Nothing But Trouble (Malibu University Series)(51)

“Helping a friend score drugs?”

“No, man. They were gonna rape her and I had to stop them.”

This is how it all started. And it’s happening again. Brian’s savior complex getting him into trouble. If there’s a woman in distress in a twenty-mile radius, he’ll find a way to get involved. “I gotta get back to her. Get me out of here, Rea. Please!”

Tears appear in his eyes and my stomach twists. As much as I want to help, my gut tells me he’s a habitual and crafty liar, willing to do and say anything to score his next fix.

“She’s in danger, Rea. I can’t let her get hurt.”

It’s Jessie all over again.

He starts to cry outright, his face crumpling in pain. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. My throat feels sore and my eyes damp. This is my brother. This is all that’s left of him.

“Foz said he’ll have a bed for you at the end of the week.” I don’t even recognize my own voice. It’s strained and broken. “I’ll sign you out if you promise to try rehab one last time. Do it for…what’s her name?”

His head falls back down on the gurney and tears streak down his temples. “Lisa,” he murmurs.

“You can get Lisa out of danger, really help her, if you get clean.”

He nods. “Okay,” he quietly concedes. “Okay. Let me get her somewhere safe and I’ll go.”

I sign him out a short while later. The hospital doesn’t want him any more than he wants to be there. The only reason they patch him up from time to time is in deference to my parents. Although they’ve never asked that he get special treatment. They’d rather he “learn his lesson the hard way.” As if addiction is a lesson to be learned.

They give me a packet with antibiotics and ointment. I hand him the ointment and he stuffs it in his pocket. He won’t take the pills. He’ll sell them for drug money, which is why I hold on to them.

I introduce Brian to Alice and he immediately gets quiet, avoiding eye contact with her. Part of him is still there, hidden behind the junkie he’s become. He’s aware of what he looks like to her and it embarrasses him.

Twenty minutes after that, we’re driving down S. Central Ave. Late at night, this part of the city is an eerie ghost town. A deserted movie set. We spot a few people sleeping on the sidewalks, covered by cardboard. Other than that it’s an occasional car and a lone man pushing a shopping cart full of junk. It’s unseasonably warm tonight. I’m in a t-shirt and yet this guy is wearing at least four winter coats and a hood.

Being here makes me uneasy. This neighborhood is absolutely dangerous and having Alice in the car scares the shit out of me. If anything were to happen to her because of me...I can’t even go there. It would absolutely destroy me. Despite the urge to hold her hand, I remind myself that I don’t have the right.

“Here! Stop here,” Brian orders from the back seat. The Jeep hasn’t made a complete stop and Brian is already jumping out. “You got any money for me?” He has the balls to hold out his hand while he scans the area nervously.

“No,” I immediately fire back. “And if you don’t show up on Thursday at the clinic there won’t be any more money from me. You hear me?” Brian’s eyes get shifty, avoiding mine. “I mean it this time. I’m not going to be responsible for you ODing.”

“I gotta go.”

“I’ll see you Thursday,” I hammer again.

“Thursday,” he quietly repeats.

“It was nice meeting you, Brian,” Alice says in the sweetest voice. My gut clenches. This girl is awesome. The fucking best. I don’t deserve to be her friend. Not after the way I treated her.

Brian smiles briefly and looks away. “You guys better get outta here. It’s not safe for you.”

I want to yell no shit. I want to yell at him until he listens.

Brian pivots and runs off.

“Thursday!” I shout. But he’s already around the building and out of sight.





Alice


With the streets mostly empty, it only takes us half an hour to get back to campus. It’s 1 a.m. by the time Reagan parks the Jeep in front of my dorm. We haven’t exchanged a single word since we dropped off Brian, his very sweet and very troubled brother.

Reagan turns off the engine and plants his forehead on the steering wheel in between his hands, the knuckles pale. “I shouldn’t have taken you. It was stupid and selfish of me.”

“Stop that. I made the decision to come along and I’m glad I did. Your brother is sweet.”

He snorts. “Yeah, real sweet.”

“How did it happen? The cut. God, it looked awful and painful.”

“They couldn’t give him any painkillers while they stitched him up because he’s a known substance abusers,” he tells me, his voice dull and distant. “A lot of them will injure themselves to get drugs.” A shiver runs up my back. “He was trying to stop some guys from raping a girl he knows. That’s how he got cut.”

The air gets caught in my lungs, pain and sympathy pool in my gut. “Oh my God. Poor Brian. And the girl, is she okay?”

“For now. He was anxious to get back to her. That’s why I signed him out.”

I nod absently while the question I’m dying to ask hangs on my lips. “Do you think he’ll show up at the clinic on Thursday?”