remember what he did to me in his office. It was going to be a long two months. I doubted I’d be able to walk away with my dignity intact, but there was no turning back now, especially when Nick had held up his end of the bargain.
In the meantime, I’d remain in this state of nervous tenseness until he decided to contact me.
“What are you looking at on your phone that’s putting that ferocious frown on your face, Sis?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin because I’d momentarily forgotten that I wasn’t alone. I looked up to see Adam looking paler than I’d ever seen him. His once vibrant brunette waves were now stringy and lifeless while rings of black underlined his dull, watery blue eyes. His shirtless frame emphasized how emaciated he was, and my heart sunk.
I jumped up and swiftly crossed the room to stand beside him. I briefly touch his skeletal chest, and I wanted to cry. “Adam, are you okay?”
“Couldn’t be better.” But the grimace on his face belies his words.
“Don’t lie to me. You look like shit. Adam, you need help. Today.”
“Sis, I’ll be fine. You have to stop worrying so much. It will age you.”
“Says my younger brother who looks twenty years older than me. Adam, you can’t go on like this. You’re going to die if you keep on this path. Is that what you want? Please tell me it isn’t. Tell me you’re willing to fight for your life and you’re not just here to get what you want and disappear. Do you have any idea what it’s like living in a constant state of fear that one day the police will come knocking to inform me that your body has been found in some gutter. Do you think this is what Mom and Dad would have wanted to become of your life?”
“There you go playing the mom and dad card,” he snorted.
“It seems to be the only card I have left to play because apparently you don’t give a shit about letting me down after the many times you’ve hurt me. You are sick, and you need help. This sickness is the reason you got involved with these sketchy people who are literally threatening to kill you. Maybe you don’t give a shit, but I certainly do!”
He opened his mouth and then closed it as if he was reconsidering his words. Adam licked his dry, cracked lips before raking his fingers through his hair. “Believe it or not, I do care, Frankie. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. Did I tell you that the guys I owe money to dangled me off the side of a 20-story balcony? I fucking shit my pants, and that’s when I knew if I survived that ordeal, I’d get my act together. They gave me this souvenir as a reminder for what I did.”
“You make it sound so casual when, in truth, you had no business getting involved with these characters in the first place. If your life weren’t on the line, I’d go to the police, but I can’t take that risk.”
He placed his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. “Sis, I admit I’ve wronged you, and if I’m being perfectly honest, I can’t say I wouldn’t have done it again, in the state of mind that I was in at the time. As fucked up as it is, it’s the truth. But I want to change. I don’t want this for my life, hustling and stealing for my next hit. I thought I could pull a fast one on this local hood and look what happened. It was my wake-up call. It’s why I came to you. I do want help. But I’m in pain right now, and all I could think about last night was sneaking out and looking for another hit. Not even to get high but to feel better. These withdrawals are painful. I literally feel like I’m going to die.”
It was the first time he openly spoke about his addiction. Every other time I had brought it up, he’d brush me off or made it seem as if he was under control. Maybe his brush with death had indeed been the rock bottom he needed to get himself together. Maybe I would regret this decision later, but at least I could say that I’d done everything I could.
“Well, I know of a methadone clinic nearby that can help get you sorted out. It’s