SCOUT - WEEK ONE
Scout had slept with her back to Devon. Apparently, most inpatients were housed with someone else going through rehab, but because she needed an interpreter at all times, she was being housed with Devon.
She went through the morning breakfast and yoga routine, pretending she was in training. At home, when school was out, their Uncle Leo required them to train on a strict schedule, like they were going to be soldiers or something. Ridiculous. Now, the practice made it easier to adjust to strangers dictating her life.
Morning group therapy involved a bunch of strangers sharing their addiction stories and as she'd suspected most of the people in there had shitty home lives. One guy lost his brother in a car accident and drank his sorrows into alcohol poisoning. Another chick's boyfriend got her hooked-on meth, and another girl was an Essence user like her. She couldn't walk without it, a squirrel mutant with a malformed tibia. Despite sharing something in common with her, Scout couldn't stop thinking about how uncomfortable squirrels made her dad and she had to work hard and not hearing him prattle on about Squirrelenoids whenever the girl talked.
She was eating lunch when Devon signed, "How are you doing?" Scout scowled at her and Devon offered a sympathetic smile. "There's something you should know about me."
"What?" Scout signed then took a bite of pear and cottage cheese. Yuck, she missed her dad's cooking. This was worse than school food.
"The agency sent me for a reason, Scout. A few years ago, I witnessed a mutant hate crime. See, I'm a hybrid, like you. Anyway, I was so scared at what I saw that I did nothing to help and that person died." Devon's eyes filled and Scout felt bad for having been so cold to her. Her interpreter lowered her eyes. "I had nightmares. Felt guilty. Ashamed. And I started drinking. I drank myself out of a relationship, a home, a job, and into a ditch, quite literally." She took a deep breath and sat up straighter, lifting her head. "My mom never gave up on me. It was my own stubbornness that landed me in that black hole, and it was her determination and tough love that landed me in rehab and got me back on me feet." She reached out and touched Scout's hand, then signed. "Scout, you need to do this for yourself, but if you're not there yet, do it for your dad and your mom because you love them." She shrugged. "Before you know it you'll be out of here and back where you want to be."
But her parents were so ashamed. She signed her thoughts, hopeful that Devon would have insight. "But they're so ashamed they sent me here. How- will they ever look at me the same again? How do I come back from this?"
Devon smiled. "You get better."