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Chapter 11
Kevin's POV
I decide to stop by my parent's house to have a chat with Karen. When I arrive, I find Karen in Kenny's room. "What are you doing?" I ask her.
She glares at me. "I'm cleaning Kenny's room."
"Why?"
"Because it's disgusting and I want him to come home to a clean room!"
"You're throwing away all his drug paraphernalia, aren't you?" I smirk.
"Yes I am! Kenny doesn't need any temptation!"
That poor girl is wasting her time. "You know he's not going to stay clean, right?"
Karen frowns. "How can you say that?"
"Because I know my brother. He can't survive without heroin."
"I believe he can do it. He wants to do it for Drew. Keep your voice down, I don't want Drew to hear you bad mouthing Kenny." She whispers.
"That sounds good, but in reality, he won't be able to function."
"You're not even giving him a chance!"
"You don't know him like I do!"
"I don't think you know him as well as you think you do!" She says confidently.
"Until he OD'ed, you didn't know he was on drugs." I remind her.
"No I didn't."
"See I've known since the beginning."
"I know! I'm still pissed at you for not stopping him." She throws something at me.
"For what? He's an adult!"
"He's been doing this since he was 15! You're the older brother, you should've set a better example!"
"I am setting a better example. I've never done drugs a day in my life!"
"You helped him get it! You even knew how to help him when he overdosed."
I shrug. "I'm not his keeper. He begged for it, so I made sure he got it! You wouldn't believe the things he would do to get it." I chuckle.
"I don't want to hear it."
"Maybe you should. Kenny got down and dirty just to get a fix!"
"I don't care! Kenny got the help he needed and now he's going to be a new man." Karen states proudly. Damn this girl is naïve.
"That won't last long I'm telling you. He'll be getting down on his knees begging for a fix before you know it!"
Karen scowls. "That's gross!"
"It wouldn't be the first time."
"Why don't you have a little more faith in Kenny?"
"Because he has nothing to live for. He's never going to amount to anything so I don't know why he's bothering to get clean."
"He did it for Drew!"
I can't help but laugh at that. "That's a joke! I can tell you that Drew is going to go down the same path!"
"How can you say that?"
"He's weak minded just like his father and grandfather, he won't be able to help it."
"Kenny is a good father and will make sure that doesn't happen to him!"
I laugh harder. "Good father? Where?"
"He does everything he can't to make sure Drew is taking care of!"
I shake my head. It's time for Karen to learn the truth about Kenny. "No, he did everything he could to make sure he could get high. He doesn't give a shit about Drew!"
"He makes sure that he eats, has clothes, a place to sleep, and in a really good school. A good school he got kicked out of because of you!" She shoves me.
"He's not my son so paying for his school isn't my responsibility!"
"Everyone agreed to help Kenny with Drew while he was in rehab. You're the only one who didn't help!"
I shake my head. "I never agreed to it."
"Then where were you taking Drew every day if you weren't taking him to school?"
"I would leave him with a friend."
Karen's jaw drops. "What friend? Does Kenny know this friend?"
"It doesn't matter. Kenny wasn't here so he has no say."
"I don't know why Drew didn't tell me he wasn't going to school."
"I told him not to. There was no way in hell I was picking up the slack for Kenny!"
"You've been paying the tuition all this time, so what's changed?"
"I wasn't paying it with my own money. Kenny worked for that money! He can't make money in rehab so no tuition. It's a shame too because my clients have been asking for him."
Karen raises her eyebrow. "Clients?"
I smile. "Kenny didn't tell you? He's a male prostitute and I'm his pimp."
"You're lying! Kenny would never!"
I nod. "He would! That's how he got his money and his drugs. I guess you don't know him that well at all, now do you?"
"But he never had money."
"Do you think I would give him all the money at once? He would spend it on drugs!"
"So you were pimping him out, but not paying him? You took advantage of him!"
"He couldn't tell! His brain is so fried that it was easy. All I had to do was threaten to not pay tuition or threaten to not get him drugs and he would do what I ask. It's easy to take advantage of a stupid drug addict!"
"You are the absolute worst! Kenny is your brother and you're treating him like something you picked up on the street! Ugh, I can't even look at you right now!" She turns away from me.
"When Kenny finds out that Drew was kicked out of school, he's going to go back to a life of drugs and prostitution. Hell, once he gets kicked out of high school for good, which we know will happen, I know for a fact he's going to go back down that road."
"No he won't! I won't let him!"
"You won't be able to stop him, sister dear! He's weak!"
"Why don't you just get out of here? Kenny will be home soon and I don't want you here to influence him!"
Well my work here is done. "I'll leave, but just know that whether I'm here or not, Kenny isn't going to stay clean. I give him two days tops!" With that, I leave. I know she's pissed, but I guarantee you, I'm right. I've seen this too many times with my parents and I know Kenny will follow that same path.
Kenny's POV
After 30 days, I've finally been released from rehab. Stan and Kyle came to pick me up. My parents weren't going to do it, Karen doesn't have a car, and I refused to ask Kevin. Thank goodness I have good friends that were willing to help me out. "Do you feel like a new man?" Kyle asks me.
"Kind of…" I tell him. I don't have the same urges to get high, but there are times when I crave it. Withdrawal can be a bitch.
"Come on dude, you've been clean for 30 days now! You should feel brand new." Stan adds in.
"I'm just ready to go home. I miss my son and my bed!"
"We should be there in another half hour." Kyle tells me. I nod and grab a piece of paper out of my pocket and look at it.
"What's that?" Stan asks.
"This girl gave me her number." I tell him.
"You met her in rehab?"
I nod. "Yes. Her name is Megan. She's a recovering meth addict. We bonded a bit and she wanted me to keep in touch."
"Dude, be careful." Kyle states and I look at him. "I don't know if it's the best idea for you to get involved with someone from rehab."
"She just told me to call her sometime. It's nothing serious, she's cool. It was nice to make a friend while I was in there."
"Yeah, but still, you're both recovering addicts. Dating could be detrimental to your recovery."
I laugh. "Dating? No dude, she's my friend. Plus you know I only have eyes for one girl."
"She's moved on dude." Stan reminds me again. "I heard you had a nasty encounter with him."
"Don't remind me. I still have the bruise from that encounter." I lift up my shirt to show them the fading bruise on my stomach.
"Either way, she's unavailable, but I still want you to be careful with this Megan girl." Kyle tells me.
"Like I said, we're just friends. Nothing more, nothing less."
The guys drop me off to give me some alone time with my family. I told them we'll get together after I finish catching up. "Welcome back Kenny!" Karen hugs me when I walk in the door.
"Thanks Karen." I smile.
"You've picked up some weight I see." She say as she examines me.
I nod. "Yeah I had to eat three meals a day. I can't remember the last time I did that." I laugh and look around. "Where is he?"
"I'll go get him, but I want to give you a heads up. We need to have a serious conversation." She heads in my room to get Drew.
"Okay…" I don't know what that I was about. What could be that serious especially since I've been gone for a month.
"Daddy!" Drew runs into the room and hugs me.
"Hey buddy! I missed you!"
"I missed you too! Promise me you'll never leave for a long time ever again!"
"I promise!" I hug him tighter. "Oh, I missed you so much!" I look at him and smile. "I swear you've gotten taller! How have you been? How's school?" I notice his smile immediately fades. He looks as if he's going to cry. "Is something wrong?"
"Kenny…" Karen says softly, but I put my hand up to stop her from talking.
"Drew? What's the matter?"
"Kenny, we really need to have that conversation."
"In a minute, I want to finish catching up with Drew!" I look at Drew who's now looking at the ground and kicking his feet. "What's wrong? Did something happen at school?"
"I don't go to school anymore…"
I'm completely in shock. "What? Why not?"
"This is what I wanted to tell you Kenny. Kevin didn't pay his tuition so he got kicked out."
"What?" I'm so pissed off! This isn't the kind of welcome home I was expecting.
