Chapter 3
CHAPTER
THREE
Ash
The week flew by. Ash and Hank were working a new case involving a string of robberies along Route Three that had them checking out leads from Plymouth down past The Pinehills, almost to Sagamore. They were working with other law enforcement in the area, but Ash and Hank were the lead investigators on this one since it had started in Hawthorne Bluff. That meant life was hectic right now.
Hank agreed to follow up on a couple of things over the weekend, giving Ash a much-needed break. “Call me if you need me, but please don’t need me,” Ash said into his phone on Saturday morning. “I’m heading up to A Helping Hand.”
“Don’t worry,” Hank told him, “I’m just coordinating a few things with a couple of the officers from Ellisville. It’ll be fine.”
Ending the call, Ash got into his SUV for the ride up to Plymouth. He was actually looking forward to working at the shelter that day. Hopefully, he’d see Ker again. Ash couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something intriguing about the man.
Things seemed a bit chaotic when Ash entered A Helping Hand’s kitchen, but he quickly donned an apron and pitched in with the lunch preparations. Macaroni and cheese with a tossed green salad were on today’s menu, and soon everything was ready for them to begin serving the line of waiting people.
Ker had already been there when Ash arrived, but they hadn’t had much time to chat until they stood together at their serving stations. “How’s it going, Ker?” Ash asked when they had a free moment.
“Good. Busy week, but I’m doing okay. How about you?”
“Tell me about it. Crazy week for me too. Thank God it’s Saturday.”
“Right?” Ker replied.
By the time everything was cleaned up after lunch, Dean and Mack had both begged off going for coffee, as they had other plans for the rest of the day. “What about you?” Ker asked Ash.
“Sure. I could go for a cup before I head back. All I’ve got to do is stop for some groceries and then maybe throw a load of clothes in the washer.”
They walked to the coffee shop in companionable silence, then placed their order at the counter. The place was fairly busy, but they found a small table along one wall and sat. “It’s nice to know that your life is about as exciting as mine,” Ker remarked, smiling. “Laundry and food shopping. And we wonder why we can’t meet anyone.” Sadness coated his words.
“Hey, it’s not that bad,” Ash admonished. He got an idea. “Since neither one of us has plans, how about we get together for dinner tonight?”
“Why, Detective Reynolds.” Ker coyly batted his eyes. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
Ash chuckled. “Well, I was thinking more of two friends just hanging out, but sure. Why not? You seem like a nice guy, and God knows I don’t have enough of those in my life right now.” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d flirted with anyone, but this felt good.
“Oh, um, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply …” Color rose in Ker’s cheeks.
“Relax, I’m just busting your balls. So whaddya say? Let me buy you dinner?”
“The truth is, I don’t have a lot of friends, so yeah, I’d really like to have dinner with you.”
“Great. It’s still early, so I’ll get my groceries and head home, but I can pick you up around seven, okay? We can go to Tavern on the Wharf if that’s okay with you.”
“That’s perfect.” Ker pulled a business card from his wallet and wrote something on the back before handing it to Ash. “Here’s my address and cell number.”
Ash got to the house where Ker lived just before seven. It was a typical two-family home, often called a tenement, a style extremely popular in most of New England.
Just got to your place.
Be out in a sec.
“Hey,” Ker said, sliding into the front seat.
“Hey yourself. How was your afternoon?”
“Good,” Ker replied. “I followed your lead and did some laundry. I tell ya, some days I really hate adulting.”
“Tell me about it. I wasn’t sure how busy it would be at the Tavern on a Saturday night, so I made a reservation for seven thirty.”
“Good idea. I didn’t even think of that.” The local tourist season was mostly in the summer, but the fall got its share of sightseers visiting Plimoth Patuxet Museums, so one never knew how busy restaurants in the area might be.
The restaurant’s parking lot was full, but Ash found an empty spot a couple of blocks away, and they ambled along the water to the restaurant. It was almost full when they walked in, and Ash said a silent prayer of thanks that he’d called ahead.
A few minutes after they were seated, their server took their drink order—a club soda with lime for Ker while Ash got a Coke with lemon.
“Just so you know,” Ker started, “I don’t drink alcohol. Well, not anymore. But I don’t mind if you do. I probably should have told you before we got here.”
“Hey, it’s not a problem. I thought about getting a beer, but frankly, I’m kinda glad you got a club soda. Hank, my partner, is working on a case of ours this weekend. While I don’t expect him to call me about anything, it’s probably best that I don’t have any alcohol just in case.”
“Oh, okay. I didn’t even think of something like that.”
Their server delivered their beverages, and they asked for a few minutes before deciding on food.
“I want to tell you something right from the start,” Ker continued. “You seem like a really nice guy, and there’s something I want you to know up front.”
“Sure.” Ash looked him in the eye. “You can tell me anything.”
“I’ve had a problem with both drugs and alcohol in the past. These days they call it substance use disorder, but when I was growing up, it was just drug addiction or alcoholism, so that’s still how I think of it. I smoked a little pot when I was younger, but as an adult, it was pills, usually oxycodone.”
“Honestly, I wondered about that when you said you didn’t drink and also last week when you told me you had some problems last year. But you said it was in the past, so I’m guessing it’s not an issue anymore.”
“Well, once an addict, always an addict, but except for the mistake I almost made a year ago, I don’t use anymore. Right after college I was doing construction and fell off a scaffolding. My doctor prescribed oxycodone for the pain, and frankly, I liked how it made me feel.” Ker sipped at his beverage. “I got out of control, and some friends staged an intervention for me. Honestly, they probably saved my life.”
“I’m really glad you had people in your life back then to help you,” Ash said sincerely.
“Anyway, I went into rehab and saw a counselor at that point, and aside from another relapse a few years later, I’ve been on the straight and narrow. I attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings pretty regularly and have a sponsor there, which really helps. But stress is a real trigger for me, and I had a major blowout with my family, which led to my near relapse about a year ago.”
“I’m gonna take a guess here and say it involved your dad’s grocery stores?”
“You know me so well already.” Ker shook his head, a sad smile crossing his full lips. “Yeah, same shit as always. ‘Why did you move away? Don’t you care about us anymore? Why don’t you want to help your family? Why are you so selfish?’” Ker paused for a moment, obviously affected by the memories. “And let’s not forget they became incredibly overprotective once they knew I had some problems with drugs. And that time, it lasted for a few months—they were relentless on both the job and drug front. I started drinking more as a result. I’d never really been a big drinker, and certainly substituting one addiction for another isn’t the answer, but the whole situation with my folks just sent me over the edge.”
“Hey, you don’t have to talk about it if it’s gonna stress you out,” Ash said. The last thing he wanted to do was cause Ker to slip again.
“No, it’s okay. Now that it’s over, sometimes it actually helps to talk about it. My sponsor says it takes the power away from it and gives me back control over the situation. Anyway, I finally talked to my sponsor about the drinking, and we decided that giving up the alcohol was the right thing to do. Especially since I came very close to buying pills again at that point. And volunteering has been good too. It keeps me busy, and I see some folks that come in for meals that I’m pretty sure are probably using. That sobers me up every time. I always think that could have been me .”
“Again, I’m very happy you were able to get the help you needed. And I’ll say it once more, I’m happy to listen to you anytime.”
“Thanks. I don’t usually open up to people so quickly, but you’re very easy to talk to. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but there’s something about you. I trust you.” Ker blushed as if he didn’t admit things like that to people very often. “Wow, way to bring a conversation down.” Ker shook his head. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be silly. I’d really like for us to get to know each other, so that means the good and the bad, right?” Ash sipped at his Coke and continued, “I’ve got an idea. How about we switch gears and talk about some fun things for now. But at some point, we can get back to some of the heavy things if you ever need to talk about them.”
“That sounds great. Thanks for being so understanding.” Ker sounded like he was coming out of his funk.
“So let me tell you about this one time years ago, when my brothers and I went skinny dipping over at Fresh Pond, and we hid Mitch’s clothes …”