Cure For Pain

by NM Facile

  That had to change.

  Chapter 3 - Distraction

  Thankfully, work had only been a short shift. Ty had done enough running around for the day. Closing would have just about killed him. He still had more to do: groceries to get, bags to portion. Yet he couldn’t stop himself from parking across the street from Safe Works and waiting to see who came out. He had driven past earlier and caught sight of a little yellow VW parked next to Jack’s old Civic. He wondered if the angel was there, and if so, why. He couldn’t get her out of his head for the rest of the night.

  All night, Dominic Greyhawk had been there boasting about something or another to Dylan, Sandra & Bill’s son. Dom was always hanging out at Dee’s. Ty knew him from school, although he was a couple of years younger. He hung out with with Ria, the Henri’s daughter. The place was often a hangout for the gang members. Sandra was aware of it but there was never any trouble, if anything it kept rival gangs from coming in. The drawback for Ty was it felt like living in a soap opera working at that place. Ty tried not to get pulled into it, but sometimes he couldn’t help it.

  Dom had been hanging around tonight because he didn’t have anything better to do. Dom was nothing but a banger; it’s all he ever was and it was all he’d ever be. Guys in gangs might be losers, but they were dangerous.

  After Dom had left, Dylan followed Ty around as usual. That kid had some weird fascination with Ty. He didn’t understand it. Ever since Ty started working for the Henris, Dylan had taken to him like a hero. It started after he stepped in when Dylan was getting jumped in the alley behind Dee’s by a rival gang. Ty put a stop to it and helped Dylan out without ever saying a word to anyone about the incident.

  Dylan grew up surrounded with the Ozuye 6. Ria dated a member and was a member herself, yet he still wasn’t initiated. Ty thought it was because Ria would kick the ass of anyone who attempted to initiate her baby brother into the gang. He knew Dylan felt left out, but the kid was better for it. Maybe he felt some connection to Ty because he wasn’t gang affiliated, either. Whatever the reason, he followed him around like a puppy.

  Normally Ty joked around with the kid and spent some time with him after his shift playing pool or darts. Not tonight. Tonight he wanted to see if she was back. It was close to midnight, and he knew that someone would be leaving Safe Works soon. He kept his eyes on the door, waiting for her. She had to be there.

  After his third cigarette, the door finally opened. A petite woman stepped through with a scowl on her face and quickness in her step. She was followed by Jack, who looked as if he were trying to apologize to the little lady, but she wasn’t having any of it. Ty wondered what that was all about. Jack was the nicest guy he had ever met. There wasn’t anyone that he couldn’t charm. They walked towards the little yellow car and Ty’s heart dropped. She wasn’t there. He was about to pull away when he saw her come out after them.

  She was bundled up in that white puffy jacket. This time she had a green cap pulled down over her head. Her silvery hair spilled out from under it and down her back. He watched her, completely transfixed on the way she glided to the car. She hesitated a few feet away as if she didn’t want to interrupt the couple in front of her. Again she looked towards him. He knew she must have seen his car there, but then the other girl opened her door and called out to her and the angel went around and got in. Ty stayed where he was and kept his eye on the passenger side of the VW as they backed out and pulled away. Without thinking about it, he started to pull out to follow them but before he could, he noticed Jack standing by the car.

  Ty rolled down his window to see what he wanted.

  Jack looked quizzically at him. “Hey, Ty. It’s been a while.” He reached out his hand and they did the obligatory fist bump.

  “It has been. How are ya?”

  He was still gazing at him skeptically. “Good. What’s up, man?”

  Ty shrugged. He didn’t really have an answer.

  “Nikki’s not here tonight.”

  Ty snorted. “I don’t give a shit about Nikki or her bitch of a best friend ever again.”

  “Then what are you doing here? Do you need to come in for anything?”

  He shook his head and looked ahead, watching the taillights of the car as it turned away. He felt disappointed that she was gone. He turned back to a frowning Jack.

  “Leave them alone.” Jack’s tone was harsh and final.

  “Who?”

  “You know damn well who, Jaden. Those are good girls, and they don’t need to be mixed up in your shit.”

  “Who are they?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but they’re new volunteers. They’re here to help. You need to stay away from them.”

  “Look, I wasn’t planning on anything. I just saw the one in white the other night and wondered who she was. That’s all.” Ty was starting to get defensive, only because he knew Jack was right.

  “Ty, I like you. I’ve always liked you. I know something’s up with you. I know you haven’t gone as straight as you pretend to be. I’m not going to say anything, but you need to stay away from Mary.” Mary. That must be the angel’s name. Ty could do nothing more than nod. They stared at each other for a few seconds longer before Jack asked, “Are we good here, man?”

  “Sure.” Ty held out his hand for another fist bump, letting him know he understood.

  They said their goodbyes, and Jack stayed in place as Ty pulled away. He saw Jack through the rearview mirror watching him, making sure he left.

  Ty caught a glimpse of the yellow bug and started to follow it. He told himself he shouldn’t be doing this. It had almost been a month since his first glimpse of her but she was on his mind every day. He needed to see her. He couldn’t explain it. It was so weird, but seeing the beauty he would never have was like some sort of hope. He had to see her. It became an addiction to him. Ty had tried lots of shit during his time with Sara. He never really liked what the drugs did to him, so it was easy for him not to become addicted. The damn cigarettes were the only things to have hooked him, them and now Mary. Mary. Beautiful Mary. There couldn’t be a more appropriate name for an angel.

  There had been many nights that he drove by Safe Works, hoping to see her. On the nights she wasn’t there he was left with a hollowness he didn’t understand. It wasn’t the empty feeling he had when he broke it off with Sara or even the desolation he felt after his mother’s death. This was something different. It was as if a piece of him was missing. He knew it was ridiculous; he didn’t even know this girl. He knew nothing more than her name and that she was there to help a bunch of junkies.

  He wondered why. What brought her there? Did she have a family member who was a junkie? Was she there for some project for school? She looked young enough that she could still be in college. His mind raced with all the possibilities. He had to know more. It was becoming an ever-increasing obsession.

  He couldn’t say what it was about this girl. There was this aura about her that shone so pure, so perfect. She had an inner light that drew him to her. Even though he’d only ever seen her leaving Safe Works, she always left with a smile. He wanted that smile to be for him.

  He quizzed his customers that frequented Safe Works. Art wasn’t much help. In his ramblings all he would say was that she was an angel. Hell, he knew that already.

  Chloe was more help. She told him that she was a noob. She said she reeked of naiveté. Jack had had to stop her from giving money to some junkie in there. Chloe didn’t think she’d cut it. Ty felt a jealous twinge run through him at the thought of her and Jack. He had to ask Chloe if she thought there was anything between them. Chloe laughed at him and said Jack couldn’t tear his eyes from the little friend of hers. That was interesting, because from what Ty had seen the friend didn’t seem too fond of Jack.

  What they told him wasn’t enough. He needed to know more. Now he’d not only watched her and her friend get into their car, he’d followed them. It wasn’t until he was parked across the street from what h
e assumed to be their apartment that he realized he had a problem. Ty was disgusted with himself. He was stalking this poor girl. He had done a lot of bad things in his life. More than he ever wanted to count, but this…this was leading nowhere good. He had to stop. He had to get this girl out of his head.

  He pulled away, watching out his mirror the whole time. He told himself he wouldn’t be back. He didn’t need any distractions in his life right now and Mary was definitely a distraction. This was the end. Yet deep inside, he knew he was lying to himself. He would never have enough of Mary and the beauty, the goodness, and the hope he believed she brought to his world.

  Chapter 4 - Optimism

  Faith and Mary were on their way home in Faith’s car after another evening of volunteering at Safe Works. It had been almost a month since Mary’s first visit. She had been there exactly ten times now, and every single time left her wanting to be there more. She felt as if she was doing something good. She knew it was only a little thing, barely a drop in the bucket. She knew not every person that walked out of there would change their lives, but the fact that they walked in gave her the hope that they were taking a small step towards a new life.

  She had just finished telling Faith this, only to have her roll her eyes.

  “Your problem is that you’re too optimistic, Mary.” Faith’s tone was patronizing but Mary wasn’t going to let it bother her.

  “Like you aren’t an optimist. How could you work in the medical field if you weren’t?”

  “In nursing we’re practical, not optimistic.” Faith retorted.

  “Really? So you’re not being optimistic when you prescribe something?”

  “There’s nothing about optimism in that. It’s science and science is practical.”

  “Not when it doesn’t work…” Mary probed.

  “That’s not…”

  Mary held up her hand to cut Faith off. “Nothing in medicine is a given. People can react in different ways to anything. You can’t tell me when new treatments come out that fingers aren’t being crossed in the hopes that it works. That is optimism.” She finished her mini rant with a smug grin in Faith’s direction.

  “Fine. There is optimism in medicine. Maybe that’s not the word I was looking for.” Faith was quiet for a few seconds. Mary watched the headlights of the other cars flashing by.

  The tingles were coursing through her again. Even at night the city was pulsing. It made her feel alive to be out in it. Between the volunteering and working at the school, she really felt as if she were doing something good and that feeling left her riding a high. She was still struggling with her mom’s situation, but school and Safe Works gave her something else to focus on.

  “Mary,” Faith said softly, “I just know how you get. You want to save everything. How many animals have you rescued?” She arched a brow and inclined her head towards Mary as she watched the road ahead.

  “That’s not fair. Every time Mom found them she made me turn them over to the Humane Society.”

  “Okay, you’re right. She did, but you know what I mean. You always think you can save everyone. I’m sure there’s a psych major that would love to have you as a subject. You probably have every issue in the textbook you could have with your upbringing, all except acting out to get your mom’s attention. I’m not sure this isn’t part of it.” She mumbled the last sentence under her breath before continuing on again. “You take care of everyone around you because you took care of your mom. It’s like you always think it’s your responsibility to take care of everyone. You always place others before yourself. When you mix that in with your natural optimism, you get a hero complex. You think you can save the world.”

  “What’s wrong with wanting to save the world?” Mary was growing annoyed with her friend.

  Faith’s voice was quieter as she reached for Mary’s hand. “Nothing’s wrong with wanting to help. You just need to know that you can’t save everyone.” Mary glanced up from Faith’s hand to her face. She thought she saw a tear on Faith’s cheek in the beam of light from an oncoming car, but the light was quickly gone and Mary wasn’t sure.

  The rest of the drive was quiet after that. Mary’s high was replaced with quiet contemplation. She was still upset with Faith, but she could understand where her friend was coming from. She had been reminding herself of that very thing every day. With each new person to walk into Safe Works, Mary was reminded that while she could be there for them in that moment and fill that need for them, she knew she couldn’t fix them.

  The variety of people that had come into Safe Works had astounded Mary. She was aware that she was still working off preconceived notions of what the clientele would be. There were plenty of stereotypes straight from the movies. She expected those. She didn’t expect so many of them to seem so completely normal. If she passed them on the street she would have no idea that they were heroin addicts. Then there were the ones that came in with abscesses and infections. Those were not something she was ready to deal with. Thankfully, Faith had been there the first time someone came in needing that kind of help.

  Mary had been sitting behind the desk, Jack was out taking a smoke break, and Lora was in her office getting ready to leave for the day. Faith was sitting next to Mary going on about which colors of paint would brighten up the room. Mary was feigning interest but mentally going through the next day’s lesson plans. A twenty-something guy came in dressed in dirty jeans and a stained, faded red jacket. He was holding his arm against him and asked if Dr. Porter was in.

  Mary glanced at Faith, who had immediately went into nurse mode. She started asking him questions about what was going on. He kept looking at her as if he were trying to determine if she could be helpful.

  “You a doctor?”

  “No, I’m a nurse and Dr. Porter isn’t here right now. So why don’t you just tell me what’s going on and we can get you taken care of?” She had an air of authority about her that convinced the man.

  He slipped off his jacket and held out his left arm. The skin was inflamed with an infected abscess the size of a half dollar that looked as if it were about to burst. Mary felt the bile rise up into the back of her throat and became lightheaded. She heard the bell on the door just before Jack asked what was wrong, but she couldn’t respond.

  Faith answered for her. “Get her out of here. She’s pretty squeamish when it comes to anything like this.”

  Mary felt Jack pull her outside where she took gulps of the fresh air, not even noticing how chilly it was. She leaned against the rough brick wall and let her body readjust.

  “So, I guess we can’t put you on the schedule without anyone with medical training, huh?” Jack grinned at her, the dimple in his cheek deepening.

  She just shook her head at him, still feeling a little queasy.

  They stood there quietly with the light from above the door pouring over them. Both looked out across the dark street. Mary was thinking about the guy in with Faith. She knew they liked having medical staff on hand to care for various things, but she had never imagined things like that. She hadn’t ever really given that aspect of harm reduction any real thought.

  “How does someone let something like that happen?” she finally asked Jack.

  “What? Let it get that bad or have it happen in the first place?”

  “Both, I guess.”

  “You have so much to learn, darlin’.” He gave her a doleful look before he launched into his explanation. “I would think how they let it get that bad would at least be obvious to you.”

  She gave him a slightly self-conscious grin. In truth, she couldn’t imagine having something that nasty and painful-looking go untreated.

  “You know you’re a junkie when personal hygiene means nothing to you.” Jack smirked but she didn’t get the joke. “When you get to the point where he is, at first you don’t notice. Then you don’t care. When it starts to bother you, you know your next hit will make the pain go away. Finally, it gets so bad you can’t ignore it.”

  �
��What causes it? Is it like bad heroin or something?”

  “Yes, and no. It might be from something cut in with the heroin that causes a bacterial infection. Sometimes it’s from getting a piece of whatever was used as a filter stuck under the skin; but most of the time it’s from using dirty works. Addicts aren’t the cleanest people, and they don’t really care what they have to use as long as they get their hit.”

  “So what then? Do antibiotics clear it up?” It seemed like there had to be more involved.

  “They help, but one that big is going to need to be lanced and drained and then the hole repacked.”

  Mary’s eyes grew wide and her stomach rolled. “Is that what Faith is doing in there?”

  “Probably.”

  She gazed wide-eyed at him before he pulled up his sleeve and thrust his arm out towards her. At first glance she didn’t notice much more than a few raised bumps along his forearm. When she looked closer, she could see the slight purple tint to his skin in circular shapes and long lines where she assumed his veins were. It confirmed her suspicions.

  “Those aren’t my only ones, either.”

  She peeked up at him, not sure how she was supposed to respond.

  “It’s okay. It’s not a secret. That’s why I’m here.”

  Mary was about to ask him more, but when she opened her mouth he suggested they go in because she was probably freezing. It was the first Mary had really noticed the cold. She agreed reluctantly and he held the door open for her.

  Her short time there had indeed opened her eyes to a lifestyle of which she had been completely ignorant. She went in right after school one day and came in on the tail end of a group meeting taking place on the couches and chairs in the main room. The conversation paused as she walked in and all eyes turned to her. She smiled apologetically for interrupting and Lora introduced her.

  She went around the room, pointing out each of the five women. Two caught Mary’s interest. One woman was bouncing an adorable toddler in hair ribbons. Another, Chloe, was likely sixteen with purple and deep blue streaks of hair falling over pale cheeks.