Puke .... all in a Days work

I worked at Port Angeles for the moment as a social worker for runaway teens, today like every other day was trying. I had finally thought I was getting through to Ray; he had been clean and off the crack for three months, far longer than previous attempts. He, however, had decided in the last week or so that alcohol would become the new addiction. I went to his little crappy apartment on the ghetto like side of the city, I had just pushed him fully clothed in the shower as he was late again for another appointment and he needed to sober up to get this job pronto. I had brought along a set of clothes I had purchased this morning for him to where to this interview, I laid them on the bed and turned my back, I wasn't leaving the room so he could get back into bed. I did his tie and shooed him to the car, he started looking a little green and instead of winding down the window proceeded to puke all over the front of my Chanel blouse. I couldn't really get mad what was the point, plus it wasn't the real emotion I had been feeling.

I was disappointed.

I couldn't know what it was like for Ray, I had come from a nuclear family yes, Dad was not around much yes, but my sister, my mum and I were happy fully functioning members of society. My child hood was happy, so what if one week every school vacation we had to spend it with Dad, Skye and I were still extremely happy.

Just like mine and Skye's, Ray's dad had left when he was young. That's where the similarities ended. Ray's mum and Dad were not getting along greatly and there were questions of the paternity of Ray. Apparently his mother wasn't the most monogamous person in the world. It didn't matter to Ray's dad too much he stilled loved Ray like his own bur Ray pushed him away.

Ray's mum didn't take the separation too well, she got depressed and would blame her unhappiness on Ray; when she was too depressed to get out of bed she would blame it on Ray; when she got up and out of bed and wouldn't come home for days she would blame it on Ray. She blamed Ray for her heroin abuse, shooting up in front of the poor kid while he was having breakfast, asking him to hold the tourniquet while telling him it was his fault she was addicted. When she started bringing random men home and she would get beaten and he in turn would also be beaten for trying to defend his mother she still blamed him. This went on for years, Ray's father kept in contact and tried but he felt so much bitterness towards his Dad that he couldn't have anything to do with him.

Things got really bad.

One Day, Ray had come home from school and was just getting a snack, when he heard raised voices from the other room, Ray's mum came running out trying to get away from her latest trick by hiding behind Ray. Things were said he looked at his mum she pleaded with him to get the guy the hell out. The guy pushed his buttons and something inside Ray snapped. He grabbed the guy who now had taken a swing at him, threw him out the door, kicking him down the stairs and set on him with his fists, breaking his cheeks, nose, jaw; He got up when the rage surpassed him only to hear his mother screaming at him ungrateful for the save and extremely pissed off that she wouldn't get her money now;

She kicked him out.

Ray gathered what he had, started sleeping in the parks, befriended one of the young wayward shits for kids that had run away form home and was initiated into the PA Brothers. Which was a gang; he spent from fourteen to eighteen, selling drugs, doing drugs, robbing places and getting into fights. He had developed a reputation by the time he was 16 into being one of the biggest bad asses around. He had taken over the PA B's as head of the brothers. By eighteen he had a wrap sheet a mile long, with words, like trafficking, aiding and abetting, aggravated self defense, assault, deadly weapons; the list went on. He was on some sort of high; he thought it was the thrill of his life.

Then it all came crashing down, all over territory apparently he moved in on the wrong street. He was taken down in an unfair fight 10 to one with a rival gang. He was found by two kids walking home from school strewn across their front step. Bleeding and left to die. He had been beaten within an inch of his life. He had lost 6 teeth, had a fractured eye socket a broken jaw, all of his ribs where broken along with his collar bone, his leg was shatter from the ankle down, a punctured lung and one of his fingers had been cut off. Surprisingly he pulled through though he required a lot of surgery and physiotherapy and eventually he was fine. However he discharged him self 4 months in to his stay got high and continued to do so. He had been pulled up by a cop and forced into rehab it all looked promising when he came out. I had been assigned his case; I had gotten him somewhere to live, a sponsor, countless job interviews and spent countless hours on the phone or in person listening to him cry. Whoever said that men shouldn't cry is an ass it takes a big man to cry and to be what he has been through to strip away some poor kid's innocence in such a stage of their life. You just can't judge.

Until last week everything had looked up until Ray's mother had shown up.

I hadn't heard from him all week and this is why I turned the car around, not bothering to listen to his apologies, flipped my phone out and apologized to the job provider we were meeting with, stating that Ray was in fact too ill and I think he needed the day in bed.

He was still apologizing when I parked the car at the curb got out and told him to get inside and get the cleaning products. I came back inside saw his mum at the table shooting up and lost it.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HIS HOUSE YOU EVIL BITCH AND DON"T YOU EVER COME BACK".

She just glared at me, "I'll leave after my son makes me leave and he wouldn't want to do that seeing as he has screwed up my whole life and left me with nothing this isn't something huge for him to do. I am his mother he should finally do right by me."

"IF YOU HAVE NOT GOT YOUR LIFE TOGETHER BY NOW OLD WOMAN IT AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN, THIS POOR KID HAS PUT UP WITH YOUR SHIT ENOUGH, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS HOUSE NOW AND DO NOT BURDEN HIS DOOR AGAIN. YOU HAVE SET BACK HIS PROGRESS HE HAD PULLED HIMSELF FROM THE SHIT YOU HAD IMPOSED ON HIM SINCE HE WAS BORN AND HE WAS WORKING TOWARDS A FUTURE. YOU MADE HIM DRINK, YOU MADE HIM FUCK UP AND NOW YOU'RE GOING TO PAY".

I screeched lunging around the table and grabbing the woman by the hair and pulling her outside, I had copped a smack or so in the face, but I was so mad I couldn't register any pain. I threw her down the stairs, then went inside and grabbed all her stuff and threw it on the lawn, she was carrying on with expletives at me, I had calmed down as much as I could and spoke in a voice barely audible.

"You will not come here again, you will not hurt him anymore, you will leave never to come back and if you do not, I will call the police and have you escorted from the premises, if that does not have the desired effect, I will take you down myself.

"NOW FUCK OFF!"

She gathered her things and started walking. I turned to Ray who was now crying at the stairs, he looked at me a small sad smile on his baby face. "No one has ever stood up for me, I am so sorry I will try harder, I cannot let you down again". He put his arms out to me and I held him while he cried big heaving tears. When he had calmed down enough I had told, "You will try your hardest and YOU will never let ME down again".

I had flushed the heroin down the toilet and cleaned and tipped all the booze down the kitchen sink, I left him to sleep.

I tried not to bring my work home but I am a compassionate an emotive person. The water felt good on my aching shoulders I couldn't help letting out a sigh.

Shutting the water off and wrapping a towel around myself I made my way to my room across the hall on the second floor. Embry's door was closed he must be sleeping or something. My bedroom door was ajar which was weird but I though nothing of it, until I flipped the light on and saw the note on the bed. I bent down and read the note out loud;

Hey Pocahontas,

( a nickname I have had since I was six due to the fact I was sick of being called Caire-bear by the pack, I had told Embry I wanted a new name and that he should address me as Princes Pocahontas Running Bear, much too everyone's amusement, nevertheless it had stuck!)

Read your mail, sorry! Congrats we are really happy for you.

Love Embry

xxxx

Next to it was a bunch of flowers. It was hard to be mad at that. I quickly ducked down to the first floor putting in the flowers into a vase, made my way to the closet and pulled out jeans and a white sweater. I was feeling fairly hungry now so I went to get the pizza and beer. I had bumped into Seth who was another of the brothers and he told me he had heard and congratulated me about fifty times, I invited him back for a slice and a bit of a drink. He ordered more Pizza and told me he would meet me there saying he just had to make a call.

I had gotten home and was now parked in front of a TV in a pair of black sweats and a tight white ever last singlet I had already digested half a pizza and was on my second beer when I hear a loud "woot woot" and several pairs of feet come up from the hall way. Sethe your are a prick I thought. Our house was going to become a fucking fraternity AGAIN!..

"Hope you don't mind Pocahontas, we thinks its time to party", Seth exclaimed, "Party on Embry!"

"Party on Seth"

"It's Embry's world, Embry's world, Party time excellent". They chorused.

Then Embry Dove over the back of the couch put his head in my lap and Smiled.