by Honey
Addicted to an Addict
Honey
www.urbanbooks.net
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-four
Chapter Forty-five
Chapter Forty-six
Chapter Forty-seven
Chapter Forty-eight
Chapter Forty-nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-one
Chapter Fifty-two
Chapter Fifty-three - Election Day
Chapter Fifty-four
Chapter Fifty-five
Chapter Fifty-six
Epilogue
Urban Books, LLC
300 Farmingdale Road, NY-Route 109
Farmingdale, NY 11735
Addicted to an Addict Copyright © 2019 Honey
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the Publisher, except brief quotes used in reviews.
eISBN 13: 978-1-945855-93-1
eISBN 10: 1-945855-93-2
ISBN: 978-1-9458-5592-4
This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to real locales are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.
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Chapter One
“The limo just pulled up, Mayor Bishop.”
Josiah turned away from Gypsie, his trusted administrative assistant, and breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the midnight-blue stretch limousine roll to a stop. “I’ll be back. I need to brief the girls. You know how shy they can be in front of large crowds.”
“Of course, sir.”
Almost sprinting, Josiah rushed to the car and opened the door. He smiled when he looked into the angelic faces of his daughters, 6-year-old Gem, and Treasure, who had just turned 4. Their mother was seated between them. One glance at her face caused Josiah’s spirit to plummet. The sight of her glossy eyes with dilated pupils, blinking uncontrollably, caused him to curse under his breath. And that lopsided, lazy smile was always a dead giveaway.
“Move over, sweetheart,” Josiah whispered to Gem, sliding onto the soft leather seat. He closed the door and reached across his daughter to grab his wife’s arms and quickly rolled up her sleeves, one at a time. “Damn it, Mink! You’re high again! Of all the days I needed you to stay clean, today was it. You knew how important this appearance was. Why, baby? Why?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her drooping shoulders.
He cringed when Mink giggled before her chin dropped forward to rest on her chest. He hated the raspy sound of her voice after she’d filled her veins with poison. And from the looks of it, she’d had one hell of a hit.
“I . . . I’m s-so s-sorry, JoJo. I-I didn’t f-feel well. I h-hate this life we . . . we’re living,” she stuttered in a whiny voice.
Josiah checked his watch. The dedication ceremony for the new East Atlanta Community Center was scheduled to start in less than twenty minutes. Time was not his friend right now. Mink was going to be out of it for a while, so he would allow her to sleep it off. He and the girls would have to make yet another public appearance without her.
“Okay, Daddy’s little princesses, you two are going to go inside of this nice new building. I want you to smile, look pretty, and wave at all of the people. And when it’s time for Daddy to give his speech, you’ll sit on the front row with Uncle J and Miss Gypsie and listen. After that, I want you to come on stage and help Daddy cut the ribbon with a huge pair of scissors. How does that sound?”
Gem smiled and nodded, causing her two long and thick ponytails—one on each side of her head—to swing back and forth. “I can do it, Daddy. I’m a big girl.”
“Why can’t Mommy come with us?” Treasure asked softly. “I want her to cut the ribbon with you too.”
“Um . . . Mommy’s sick again, sweetie pie. She needs to go home and rest.”
“She’s always sick, Treasure. You know that,” a feisty Gem spat.
“Come on, you two.” Josiah opened the door and exited the car. He helped his daughters get out as well. Then he looked around and spotted Gypsie talking to his identical twin brother, Jeremiah. With a frown on his face, Josiah waved the pair over.
“What’s going on, JoJo?” Jeremiah asked when they approached.
“Mink is sick again. I’m going to make the appearance with just the girls. I’ll ask Nelson to take Mink home.” He kneeled down to meet his daughters at eye level. “You two go inside the center with Miss Gypsie and do everything Daddy just told you to do. I’ll be inside shortly.”
“Okay, Daddy,” Treasure whispered.
“I’ll wave like this.” Gem showed off a perfect royal wave. Miss America couldn’t have done it better.
Josiah stood to his full six-foot-three stature and smiled at Gypsie. “Thanks.”
“It’s not a problem, Mayor Bishop.” She placed her body between the girls, took each by a hand, and led them inside the community center.
Josiah felt his brother burning holes through his flesh with his eyes as he walked around the limo to speak with Nelson, his driver. The older gentleman knew the routine. He had witnessed Mink’s downward spiral in the world of heroin addiction over the last two years, so the conversation was brief. Josiah headed back over to Jeremiah, expecting his usual lecture.
“Now is not the time, J. I need to get inside, shake hands, and kiss babies before I make my speech.”
“She’s going to cause you to lose your reelection bid, dude. Make her ass disappear.”
“What the hell am I supposed to do with her? Mink is my wife. I can’t just walk away from her or ship her off someplace. What about our babies?”
“My beautiful nieces would be much better off without their junkie mother. Send Mink’s strung-out ass back to her parents in Potomac. Let them deal with her. Hell, they created the selfish monster.”
Josiah sighed. “I can stand here and argue with you and make all
kinds of excuses about why I won’t turn my back on Mink, but the truth is I love her, and I’m determined to help her. She ain’t just some damn jumpoff or baby mama, J. The woman is my wife and the mother of my children, but you wouldn’t know anything about that. You’ve never committed to a woman past two hours.”
“Damn right, because I don’t want to be like you.” Jeremiah sucked his teeth and ran his fingers through his bundled locs. “You thought you had found a flawless Siberian diamond when all you really got was a common, worthless rock from the backyard.”
“I love Mink, man. We’ve been married eight years, and I’m committed to her. Can’t you understand that?”
“I do, but I’m committed to you. You’re a part of me, JoJo. I was the first person you ever shared your dreams with way before Mink came along. We got each other through law school. I was by your side when you started off as a city councilman, and it was my idea for you to run for mayor. I’ll be there when you become the first African American governor of Georgia. And you better give me my own bedroom and office in the White House when you win the presidency. I want you to go all the way, but it won’t happen if things don’t change. It’ll all remain just a big dream you had as a kid back in middle school unless Mink gets the help she needs or you leave the marriage.”
“I won’t leave her.”
Josiah walked away heavily burdened by his troubled marriage and the stress of being an incumbent candidate who was currently only five points ahead of his challenger in the polls. It was true that Mink’s heroin addiction was wreaking havoc on his career as well as his campaign. She seldom accompanied him anywhere anymore because she was high most of the time or falling down from the clouds with terrible withdrawals.
His opponent, Attorney Dendrick Lomax, and his trophy wife were zipping around Atlanta looking like a power couple with their three children. They were all over the news every day at one event or another. And white people were more attracted to his candidacy than Josiah’s because he was one of those kiss-ass Uncle Tom Negroes and a Republican. JoJo from Bankhead was all about helping brothas and sistas all over the A get a fair shot at employment, education, and in the housing market. He wanted the city to give minority businesses the opportunity to bid for construction and infrastructure improvement projects too. People in black neighborhoods deserved the same law enforcement protection as those who lived in mansions tucked behind security gates. They didn’t deserve to be shot and killed by the police without cause. Their voices need to be heard. And Mayor Josiah J. Bishop was the candidate to fight for all of that, and more, on their behalf.
He approached the entrance of the Woodrow S. Davidson Community Center a few steps ahead of Jeremiah and paused while the rest of his staff took their proper places in the procession line either in front, beside, or behind him. Lee, his chief of security, opened the double glass doors, and a round of applause and flashes of light from cameras greeted them.
* * *
Josiah felt sorry for his baby girl as he lifted her limp body from the bathtub and wrapped her in a towel. Treasure had fallen asleep as he bathed her after a long day on the campaign trail. Because Gem was a little bit older than her sister, she was able to take a bath and dress for bed on her own. Both girls were precious and dear to their daddy’s heart, but it was becoming more difficult for him every day to effectively lead a major city and run a campaign while raising two young daughters alone. Yet, that’s exactly what Josiah had been doing for the last several weeks because Mink couldn’t seem to get the monkey off of her back. She was using more than ever.
As much as he hated the thought of it, he was going to have to confess to his parents and Mink’s folks about her heroin addiction. He had been hiding it for two years by blatantly lying and making all kinds of excuses for her frequent absences from the public and her bizarre behavior. But now that the contest between him and his political opponent had heated up, he needed help with his girls. And just maybe his father, a Pentecostal pastor, and his mother could persuade Mink to seek substance abuse treatment. They had always been kind to her. Josiah wasn’t sure what Mink’s parents, retired Major and Mrs. Sinclair, could do to assist him and the girls from Maryland, but he was willing to reach out to them to find out.
In the princess-theme suite for two, Josiah dried Treasure’s tiny body and dressed her in her frilly pink pajamas. Then he gently placed her in her bed with the tiara headboard that she adored. He looked over at Gem who was fast asleep in her bed of the same design. He kissed both princesses on the cheek before he turned off the light, left the room, and shut the door.
When Josiah entered the master suite, he was disgusted to find Mink sprawled across the bed in the same position she was in when he and their daughters had first arrived. She was still fully dressed in the red designer pantsuit she’d worn in the limousine along with the matching four-inch stiletto slingbacks. Her long, thick hair had covered her face as she lay on her stomach on top of the snow-white duvet comforter. He knew she wasn’t dead because she was snoring softly.
Josiah removed the shoes from Mink’s feet and covered her with the light blanket from the foot of the bed. Unable to resist, he brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her cheek. Then he left the room to go downstairs to his home office to catch up on some work.
Chapter Two
“Daddy, are you sure you can comb my hair just like Mommy?”
“Daddy’s trying, princess, but if I fail, Nana will be here soon. Then she can redo it.”
Josiah looked over at Gem who was sitting in the rocking chair watching TV. Her long, thick hair was loose and cascading over her shoulders and down her back. He didn’t even know where to begin with taming her mane into a style. His mother needed to hurry, or he was going to be late for a breakfast meeting. He gathered the strands of Treasure’s hair and pulled them as gently as he could into an elastic band.
“Ouch! Daddy, that hurts. Mommy never hurts me.”
“He didn’t mean to hurt you. Stop whining like a baby, Treasure. Mommy’s in her bathroom throwing up again, so Daddy has to comb your hair.”
Josiah was about to fuss at Gem for speaking so harshly to her sister, but the doorbell rang, interrupting him. “Gem, please go and let your nana inside the house while I check on your mom.”
Without a word, father and daughter left the room, going in opposite directions. As Gem ran down the stairs, Josiah headed for the master suite. He rushed into the adjoining bathroom where he heard Mink retching and gasping. The pitiful sight of the woman he loved on her knees, facedown in the commode, pissed him off, but it also made his heart bleed. A part of him wanted to take her in his arms and love her dreadful addiction away. But he also felt like slapping the shit out of her for all of the heartaches she was causing their family. He saw her trembling and knew right away that she was experiencing withdrawals. She had stripped down to just a pair of black lace boys shorts because she often complained that clothes irritated her skin whenever she was crashing down from cloud nine.
“Let me help you, baby,” Josiah said softly before he dropped to his knees. He gathered Mink’s hot, sweat-drenched, shivering body in his arms.
She shoved him away. “Get away from me, JoJo! Get the hell away from me!”
“Baby, let me help you.” He stood up and grabbed a towel from the shelf. He draped it over her shoulders and tried to rake her hair away from her face with his fingers.
“Don’t freakin’ touch me!” she screamed. “Just leave me the hell alone and run to your adoring fans at city hall! I don’t need you!”
Josiah hated this reoccurring scene. He turned around, walked out of the bathroom, and closed the door only to come face-to-face with his mother in the master suite. Myrlie Bishop was a woman who didn’t play checkers or the radio. She had been a no-nonsense disciplinarian since as far back as Josiah could remember. He swallowed hard when he saw the stern and daring look on her face. And she had her fists planted on her wide hips. He could tell she was about to gi
ve him “the business.”
“What’s wrong with Mink this time, JoJo? That girl is sick so often that she needs to pack up and move into a hospital permanently.”
“Can I stop by the house this evening and talk with you and Rev? Right now, I have to get to a breakfast meeting. I need you to comb the girls’ hair, feed them, and get them to school on time. I promise I’ll tell you everything this evening.”
“JoJo, don’t play with me, boy. Something ain’t right, and it hasn’t been for a while. I’ll let you off the hook for now, but you better have your behind at the house this evening. Rev and I will be waiting.” Myrlie spun around quickly and stormed out of the room with her queen-size hips and ample ass swaying from left to right. She slammed the door behind her.
Josiah snatched off his bathrobe and started dressing. Earlier, he had taken out a gray, five-button suit, a crisp, white dress shirt, and a silver-and-black paisley print tie. It was Mink’s favorite suit out of his wardrobe of many. She said she loved the way his rich mocha skin glistened against the fine fabric. He smiled when he recalled the many times Mink had told him that he was the sweetest chocolate she’d ever tasted. Then she would trace his mustache with her tongue down to his goatee and around again.
That was the charming and sexy Mink Isiana Sinclair that Josiah had fallen in love with his junior year in college at Tennessee State University in Nashville. She was only a freshman back then, but she was mature because of her world travels as an army brat. And she had an edge to her that made her zest for life appealing. She was fine as hell too with an ass that should’ve been bronzed and placed on display for men all over the world to see. That fat booty was an international treasure for real.
Josiah would never forget the first time he laid eyes on the feisty freshman who had just moved back to the States from Germany to attend college. Her sassiness and spunk had nearly brought a brotha to his knees! After putting the moves on her the entire fall semester, Josiah had willingly turned in his player’s card and his pimp cup in exchange for the petite butterscotch freshman from Potomac, Maryland.
