way you said it …” Then she broke into a belly laugh.

  “The way I see it is you gotta laugh, right? It takes the heaviness away. I’ve had way too much of that lately,” I said, not taking offense at her finding this funny.

  “So have I. You know my car. My place isn’t far from here, maybe ten minutes.”

  “See you there.” I held my hand in the air and ambled off to my ride. As I slid inside, it was a strange sensation as I hadn’t driven in over, what, two months? It felt … good. No, it felt awesome. I inhaled the scent of leather and enjoyed the way the seats wrapped around me. Then I realized these were things I’d taken for granted in my old life. I pushed the ignition and listened to her purr. Rose was waiting so I put the car into drive and off we went.

  We pulled into the driveway of a nice little pale gray bungalow with black shutters. Rose slipped out and then got Montana out of her seat. By the time I pulled my two bags out of the trunk, they were on the front porch unlocking the door.

  “You need some help, Mister?”

  I guess that name was going to stick for a while. “Nope. I’ve got it, muffin.”

  “I’m not a muffin.” She stuck a hand on her hip.

  “Well, I’m not a mister.”

  “Uh huh. You’re Mister Pearson.”

  Damn if she didn’t have me there. “And you’re Muffin Montana.”

  She said, “Am not,” then scampered into the house.

  Rose said, “She’s a mess. Sorry my house isn’t very extravagant.”

  “It’s perfect.” We entered into a hall that led down to what I thought was a kitchen. To the right was the living room.

  “Let me show you your room so you can put your bags down.”

  I followed her down the hall. The kitchen was ahead on the right and then the bedrooms were at the end. Two were on the right and one was on the left, which was the master. “This is mine.” She pointed to one at the end. “That’s yours.” We walked in and it was small but very tidy. There was a twin bed, a small dresser, mirror, and a small desk. “It’s really small.”

  “No, this is great. I love it.” I dropped my bags on the floor and looked around. There were some very nice paintings on the walls. “These are lovely.”

  “Thank you.”

  I walked closer and inspected them. They were all scenes of various things—forests, fields of flowers, and a river flowing through the woods. “This artist is very talented, at least in my opinion. I don’t really know that much about art, but these are beautiful.”

  “Um, I did them.”

  “Really? Rose, they’re fantastic. Do you still paint?”

  “No, not because I don’t want to, but because I don’t have the time. I stopped not long after I got married.”

  “I don’t have to guess why.”

  She fiddled with her cast. “Yeah, he told me my work was shit.”

  “I suppose he was an expert.”

  She shrugged. “It didn’t matter. When someone who supposedly loves you tells you those things, you believe them. I put my canvas and paints away and stopped. That’s when I went to school. He hated me even worse then. He never wanted me to make anything of myself.”

  “Of course not. You were a threat to him then. He would lose his power over you.”

  “Ugh, I was so stupid back then. Looking at things now, I can’t believe I stayed with him.” She tugged on her shirt.

  “You have to look at it differently. My brother, Grey, had a really bad first marriage. It ended when his wife was killed, but his life turned out great after he met Marin. However, his first marriage brought him Kinsley and Aaron, his children. If it hadn’t been for that, he would’ve missed out. And so would my brother, Hudson. He had bad luck the first time around, but he got Wiley out of it. You got Montana and look at what you would’ve missed without her in your life.”

  “You should’ve been a psychologist instead of an attorney.” Her smile was a bit faltering.

  “You would never have said that if you’d met me before rehab. I’ve changed and I’m hoping it’s for the better.” My confidence level was so-so. I knew the path I was on was the right one, but there were still miles ahead on my journey. Some days would be more difficult than others, and it was expected.

  “Looks like we’re both different people now. And that’s a good thing.”

  All of a sudden, a little voice interrupted us. “Hey Mister, you gonna come and look at my room?”

  Little chatterbox was back. “Sure thing, Muffin.”

  “Humph. You always gonna call me that?”

  “As long as you call me Mister, I am.” She put her tiny hand in mine and pulled me along behind her. She reminded me so much of Kinsley, bossy and chatty as hell. Her room was cute as hell, with pictures of all sorts of animals hanging on the wall. Rose had followed me in, so I looked at her pointedly.

  “Yep, I did those too.”

  Montana ran up to one of a monkey and said, “This one’s my favorite. I love monkeys.” Her expression morphed into one of pure joy when she asked, “Mommy, can we go to the zoo?”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  Then she grabbed my hand and said, “Mister, you gotta come too.”

  “You know what? I’d love to, but I have a meeting in” —I checked the time— “about a half hour.” I was attending my first Narcotics Anonymous meeting today. Dr. Martinelli had set me up to meet my intermediate sponsor and he was driving out from the city to attend with me here. It was a huge favor, so I needed to get going. It was a fifteen-minute drive from here.

  “You’re meeting Reese, right?” Rose asked.

  “Yeah, and he’s driving out from the city.”

  “You’ll really like him, and he’ll be an awesome sponsor for you.”

  “He’s actually going to introduce me to my main sponsor here but said I could also use him as one if I wanted to attend the NA group in the city.”

  “Can you come to the zoo after?” Montana asked.

  This was my first meeting and I wanted to spend some time with Reese afterward. “I’m not sure how long the meeting will last. Maybe we can go another day.” Disappointment coated her features.

  Rose came to my rescue. “They’ll be plenty more times we can go, honey. Maybe instead of the zoo today, we can go to a movie. How’s that?”

  She jumped up and down. “Yay, a movie. Can I get candy and popcorn?”

  “Maybe candy or popcorn,” Rose said.

  “Lucky muffin, you are. Can you show me the bathroom and then I have to leave.”

  “S
ure.”

  “I can,” Montana yelled. She hopped her way out the door and down to the bathroom. “Here it is. And don’t forget to wash your hands after you go. Germs are icky.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I saluted her and heard her giggle as I closed the door. That child was something. She was a different kid since leaving her dad’s home. If that wasn’t telling, I didn’t know what was.

  I left shortly after and made it to the meeting a few minutes early. A tall man with sandy colored hair approached me as I entered. “Are you Pearson West?”

  “I am.”

  “Reese Christianson. It’s good to meet you although I wish it were under different circumstances.” We shook hands.

  “I’m glad to meet you and I’m actually glad to be here. This is saving my life. Oh, and thanks for driving out here. I’ve heard nothing but great things about you.”

  He ran his hand through his crop of hair. “Yeah, don’t believe everything you hear. I hear you’re an attorney.”

  “Yeah. I, um, I’m not sure where I’ll end up after this. I’ve decided to leave the firm I was with though.”

  “You’ve been sober for what, sixty days?”

  “Yeah. On the nose.”

  “If I could make a suggestion? Don’t make any life altering decisions for at least another sixty days, minimum. Your brain is still unscrambling itself and will for a while. It’s been screwed around with so much for the past however long you used, it’s going to take some time for it to normalize. I’m sure Gabby mentioned this.”

  “Gabby?”

  “Sorry. Dr. Martinelli.”

  “Right, and she did several times. But honestly, the practice I was in was so high pressure, I don’t want that anymore.”

  We walked over to a table where coffee and all the fixings were set up. Then we each made ourselves a cup.

  Reese said after he took a long slug of his java, “Now that’s a different story altogether. High pressure is not good and that’s the last thing you want to subject yourself to after you’ve been through rehab.”

  “I’m interested in setting up a practice somewhere up here to help people pro bono and, of course, do other cases as well. But not work for anyone, just myself.”

  “I get that. I’m an attorney too. I went to law school after I rehabbed. I’ll tell you the story after the meeting since it’s getting ready to start.”

  We took our seats, and soon, I was standing up saying, “My name is Pearson West and I’m an opiate addict and an alcoholic.” It had gotten easier over the last month to do this, but these were new people, so it was a bit unsettling. You’d think after sixty days of this, I’d be used to it. Only I wasn’t. Shame still filled me each time I said it. I imagined it always would. Admitting one’s failures, especially one of this nature wasn’t easy. Doing it daily wasn’t easy either. But I accepted it, because if I didn’t, I would end up down that drug-filled hole and be looking at death square in the eyes. That was not something I would willingly choose to do.

  The meeting ended and as we were walking out, Reese said, “After five years, I still get new messages from these meetings. Today I learned that you have to spare some time every day, even if it’s just a couple of minutes, to focus on what was broken inside, because if you don’t reflect on that, it won’t ever get fixed permanently. I know that, but sometimes I forget.”

  I thought about that for a minute. “I used to think my life was perfect and that the reason I became an addict was only because of shoulder surgery. I didn’t think it had anything to do with me or my career. But when I dug down deep, it was all the internal and external pressures that kept me using. Before I knew it, I’d moved to H. I was a fucking mess.”

  “Hey, you wanna go grab some lunch?” he asked.

  “Sure. I don’t know what’s around here, but there has to be something.”

  He pulled out his phone and found a place a few blocks away, so we drove over. Once we were seated and ordered our food, he told me this unbelievable story about himself.

  “So, Gabby wanted me as your sponsor because I ended up on drugs after a pretty serious beatdown that nearly killed me.”

  After a short laugh, I said, “My beatdown nearly killed me too, but in the end, it’s what saved my life. I don’t remember what happened, but I wish I could find the people who did it so I could thank them. Ironic, huh? Tell me what happened to you.”

  “Are you into ballet?”

  I shrugged. “I’d go here and there. My parents would be the ones to ask that.”

  “So, I was a ballet dancer. I studied at the Royal Ballet in London when I was a kid and then came back here to study contemporary ballet at Joffrey. I was picked up by Metropolitan Ballet Company. I became their principal dancer. My stage name wasn’t Reese Christianson. It was Reston Blakely. Anyway, one night after a performance, we all went out to party and when I left the bar, I was mugged and beaten. My leg was broken, and I could no longer dance. That’s when I started using.”

  “It ruined your career.” No wonder he went down the hole.

  “That’s an understatement. It destroyed me. I spiraled. Like you, first it was pills, then it was whatever I could get my hands on. I finally met Gabby and Case.”

  “Case?”

  “My NA sponsor. He saved me from death.”

  “No wonder Dr. Martinelli wanted us to meet.” I thought about his experience and how much more he went through than I did. “How did your family take it?”

  He laughed. “My dad and I never got along. He would’ve chosen a different career path for me. My mom was a dancer until she got pregnant with me and I ruined her career, or so I thought. Turned out she gave up dancing because she couldn’t bear to be away from me. Only I didn’t know that at the time and I resented both of them. I was pretty much a jerk. Things are great now, but they weren’t for a long time. My aunt, actually my mom’s aunt, was my champion. She was my biggest supporter growing up.”

  “I’m sorry, man. I count my blessings. My family is awesome. I remember at the beginning of therapy, everyone kept asking about them, and I reiterated how great they all were. It finally sunk in that it wasn’t my upbringing or family. It was me and my current situation.”

  “In many cases, that’s easier to overcome. Not always, and I’m far from a professional. But in the people I’ve worked with, that’s been my experience.”

  I put my hands together in the prayer pose. “All I know is I’m on the right track and I plan to keep it that way.”

  He grinned. “Keep it up, man.”

  “So, an attorney, huh?”

  “Yeah. After my attack, I wanted to protect victims of crime and I figured I could do a better job of it if I went to law school and became a prosecutor. I work in the DA’s office now. My long-term goals are to get the laws changed on the perps. I’d like for them to stay in jail longer and for the victim not to have to worry about them being released. Our laws are too easy on the criminals, in my opinion.”

  “That’s great. I love that you have long term goals. That’s what I need.”

  “Whoa, buddy. Your only long-term goal right now should be sobriety.” His expression was stern. “I mean it. That’s huge, Pearson. If that’s not your number one priority for the next at least six months, you need to rethink things. Anyone at NA, or even Gabby will tell you that. Your one-year goal, even two-year goal, should be sobriety. When you get to that point, we can talk long term afterward. One day at a time, my man. One day at a time.”

  “You’re right. I jumped the gun. But I’m psyched for you.”

  “You can be that, just stay focused and committed on yourself and don’t let anyone deter you. Oh, and here’s this.” He handed me a white card with nothing but a phone number on it. “Anytime, day or night. If you need me, call. I’ll always answer this number. You have the list of all the meetings nearby.”

  “Thanks. You do know I’m renting a room from one of the counselors at Flower Power?”

  “I didn’t, but
that’s awesome.”

  “I didn’t exactly feel ready to be on my own yet and living with Mom and Dad … just no. I love them like crazy, but the hovering would’ve driven me back to using.”

  He chuckled. “I’m going to like working with you, Pearson. And any time you want to come to a meeting in the city, call. I’m at one every day, but I can meet you out here every Saturday.”

  “I really appreciate it.”

  I paid the lunch tab and we left with plans to talk on the phone tomorrow. He was a great guy and I’d have to let Dr. Martinelli know at my appointment this coming week how much I appreciated her arranging for him to be one of my sponsors.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Rose

  * * *

  Montana and I got home from the movie and Pearson walked in right afterward.

  “Hey Mister. You didn’t get any popcorn or McDonald’s.” She held up the toy she’d gotten in her kiddie meal

  “Sounds like I really missed out, Muffin.” He made a sad face.

  A grin spread across her face. “Yep, and I ate all mine, so I don’t have none for you.”

  “Montana, it’s I don’t have any for you,” I said.

  “Yep, I don’t. Mister’s just gonna hafta come with us next time and get some. You can get a toy too. Can’t he, Mommy?”

  “He probably can,” I said, hiding a chuckle.

  “I wouldn’t want to miss out on that,” Pearson said.

  “How did it go?” I asked.

  We walked to the living room and sat down while Montana skipped to her room.

  “It was motivating. You know my sponsor is Reese, and he’s impressive, like you said. We ate lunch afterward.”

  “Aw, nice. I knew you’d like him. He spoke at one of our conferences and his story blew me away.”

  “It blew me away too. I can’t even imagine. He lost everything but built a whole new life for himself.”

  “Yeah, he did. Reese is special. There are so many special people associated with NA and AA that I’ve met throughout the years. They always amaze me at how much they give of themselves to others.” It was true. Before I started in this business, I never imagined the kind of people I would meet that would inspire me along the way.