Kelly’s cell phone rang as she was getting back in her car after stopping to pick up a bottle of wine. She glanced at the caller id and groaned before answering.
“Kelly, I need a ride.”
“Seriously, Susan? I haven’t heard from you in three weeks.” Kelly fastened her seatbelt and started the car. Her sister’s words were slurred, and from the noise in the background Kelly surmised she was at a bar.
“Seriously. I’m in a jam.”
“What is it this time?” Kelly reached for the shift lever and then stopped, waiting for Susan to respond.
“The cops are here. If I don’t get a ride they’re going to arrest me.” Susan said something away from the receiver. “Please.”
Kelly blew out her breath in disgust. “Fine. Where are you?”
“Aubrey’s on West Market.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Kelly hung up and backed out of her parking spot. Aubrey’s didn’t have the nerve to call itself a sports bar, and it wasn’t; it was a downtown dive, a dingy hole in the wall that catered to an unsavory crowd. Kelly hated going to that section of town at all, but Susan getting arrested would mean no end of drama that Kelly would end up in the middle of.
She had to park half a block down as all the spaces in front of the building were occupied by police cars. As she walked up, an officer came out with a large, burly man in handcuffs. He was staggering and muttering under his breath. Another officer looked at her business suit and raised an eyebrow.
“My sister called me. She said she needed a ride.”
The man nodded. “Yup.” He called inside, and a moment later a policewoman escorted Susan out the door. Susan’s face was pale, and it was apparent she hadn’t showered in a couple of days. There was a smear of blood on her pale yellow shirt.
“Kelly, thank God.” Susan pulled away from the officer and darted towards her.
“What the Hell is going on, Susan?”
“Just … let’s get out of here.” Susan took her arm.
Kelly looked questioningly at the police standing nearby. One of them made a shooing motion, and Kelly allowed Susan to guide her away from the bar and back down the sidewalk. Once they were in the car and driving, Kelly glanced at her sister and realized she was stoned.
“What happened?”
“Some idiot narcked Jimmy out.” Jimmy was Susan’s current boyfriend/supplier. “Things got ugly and they busted the whole place.”
“You aren’t carrying, are you?” Kelly’s pulse quickened.
“No. Jesus, relax.”
“How can you be stoned at one o’clock on a Thursday, Susan?” Kelly pushed away the thought that, if not for the phone call, she’d have been on her way to her own kind of stoned already.
Susan made a disgusted sound. “Like I have anything better to do? Don’t judge me, Sis.”
“What happened to the rehab Dad said he was going to line up?”
“Screw rehab. What have I got to get clean for?” Susan’s leg started moving up and down and she tapped on the window in what seemed a nervous tic.
“I don’t know, your daughter might like to know what her mother is like at some point in her life.”
Susan’s voice was fierce. “I don’t have a daughter any more, thanks to you.”
“What?” Kelly was startled. “What are you talking about, of course you do!”
“You wanted a kid so you stole mine.”
Kelly turned abruptly into the cemetery they were driving past, shoved the car into park, and turned to squarely face her sister. “I did no such thing.”
“Yes, you did. You stood in front of that judge and said whatever cruel things you could to make him think I was a horrible mother.” Susan glared at her.
“That was fifteen years ago, Susan! And everything I said was true. Kaitlan deserved better than to be raised in a flop house.”
“She was my kid, not yours.” Susan reached into her purse and pulled out a prescription vial, opened it, and shook two pills into her hand. She popped them into her mouth and swallowed.
Kelly reached over and took the bottle out of her hand. The name on the label was one she didn’t recognize, and the prescription was for an amphetamine. “Where did you get these? You said you weren’t carrying.”
“I’m not. These are a friend’s.” Susan grabbed the bottle back and shoved it into her purse.
“Get out.” Kelly pointed at the door.
“I’m five miles from home!”
“Get out of my fucking car, Susan.” Kelly’s voice shook with anger.
Susan threw the door open and got out. She leaned back inside with venom in her eyes. “Thanks for nothing.” She slammed the door and stalked off across the cemetery.
Kelly sat there for a minute, shaking. She and Susan had been so close growing up, even with the six year difference in their ages. Now it was like they were complete strangers. Susan only called when she wanted something, and never expressed any sort of gratitude when she got it. Michelle had complained more than once about how Kelly “coddled” her sister, but Kelly felt that someone had to be there. Her parents had washed their hands of her years earlier, although their father still occasionally made an attempt at getting her into treatment. Kelly thought it was more out of a desire to keep up social appearances than any real desire to help.
Finally, she put the car back into gear and headed toward home. She couldn’t save Susan any more than Susan could save her.
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