Chapter Seventeen
Reese lifted her arms up, prompting her muscles to release satisfying pops. Sitting at a desk for a good portion of the day made her body stiff. She needed to move around a bit.
She found Kerrie in her office, keyboard clunking away. They were almost at full capacity, and the amount of paperwork they were doing showed it. It was never-ending.
“I need to move around. If I sit in that chair a minute longer, I might lose it.”
“You know what? Same. Is Jay here?”
Reese nodded.
“Great. Want to walk to the store?”
“I would love that. Let me grab my purse.”
After grabbing her purse, she ducked into Jay’s office to let him know that they were going to step out for a few minutes.
The little country store wasn’t but maybe a ten-minute walk, and it felt really good to get a little sunshine and stretch her legs.
She had only been to the store once before.
It was a typical little southern country store with old flooring, racks of snacks, and a food station with different types of fried food as well as a small deli area.
An old picnic table sat outside where old men would sit and have coffee in the morning.
When they walked in, she immediately smelled something deep-fried, and she made a beeline over to the case.
“Can I get you something, sweetheart?” an old man asked from behind the counter. She recognized him from the last time she was there.
“Can I get an order of mozzarella sticks, please?”
“Yep, I’ll have it at the counter for you.”
“Thank you.”
She turned around and went in search of something to drink. She found Kerrie at the drink coolers in the back of the store. She looked to be deciding between a Diet Coke and a bottle of sweet tea.
“Can’t decide?”
Kerrie’s head snapped up, a guilty look on her face. “I’m supposed to be watching my sugar. Or well, that’s what Bette says.”
“I won’t tell if you won’t,” she smirked before grabbing a Dr Pepper.
Kerrie replaced the bottle of sweet tea with a sigh.
“I really shouldn’t. I get where she’s coming from.
Mine and Kenny’s bloodwork wasn’t the greatest at our annual checkup.
The doc said we needed to exercise more, focus on fiber and protein, and eat less fried foods.
As soon as Bette found out, she decided the whole family would be getting healthier.
Which, I appreciate her concern, but we’ve made a lot of changes, and Kenny and I have lost about fifteen pounds each.
She’s got him doing sit-down exercises since he’s a fall risk, and I’m walking around the block every other day.
The intention is good, and I love her for it, but she’s got to loosen the reins a little. ”
Reese repressed a smile, knowing the Nixon Street house’s secret that every one of them was cheating on their diet. “I bet it was a big change.”
“It was. You know, I had a dream the other day about bacon? Real bacon. Not that turkey crap.” She watched Kerrie grab a bag of peanuts and a beef jerky stick. She shrugged at Reese. “Protein.”
“There really is a big difference between real and turkey bacon. Can’t argue with that. Uh, hope you don’t mind the smell of cheese sticks,” she winced as they approached the counter, and the bag of cheese sticks was placed in front of her.
“I’ll live,” she grumbled.
“Back again, Kerrie? What’d you think of that bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit this morning?”
Reese turned slowly to give the taller woman a raised eyebrow.
Kerrie ducked her head. “Well, it was only one. I normally would have gotten two.”
Reese snorted and paid for her items.
They took their time walking back. The sun was out without any clouds accompanying it. She was looking forward to summer but was really enjoying these clear, seventy-degree days. Spending so much time indoors, especially in the hoarded bungalow, left her craving light and air.
As The Church came into view, Reese immediately noticed the work truck parked next to her car.
“Maintenance is here.”
“That should be Matty. She’s on the schedule to do Leadership.”
“Oh?” Even she knew her face lit up at the mention of Matty. The mental image of her ass in those joggers flashed through her mind. The woman certainly had a nice body.
“How did your study date go?”
“It wasn’t a date,” she said automatically. It was the same response she’d given Haley.
“Right,” she drawled.
“Seriously.” Even she wasn’t convinced.
“Kenny said you went home with food containers and, I quote, ‘hugged a while.’”
Reese stopped short, her eyes wide. “It wasn’t that long.”
“Kenny doesn’t lie. I mean, he might try, but his face gives it away just a second before his mouth does.”
“It was just a hug. Time is a construct anyway. Nothing to focus on.”
Kerrie just raised an eyebrow.
When they stepped inside, she paused at the stairs leading to the basement. She could just make out Matty’s voice as she introduced herself.
“Want to eat our snacks in your office?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Her office was the closest one to the basement stairs.
She chewed on a cheese stick while straining to hear. Once she heard a chorus of laughter from the guys, but Matty’s voice was indecipherable.
“So I think I’m going to try out for the local strip club as a side hustle.”
Reese frowned, her head turning sharply to Kerrie, who had an amused look on her face. “Huh?”
“Just seeing if you were paying attention. You know you can go down there, right?”
“Go where?”
“To Leadership.”
She shook her head. “No, I couldn’t.”
“Sure, you can. Matty’s very open about her past. She doesn’t mind sharing her story.”
Reese bit her lip. “I don’t know.”
“Just pop down there.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t send you down there if I weren’t. I think it’ll be good for you to get to know her more anyway.”
Reese pushed her chair back. “Thanks, Kerrie. I swear I’ll get back to work when I’m done.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
She paused, then pointed. “I won’t tell anyone if the rest of my cheese sticks disappeared.”
“You just became my favorite coworker.”
She slowly descended the creaky red-painted stairs and hesitated before poking her head out.
Matty was sitting in the usual spot where she or Kerrie would sit for Group. The nearly two dozen men were in a circle with her, all in mismatched chairs and Styrofoam cups in hand. Heads turned in her direction, including Matty’s.
She held her breath.
“Do you need someone, or are you joining us?” Matty asked with a soft smile.
“Joining if you don’t mind.”
The smile widened. “Not at all. The more the merrier.”
Before she could get both feet off the last step, one man popped up to get her a chair from a stack against the wall, and another scooted to make room to include her in the circle.
“Well, where was I?”
“Grammy’s pill ring,” one guy reminded her. He was on Kerrie’s caseload.
Matty gave a short laugh. “Right. So, my Grammy is the one who first exposed me to opioids. She also had some sort of medication for any ailment you had. Her motto was she’ll either cure you or kill you, but you won’t be feeling anything when she was done.”
Laughter traveled around the room.
Reese was impressed with how relaxed Matty appeared.
“I remember the first time she gave me Oxy. I was maybe nine? I started getting these awful migraines when puberty hit. I’d have to sit in a room with all the lights off because my head would throb to the point I’d throw up.
One day, Grams walked in with Oxy and a Phenergan to keep the Oxy from making me sick.
Nine years old. I was just a small little shit too.
That continued throughout my childhood and into being a teenager.
Eventually, I learned that if I complained of pain, she’d give me something.
“Now you may be wondering, where did all the pills come from? Well, Grams is from a generation that doctors overmedicated, and when they did run low, they got just as crafty as anyone else with an addiction. She and several other old ladies from church would exchange pills all the time. They knew when each other had refills due. They’d buy them or trade for something their doctor wouldn’t give them.
There was no limit to what they could get. ”
Blain, a young client of Reese’s, raised his hand. He was a smart guy but had made some stupid choices, which is how he landed in rehab. “That’s wild. Does she know she’s an addict?”
“She’d beat my ass up and down the road twice if I ever asked her something like that. She’s firmly in denial, cause it is medication and not a crack pipe. Sometimes I think that’s the reason she doesn’t like me talking about recovery.”
“Guilt. She’s got guilt,” piped up another man.
Matty nodded, rubbing her palms on her jeans. “Exactly. Does anyone in here have someone like that? They ignore your using?”
“My mom,” Blain answered. “She acts like she didn’t give me beer when I was twelve or like she didn’t let me and my buddies drink at the house. Hell, she’d be the one to buy it most of the time. Then, when I get here, she acts clueless and wants to just talk about the weather.”
“It’s frustrating, isn’t it?”
“It really is, man.”
Reese hid a smile at the young guy calling Matty man.
“Well, once I started high school, I started going less and less. My cousin and I would skip here and there, and the next thing I knew, I had dropped out. I worked with a construction crew my uncle managed, but practically everyone used. We were fucked up more than we weren’t.
I had a few run-ins with the law, but I got my felony when I was twenty-four.
” Her voice lost all amusement, and the pause that followed made the atmosphere in the room stiffen.
Reese could see the wheels turning in the men’s heads as many remembered their interactions with the law.