7. Enemy Lines
Sam had said his mother had almost loved
his sister Gloria to death. I asked him how.
“Gloria’s boyfriend was driving us to the mall. She was in the front passenger seat. I was getting high, sitting behind her in the
back seat. A drunk driver swerved into
our lane and plowed into us. Her
boyfriend was killed. Gloria hit her
head on window and got pretty banged up.
I didn’t get a scratch. Neither
did the drunk. Still feel wrong about
that. Anyway, later, when Gloria was in
the hospital, she was having a tough time.
Crying, shaking, just not pulling herself back together. My mother gave her some Valium, said she
loved my sister too much to watch her suffer.
My sister went flat line and they had to shock her back to life.
“My mother loves Gloria and me, but she doesn’t
understand us. We’re both addicts. She’s
gonna kill us trying to make us happy.”
“There’s a line I like from an old book, Catch 22 written by a guy named Heller. Yossarian,
a World War II bomber pilot, says it doesn’t matter what side he’s on, the
enemy is anybody who could get you killed.
Your mother almost killed your sister. If you relapse you could die, if
only a little at a time. I wouldn’t want
you to hate your mother like a real enemy, but you should know right now she’s no
friend to your recovery.”
“The enemy is anybody who's going to get you
killed, no matter which side he is on.”
Joseph
Heller, Catch-22
Writing My New Story © 2015 by Ken Montrose
(Just a
reminder: Writing My New Story is a
work of fiction. Any resemblance to
anyone you might know is purely coincidental.)
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