“My man, glad you called.”
“Stokes,” I said.
Stokes was a business major. He had his master’s degree now too and was working for a major firm downtown as manager of their international purchasing department. He was pulling down big bucks. Close to six figures. Someday he would make his mark if the drugs didn’t kill him like they almost killed me.
He came from a family in Northern Kentucky. Mother stayed home and father was a licensed pilot for a major airline. Dad’s company had a lot of cutbacks in recent years so he pushed his son Tom Stokes Junior to get a degree both his bachelor’s degree and his master’s degree. He was proud of his son’s accomplishments.
“How are you man?”
“Alive. Thank you for dropping my ass on the concrete in front of the ER. Would have been nicer if you had taken me inside.”
He laughed. “You know man,” he said. His deep voice rough and raw. “We were scared.”
“I bet. Imagine how my parents felt when they got to the hospital.”
“I’m sorry,” Stokes replied. “I’m glad you are all right though.” The jackass actually sounded sincere.
“Stop the shit Stokes.” He was quiet. “You know what I’m talking about. Stop it all. Pills, weed, coke.”
“I hear you. Mickey is going to meetings. Your near death experience scared the shit out of him.”
Mickey Dabo was more like me. Family was middle class. Lots of brothers and sisters. Mom and Dad had been together for a really long time. I could see him being scared straight. Stokes? He was going to be harder to convince. “Stokes, do you remember about five months ago we were at Hot Shot?”
“Any particular night you are talking about?”
I ran my hands through my hair and stared at my son’s image on the ultrasound picture. “Yeah, during spring break. A beautiful little blonde from my home town came up to me at Hot Shot to say hello. I introduced you all to her.”
“Cute little number. Short. Long, blonde hair. Nice piece of ass.” I cringed at his crudeness. I never said he was sensitive.
“Yeah that would be her. She’s now the mother of my son coming in a few months.”
“Oh man,” he laughed. I didn’t think it was funny.
“She’s twenty-one Stokes. A kid, I’ve known her whole life. She took me home and I don’t remember anything else.”
“I told you she was there,” he said. “I don’t really remember much of anything beyond that. I’m sure you didn’t give her anything she didn’t want.”
“Dammit Stokes, I don’t remember anything after we left. I barely remember her being at the bar and I didn’t remember that until you reminded me. What the fuck did you give me at the bar?”
He was quiet. “Some shit I got on the street. A synthetic man-made pill to make you feel a high that will last a while. Not supposed to be addicting. You took two. The other guys and I only took one. That may be why you don’t remember the rest of the night. You took the second one right before she walked up to you. You said you weren’t feeling it.”
“Jesus Christ.” Then I heard her say my name. I turned and looked at her standing at the edge of the deck.
“I don’t want to go anywhere. Can I stay here?” She asked. I nodded at her.
“Stokes, I have to get off here now. Skylar needs me.”
I didn’t wait for him to say goodbye. I hung up the phone. She stepped up onto the deck. “That was your friend, Stokes.” She knew immediately who he was. I nodded. “You called him?” How did she know? “Why?” She asked before I could respond. I reached out to her and she took my hand.
“Because I needed to know what happened that night that led me to taking you to my bed. I just want to understand.”
She walked closer to me and I laid my head against her stomach. I cupped her belly in my hands. We created this child, something very precious to both of us and I didn’t remember it.
“What did he tell you?”
I swallowed. “That for a while, I’ve been losing control Sky. If you want to walk away now is a good time. I’ll go to the drug counselor. I’ll work hard to stay clean but I’ll be honest with you I’ve been fighting with myself to not smoke that weed that was hidden in my socks. If I had I probably would have eventually gone back to Stokes and Mickey and hit the coke again.”
She ran her hands through my hair. Then she slipped into my lap surprising me. I held her close in an embrace that was meant to make her feel safe in my arms but actually made me feel better. “Even after you found out about Luke?”