Chapter 5
CHAPTER
FIVE
Ash
How was it Saturday already? Despite a full night’s sleep, Ash was feeling cranky. At least I’ll get to see Ker today. The week had flown by, and he hadn’t spoken to him at all.
His phone rang, and he couldn’t stop the groan that left his lips as he saw it was Hank calling. This couldn’t be good.
“Something tells me I’m not gonna like this call,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Got a lead on that domestic abuse case we caught last week. I’ll be by to pick you up in five minutes. I’ve already got coffee.”
“Fine.” He growled and ended the call, then immediately called Joyce to explain he wouldn’t make it to A Helping Hand this week.
Ash raced to the bathroom and hurriedly brushed his teeth and washed his face. He was buttoning up his shirt when he heard a horn beep from his driveway.
As he slid into the front seat of Hank’s vehicle, he took the cup from Hank’s outstretched hand and said, “Thanks for the coffee. Now tell me, what the hell is going on?”
Ash stumbled into the house after a long and somewhat frustrating day. At least it had ended on a high note. After receiving bad info on the location of the suspect they were trying to track down, they followed up on a couple of other tips that resulted in dead ends. Although normal for the investigative aspect of their jobs, it was still frustrating, but they persevered. Eventually, they caught up with him, and said suspect was currently behind bars. It was now just past eight thirty in the evening, and Ash was beat. And hungry. He scarfed down a peanut butter sandwich, his brain too weary to consider making something more complicated even if it just involved microwaving. He washed it down with a glass of iced tea from the pitcher in the fridge, then barely made it into the bedroom, where he locked up his service weapon, kicked off his shoes, fell onto the bed, and instantly fell asleep.
When he woke it was still dark, and it took him a moment to figure out where he was. Still dressed and with a bladder that needed emptying, he stripped, then plodded to the bathroom to take care of business. Returning to bed, he picked up his phone—that he’d somehow remembered to drop on the charging pad on his nightstand—and saw that it was three fifteen in the morning. He also noticed a couple of text messages from Ker.
He’d received a text from him earlier in the day, asking if everything was okay, and he’d sent a quick reply that duty had called, but that he’d call or text later. Shit! I never did either. And Ker had texted again right after Ash had crashed. It was too late to reply now, but as he replaced the phone and rolled over, Ash told himself he’d call Ker first thing in the morning.
While Ash waited for the coffee to finish, he texted Ker, apologizing for not getting back to him the previous day. He no sooner had sent the message than his phone rang.
“Hi, Ker,” he answered.
“Is everything okay?” He heard concern in Ker’s voice.
“Yeah. Yesterday was just really long, and I basically passed out fully clothed on top of the covers when I got home last night. I saw your texts when I woke up at three ’cause I had to pee.”
“Okay. I just got a little concerned when I didn’t hear back. Did you at least catch the bad guy?”
“Of course, we did!” Ash told him.
“Good job!”
“So how were things at the community kitchen yesterday?”
“It was good,” Ker said. “Although if I’m being honest, it would have been nicer if you’d been there.” Hmmm, is Ker getting a bit flirty with me?
“Was it busy?” Ash asked, not exactly sure how to respond to Ker’s remark.
“It got quiet after lunch, but I stuck around for a while, and I chatted with some of the folks that decided to hang out for at least part of the afternoon. There were some kids playing games at one of the tables in the corner.”
“I think it’s seeing the kids there that bothers me the most,” Ash admitted. “I wish I could do more to help.”
“I know what you mean. But we do what we can and hope for the best,” Ker said.
There was a bit of a lull in the conversation, and Ash got the feeling Ker wanted to say something, so he held his tongue and waited.
“So there’s something I wanted to tell you,” Ker started.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Last Sunday I went out to buy some groceries, and I ran into the guy I almost bought pills from a year ago. He was just leaning against the building as I was coming out of the store.”
“Really. What happened?”
“He tried to sell me some oxy. I said no and left, but it really shook me up. I was a mess when I got home. I mean, I was really tempted but knew I shouldn’t do it. My brain just fucks with me sometimes. After screaming into a pillow in frustration, I finally called my NA sponsor and talked to him for a while. And I went to a meeting that night. It helped.”
“I’m really glad you had someone to talk to,” Ash said sincerely. “I can’t imagine what you went through.”
“I just hate feeling so weak and out of control.”
“I don’t think you’re weak at all. You were so strong to tell that guy no and then call your sponsor. That took so much strength. I’m really proud of you.” Ash was close to tears, thinking about the demons that haunted Ker. “And I want you to know that you can always call me. I mean, I know that your sponsor is probably better able to talk to you in a situation like that, but if you ever can’t get in touch with them, please call me. I’ll always be here for you.” What is it about this guy that makes me feel this way?
“Thanks, Ash. I really appreciate that,” Ker said quietly. “And once again, sorry to be such a downer, especially after the day you had yesterday, but I wanted to tell you about what happened, and we really didn’t have a chance to talk this week.”
“Don’t ever apologize for being honest with me.” Ash kept his tone gentle. He didn’t want Ker to think he was reprimanding him. “We’ve only known each other for a short time, but I want to know you better. And as I told you the other night at dinner, that means the good and the bad. Speaking of dinner, when can we get together again?”