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Chapter 16
Kenny's POV
Since I don't have to worry about school anymore, I have time to walk Drew to the bus stop. "Have a good day at school." I tell Drew just before he gets on the bus.
"I will. Bye daddy, I love you!" He hugs me.
"I love you too!" I hug him back. "I'll be here when you get out of school." I give him a kiss on the forehead.
"Okay! Bye daddy!" He gets on the bus. I stay until the bus drives off. I go back home, Megan is going to come over and I'm going to have that chat with her. I'm so nervous about that, but I know it has to be done for Drew's sake.
As soon as I walk in the door, I see Kevin sitting on the couch. I walk by him trying not to acknowledge him. "What's up bro?" He grabs the back of my shirt and pulls me closer to him.
"What do you want?"
"You've been avoiding my calls."
I pull away from him. "I don't want to talk to you!"
"Why not?" He stands up. "Haven't I always taken care of you?"
I shake my head. "No, you always kept me down."
"But you had everything you needed. Heroin and Drew's tuition paid."
"I don't need either of those anymore."
Kevin smirks. "Really? So what did you do with that stash I gave you?"
"It doesn't matter!"
"You still have it, don't you?" He continues smirking.
"No!" I look away from him.
Kevin puts his arm around me. "Come on Kenny, you can't lie to me!"
"I'm not lying. Just leave me alone!" I push his arm away.
"I still have clients asking about you, you know?"
I cover my ears. "I don't care!"
"You know we're missing out on thousands!" He narrows his eyes. "Don't act like you can't use the money."
"I'm going to start applying for jobs."
Kevin laughs. I hate when he does that. "You don't have any education or skills. Where are you going to work?"
"I'm sure there's something out there for me."
He laughs even harder. "Yeah right! You're a joke!" I hear a knock on the door and I know it's Megan. I don't want her and Kevin to meet. I rush to the door and open it. I quickly step out and close the door.
"Hey, you're early!" I tell Megan as I hug her.
"Traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." She tells me.
"Oh...well let me grab a jacket and we can be on our way..." I turn towards the door.
"Is something wrong?" Megan asks, eyeballing me.
I shake my head nervously. "No, what do you ask?"
"Is there a reason you're not inviting me in? That's not like you."
"The house...it's really dirty." I lie.
Megan smiles and puts her hand on my back. "Kenny, I really don't mind."
Just then, Kevin opens the door. Fuck! "Well, who do we have here?" I notice him staring Megan up and down.
"Just go back inside!" I order him.
"What's the matter? You don't want to introduce me to your friend?"
"No..." I mumble.
"So rude." He pushes me out of the way to get to Megan. "Hi, I'm Kenny's older, and much more handsome brother Kevin." He extends his hand.
"I'm Megan." She shakes his hand. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Really? Good things, I hope! Unfortunately, I can't say the same about you my dear!" Kevin looks at me. "So is this your girlfriend?"
"She's my friend..." I tell him. I know I'm as red as a rose.
"Hmm..." Kevin stares Megan up and down again. "So how much are you paying him?"
"Excuse me?" Megan frowns.
"Well I sure as hell hope he's not fucking you for free!" He looks at me. "I raised you better than that!"
"Not that it's any of your business, but we're not sleeping together!" I blurt out.
"Oh...so you must like this girl." He checks Megan out AGAIN! "She's nothing like that Bebe chick you were fond of. At least she was pretty and had all her teeth."
Oh my God, this is so fucking embarrassing. I look at Megan and I can tell she's insulted. "Shut up Kevin!"
"I still think you should charge for her services." He stares at her. "I may be able to bring her into the business. What do you think Kenny?"
"What is he talking about?" Megan asks me.
"Kenny didn't tell you about his career as a prostitute?"
Megan nods. "Kenny doesn't do that anymore!"
"He's acting like he's on vacation or something, but he still does it. Do you know he's a heroin addict?"
I'm so close to losing it. "She knows Kevin! We met in rehab!"
"Oh things just got interesting." He puts his arm around Megan. "Tell me more Megs…do you mind if I call you Megs?"
"Actually I do!" Megan moves away from him.
"Come on Megan, forget the jacket!" I grab her arm and run to the car.
"You can run, but you can't hide Kenny! You're going to have to face me sometime!" I hear Kevin call out to me as we're running.
Megan and I are on a drive. I'm not sure where we're going, I'm just glad we're not at my house. Unfortunately, our car ride has been a silent one. "Are you okay?" Megan asks.
"Yeah…" I respond looking out the window. I can feel myself shaking.
"No you're not, you're shaking." She pulls the car over. "Do you want to talk about it?"
I shake my head. "Not really."
"It may help you feel better."
I let out a huge sigh. "My brother always knows what to say to get under my skin."
"I don't understand why you let him disrespect you like that."
"I feel that if I burn a bridge with him that I won't know what to do if I get into serious trouble. He's the one the gets me out of trouble."
Megan pats my hand. "You don't need him. You have plenty of people in your corner." She tells me gently.
"I know, but no one has taken care of me the way he has."
"Yeah, but at what price? Is it worth it to sell your body?"
"I told him I don't want to do that anymore."
"Good!"
"But he wants me to come back. I mean, what if I can't find a real job?"
"There's always McDonald's." She shrugs.
"You don't understand, prostituting is the only job I've ever had. I got kicked out of high school last month so I'm not exactly a qualified candidate."
"You're selling yourself short! At least try."
"I guess…" I reach into my pocket and grab the bag of heroin Kevin gave me.
Megan's eyes widen. "Where did you get that?"
"Kevin gave it to me." I know Megan is about to say something, but I stop her before she can. "I know I should've gotten rid of it, but it's just one time!" That one time is right now.
"Kenny, you've been doing so well. Just throw it out the window!"
I look down at the bag. "I can't…"
"If you're going to go back to your old ways, I don't know if we can continue to be friends."
Even though I need to have a conversation about our friendship status, hearing her say that, really hurt my feelings. "Why not? You said you've relapsed before."
She nods. "I really feel like you're only doing this because you don't think you can do or deserve better in life. You're letting your brother get to you. It's not worth it. Think about Drew!"
"Don't mention my son!" I snap at her. I look at the bag and start to tear up. "I'll have to make him understand…"
"I'm going to take you to a meeting right now!" She starts the car.
"NO!" I turn the car off and take her keys. "I just need this one time and it will never happen again. Megan, you know how it feels. Please be my friend and be supportive."
"I'm trying to be a supportive friend that's why I'm trying to stop you from doing something you're going to regret later! Do you know how much I wish I had someone there for me every time I relapsed?"
"Just one time Megan, just one time…" After this one time, I swear I'll never touch heroin again…
Karen's POV
I'm at home typing up my final paper when there's knock on the door. No one else is home so I'm stuck answering the door. It's Drew…which is odd. "Hi Aunt Karen."
"Hi Drew. How was school?" I ask as he walks in.
"Good. Where's my daddy? He said he would be at the bus stop."
I shrug. "He wasn't here when I got here."
"Oh…"
"Do you have homework?"
Drew shakes his head. "No."
"Why don't you go in your room and read? I'm sure your daddy will be home soon."
"Okay…" He sadly goes to his room. I kind of feel sorry for him, but I'm sure Kenny is just fine. Hopefully he's out on job interviews or trying to find a GED program.
My phone rings and I notice it's from an unknown number. "Hello?"
"Karen…?" It's Kenny and he sounds really upset.
"Kenny? Where are you and who's phone are you calling me from?"
"I need your help. I've been arrested for drug possession…" Oh no! This isn't good!
