Chapter 37

As Christmas approached, Bentley kept his act pretty clean. Since his sister was essentially bang-on with his extracurricular activities, he didn't want to push his luck. Besides, Annie was coming home for Christmas, and therefore was very joyous most days.

"Hey guys!" said Bentley to the crew one morning.

"Hi Bentley!" replied Cedric. "You're in a pretty good mood today."

"Only a few more days until Annie is here! I can't wait!" as Bentley strode towards his office with bravado.

"I know how he's feeling, Cedric," smiled Bert. "I wouldn't shut up when I knew Lisa would be coming home."

Cedric laughed. "You were bouncing off the walls like a ping-pong ball, Bert."

December 23rd is a cold, crisp morning at the Evergreen train station. But the cold wasn't going to deter Bentley Raccoon on this morning. He was the first one at the station awaiting his sweetheart to arrive.

The train pulled up about an hour later and Bentley shot like a cannon out of the station house towards the train. Annie ran off just as fast towards her beau.

"Annie! Wow! You look so hot!" said Bentley as he wrapped his arms around and kissed her.

"Bentley! Is that job stressing you out?" asked Annie, judging Bentley's face after they kissed. They hadn't seen each other for four months, and she noted a more rundown Bentley.

"No, no. It's been great! It's awesome working with my friends every day. Let's get out of this ice box and I'll tell you all about it!"

The Christmas Supper at the Blue Spruce was legend in these parts on Christmas Eve. The big hoedown is being enjoyed by all. Ralph is pretty much back to his old self; he was in even better shape now than before the cancer, since he dusted off Bert's old and rarely used dumbbells from the attic. His fur was thick again, and so was his jealousy.

"Hi Rider!" he shot rather sarcastically towards the raccoon as he and Melissa met Rider at the bar.

"Hi Ralph," said Rider, not noticing. "I heard this was a pretty big deal here. Now I see what they're talking about!"

"It's the biggest event here of the year!" cheered back Melissa. Then she changed gears. "I heard that your posting ends here at the end of the month."

"Yeah, I'm sad about it," started Rider. "The Evergreen Forest really grew on me. I'm going to miss this place a lot."

Ralph rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, probably my wife too' he thought.

"Have you ever thought about staying here?" asked Melissa.

"I'll have to talk with Zoey, I'm not sure," said Rider. "They do need two people on the force here; but I would like to further my career closer to home. I'll have to think about it."

Meanwhile, Annie and Bentley couldn't wait to get on the dance floor together. It seemed like an eternity for the two young raccoons since they enjoyed their last date.

"I think you dance better now than ever!" said Annie, blushingly.

"I'm just so excited to have you back, if only for a few weeks," said Bentley, twirling her around. "I've been lost here without you."

Annie just shrugged off Bentley's sappiness. "I'll go get us a few drinks. Don't go too far!"

Bentley was having the time of his life. He didn't want this fantastic night to end. He wanted to make it even better. For the hail mary pass, he walked over to his jacket by the door and searched the pockets to see if he had anything left. To his surprise, he had one ecstasy tablet left. Now he was having an internal struggle with himself. 'I haven't taken these in a month,' paying attention to the angel on his shoulder. 'I have been doing so good without them.' Then his devil side tapped in. 'But what can one more hurt? This is such a great night.' He took the tablet and put it under his tongue, and waited for Annie to come back.

As Annie was grabbing a few eggnogs, she ran into Bert at the bar.

"Hey, how's my beautiful niece?" asked an ecstatic Bert with open arms.

"How's my favourite uncle?" asked Annie as they hugged. "I'm just so happy to be back. I miss Bentley so much when I'm at school."

"I'm glad you're back," started Bert, "he's had a difficult time lately."

"What do you mean?" asked Annie, getting curious.

"He has been doing a lot of partying and heavy drinking. It's really taken a toll on him. So much so, that a month ago, he was in the hospital."

"What?" exclaimed Annie. "He never told me that!" Annie then thought for a moment how rundown Bentley looked to her at the train station. "That explains it."

"Explains what?" asked Bert.

"Yesterday, at the train station. I noticed how different he looked. He claimed it wasn't from his job. I knew he drank a little before, just not that much."

"He has been good lately," said Bert. "He hasn't come to work hung over. He's had a better attitude in the last month, probably because he knew you were coming home for Christmas. I think it scared him a little to realize that he isn't bulletproof."

"Thanks for telling me, Bert," said Annie. "I shouldn't keep you. See you tomorrow at George and Nicole's?"

"You got it kiddo."

Annie grabbed her drinks and left. Bentley was waiting for her by the stage.

"Took you long enough!" he joked. "Where's that secret admirer?"

"If I could call my uncle my secret admirer," shot back Annie playfully. "I just ran into Bert at the bar. You gotta love Christmas!"

The gang got up on stage and performed their normal Christmas tunes. Ralph received a huge ovation when he took his spot on the drums. "I'm back in the saddle!" he cracked back to the crowd, shooting a playful double bicep flex.

Everyone in the Blue Spruce is enjoying themselves; some a little too much. The old cliché of 'Work hard, play hard' was definitely now in effect. As Annie turned around to grab Bentley during 'Rock around the Christmas Tree', she noticed that he was rocking as well. With another woman under the mistletoe!

"Bentley Raccoon, what is wrong with you!" raged Annie, as she approached the raccoon and female fox making out.

"I'm having a good time, what are you doing?" asked Bentley, half baked.

Annie pulled Bentley aside before she continued her rant. "I've been waiting months to see you again, and you're just blowing me off? You are not the same Bentley I remember. The sweet, innocent, goofy Bentley. What happened to you?"

"I'm growing up," replied Bentley, getting agitated. "I have a job, great friends, and a lot of money. I'm enjoying life."

"Well, enjoy this!" Annie slapped Bentley as hard as she could, nearly knocking him over as a crowd started to form around them. "You have just ruined my Christmas! I can't take this! We're through!" Annie grabbed her jacket, crying as she bolted for the door.

"Annie! Annie! What's wrong, darling?" shouted Maxie as she ran after her daughter out the door.

"Bravo!" clapped back Bentley sarcastically towards the door through the crowd. The folks were appalled as he continued making out with the fox, and enjoying the rest of his evening.

The situation didn't go unscathed with his family, as Lisa noticed Annie running for the door when the gang was in between songs. Then she searched for her brother in the crowd and shook her head with disgust. 'He is totally ruining his life' she thought. 'This has got to stop.'

Bentley didn't roll back home until 4 am. Actually, Schaeffer neighbourly dropped him off, seeing once again that the young raccoon was in rough shape after overstaying his welcome. He stumbled upstairs quietly not to wake anyone, almost getting to the finish line. Just before he found his bed, he stubbed his toe on the dresser beside his bed. "God damn it!" as his voice grew quieter while he fell onto his bed. He didn't realize before falling asleep that the top drawer was opened ajar on that same dresser.

As he woke up at 10 am, he noticed the stale smell of booze on his clothes parlayed with some cotton mouth. He couldn't remember how he got home, but was very thankful after looking out the window since it was -20 outside. 'I am so lucky, Santa must have brought me back' he thought jokingly.

After a shower, he rolled downstairs for some breakfast and noticed his parents, Bert and Lisa, and Ralph and Melissa sitting at the table. "Merry Christmas everyone!" he cheered to the gang. Everyone was silent as all the eyes at the table were burning into him. "Somebody say something," said Bentley, starting to crumble. "You're making me nervous."

Lisa had enough of watching her little brother squirm under the spotlight. "I think you need to come clean with us, little brother."

"Clean about what?" asked Bentley, starting to sweat bullets.

"About you," started Melissa. "The heavy drinking. The partying. The drugs."

"The drugs?" asked Bentley, surprised. "I don't do drugs!"

"Then what's this?" asked George sternly, holding up a bag of mushrooms.

"Those are..." Bentley started, knowing that he was now busted. "Where did you find those?"

"In yours dresser, zon," said Nicole, in a very disappointed tone. "Why didn't yous tell us?"

"Those aren't mine," he started. "They are for a friend of mine."

"Don't lie, Bentley," said Lisa. "I saw you behind Sneer Mansion six weeks ago with a joint."

"I saw you spacing out before bringing you home on Thanksgiving," said Melissa.

"I remember when you didn't show up for work, little buddy," said Bert.

Bentley was never a good liar, and couldn't sidestep the spotlight. "They make me have a good time."

"A good time? What about last night?" grilled Ralph.

"Last night? I had a great time. Annie and I were dancing, and laughing..."

"And making out with another woman?" asked Lisa.

"Another woman? I..." Bentley's heart sank as he remembered vaguely the rest of the evening.

"Bentley, you are throwing your life away!" shouted his father, pounding his fists so hard that some coffee split from the rattling mugs on the table. He no longer had a calm, cool exterior. "You are making rash decisions. You are hurting the people who care about you!"

"We are your family, Bentley," said Melissa. "It's okay to talk to us about your problems."

"You need to be honest with us," said Bert. "Or we can't help you. How long have you been using drugs?"

"For only a month," stated Bentley.

A pin could be heard dropping, as the whole table stared at Bentley knowing he was lying.

"Okay, okay! It was Thanksgiving. Annie had been gone for a month, and I was starting to get depressed. Bert and Cedric were trying their best to cheer me up, but I got bored. That's when I started."

"Have you done any at work?" asked Ralph.

"No. But I have done them before and after."

"How about last night?" asked Lisa.

"I, I can't remember," said Bentley. Then the light bulb went off for him when he walked to his jacket hanging by the door. He searched inside the pockets, feeling his heart racing as he noticed they were empty. "I think I did."

"Yous knowz, Bentley, Annie's notz coming today," said Nicole.

"She saw you all over another woman, and so did I," said Lisa.

Bentley's heart disintegrated as he had enough of this grilling session. "I, I need some time alone." Tears started filling his eyes as he ran off into his bedroom upstairs.

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Ralph.

"There are no more drugs in his room, I searched high and low last night," said Lisa.

"Just give him some time," said Bert. "We'll be here to help him when he needs us."

The group let out a collective sigh as they started helping each other with the big Christmas feast. After a few minutes, Lisa came up with an idea and tapped Bert on the shoulder while he was looking at the stockings hung by the tree.

"Do you mind if we go to your sister's right now?" asked Lisa. "I think we need to have a talk with Annie."

"You were reading my mind, honey," said Bert. The couple grabbed their coats and headed for the door. "We'll be back, everyone," said Bert. "And nobody touch that peanut butter square."