Hidden Intentions 2 Read online

  I fixed a plate with a slice of supreme pizza and a slice of cheese pizza sprinkled with red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese. I grabbed five wings with a saucer of blue cheese dressing and was heading upstairs to give the guys their space when Kevin and Tory stopped me in my tracks.

  “Don’t tell her,” Alex pleaded with them. “She doesn’t want to hear it.”

  “Don’t tell me what? Now you got me interested,” I said, egging Tory and Kevin on.

  “Back in college, it was our junior year. It was an ordinary Wednesday night before finals in the dorm,” Tory explained.

  “Uh huh.”

  He continued, “To relieve some stress from his exams, Alex decided to go on the Internet.”

  Kevin nodded. “It’s a haven for porn.”

  “Well, apparently he jerked off at his desk in front of the computer and fell asleep with his dick hanging out his pants and his hand smothered in cum.”

  “But Alex forgot one thing.” Kevin had a sly smirk on his face.

  I laughed. “What was that?”

  “He forgot to lock his door!”

  “We couldn’t help but to take a picture.” Kevin laughed as he held up the picture.

  “I can’t believe you knuckleheads still got that picture.” Alex shook his head in embarrassment.

  “Yep, we sure do,” Tory said in between laughs.

  Kevin was laughing so hard, he almost choked on his chicken wing. “This is pure classic comedy,” he declared.

  All of us were laughing. I laughed to the point where my stomach was hurting.

  Afterward, I retreated to my room to enjoy my food and indulge in an ice-cold can of Fanta peach soda.

  After watching the DVD Under the Tuscan Sun and three episodes of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, I was ready to dig into some more chicken wings. I was hoping the guys hadn’t finished them all.

  When I entered the kitchen, all I saw was empty bottles and beer cans scattered on the floor. And Kevin, Alex, and Tory were nowhere to be found. Suddenly, I heard a loud thump in the garage.

  “What happened?” I pushed Kevin and Alex out of the way as they gawked at Tory lying at the bottom of the four stairs that led from the kitchen to the garage. Both looked drunk and reeked of alcohol.

  Alex said, “Tory was supposed to be getting more alcohol for us. While getting up from the couch to head to the garage, he kept saying he couldn’t breathe. I asked him if he was all right, and he said, ‘Yeah.’ The next thing you know, we heard a noise and we came to see if he was all right.”

  I leaned over Tory, and he wasn’t moving at all.

  “Oh shit! Is he dead?” Kevin asked, pacing the floor.

  “Tory, can you hear me?” I shook him.

  “What are we going to do?” Alex questioned, now panicking.

  “One of you, grab the phone in the kitchen and call 9-1-1.” I cradled Tory in my arms, praying he would wake up. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he truly wanted to die. I can’t let him go like this, I thought. I loved him with all my heart. Our lives weren’t supposed to be this way.

  Chapter 18

  Seeing their good friend unconscious on a stretcher made Kevin and Alex sober up quick. While waiting for the doctor to give us an update on Tory’s status, I poured my heart out to them, explaining how he had become an alcoholic and how hard it’s been for him to cope with the loss of his father. Kevin felt horrible about bringing alcohol to the house. I told him not to feel guilty about it because he didn’t know of Tory’s addiction. I was hoping the two of them could talk some sense into Tory, if he came out of this okay.

  I called Tory’s brother and sister and told them what had happened. They immediately came to the hospital. Both of them preferred that I not call his mother, since she would be worried sick about him. Plus, they didn’t want her out at this time of night.

  “Mrs. Sothers?” the doctor called out. “I’m Dr. Saunders.”

  I got out of my seat, and Anne, Steven, Kevin, and Alex crowded around me. “How is he?”

  “Your husband fell hard and bruised a few of his ribs. He passed out from alcohol poisoning. The amount of alcohol he drank tonight could have killed him. We pumped his stomach and were able to stabilize him. Does your husband drink often, Mrs. Sothers?”

  “He used to be a social drinker. His father died some months back, and he’s been drinking daily ever since.”

  “I strongly urge that you get him into a rehab center as soon as possible. I know of a few centers that I highly recommend. Alcoholism is a deadly disease and can potentially ruin the liver. We’re treating him with fluids. I want to keep him here the next couple of days for further observation. When he wakes up and is able to talk, I’m ordering a psychological evaluation on him. You and the rest of his family must be patient and be available to him. He will need all the support he can get. I should know—I used to be an alcoholic. It’s not an easy road to recovery, but Tory has got to want to get better.” Dr. Saunders seemed proud to reveal his sobriety chip.

  “Thank you, doctor.”

  Anne consoled me in her arms.

  “I hope he gets better, Mrs. Sothers.” Dr. Saunders handed me various brochures on treatment centers.

  “You’re far too young to be dealing with this,” Anne whispered in my ear.

  “That boy knows better than to be acting like this.” Steven shook his head.

  “Our father would be so disappointed in my little brother,” Anne added.

  “And kick his ass!”

  “What can we do to help?” Kevin asked eagerly.

  “Get every last empty bottle out of my house!”

  Whether Tory liked it or not, I was going to save his life. He no longer had a choice or say in the matter.

  I had taken my boss up on her offer to take some time off from work.

  A week later, Tory was still in the hospital. After his psychiatric evaluation, the doctors determined that he was in a severe state of depression and was borderline suicidal. He refused to eat and was barely speaking to any of us. His mother was at his side every chance she had. I was afraid she’d die of a broken heart over her son.

  Steven continued to look at Tory with some disgust, while Anne pitied him. Despite everything, they loved their baby brother and were willing to do whatever it took to help him get better and kick alcohol for the rest of his life.

  Leah, Tara, Yvette, and I combed my house and found twenty empty alcohol bottles and fifteen unopened bottles. The sight of alcohol repulsed me. It had overtaken my husband and house. Now, I was on a mission to reclaim what belonged to me.

  Even though the ambulance had rushed Tory to Chesapeake General Hospital instead of where I worked, the news had somehow found its way to my job anyway. Upon my return, I anticipated all the nosy folks getting all in my face, asking questions and wondering what had happened, acting like they really cared. I knew more than half of them would be asking for the sole purpose of having something to gossip about. It’s true what they say: People love drama, especially when it’s not their own.

  I was thankful for my coworkers Evita, Karen, and Donna. They each called me once a day to make sure I was okay and to ask if I needed anything. Evita even dropped off some food for me on nights I stayed late at the hospital with Tory. That woman’s cooking was delicious. She gave me something to look forward to whenever she’d call to tell me she had a plate ready for me.

  Chapter 19

  Evelyn was sitting in the right corner of the couch, tears pouring down her face, and two Kleenex tissues in her hand.

  “Are you ready to do this?” I asked.

  She nodded her head. “Yes, I think so.”

  Dr. Waters, a bald middle-aged man with a mustache that looked more like whiskers, looked around the room. “Is everyone here?”

  Dr. Waters came highly recommended. He’d been a psychiatrist specializing in drug addiction for the last thirty years. And he participated with our health insurance, so they were footing the entire bill for h
is treatment.

  Evelyn, Steven and his wife, Anne with her husband, Alex, Kevin, and I were in his office. Surprisingly, Alex and Kevin, Tory’s two best buddies, looked extremely nervous.

  My heart went out to Tory’s mother. Since his accident, she’d worried herself so much, she’d been experiencing anxiety attacks. Mrs. Sothers should be enjoying her life. At her age, it was a shame and awful that she had to go through this. She had already experienced the loss of her husband and now she had to deal with her alcohol-addicted son.

  I nodded. “Everyone is here.”

  “I want to start off by thanking each and every one of you for attending this meeting. It takes a lot of courage to help someone you love. Tory is heading down a road of darkness, despair, and possible death. We’re here today to do an intervention and encourage him to go for treatment and get some help. In treatment, he’ll learn how to cope with the loss of his father without alcohol consumption. The nurse is wheeling him down to my office as we speak.”

  “Hey. What’s everyone doing here? Why are Alex and Kevin here?” Tory inquired as he entered the office. Dressed in a hospital gown, robe, and slippers, he looked tired and somewhat pale.

  “We’re here to help you,” Kevin announced.

  “Are you now?” Tory asked, his eyes fixated on Dr. Waters.

  “I’m Dr.—”

  Tory cut him off. “Help with what? There’s nothing wrong with me,” he barked.

  “Son, let the doctor finish.”

  “Tory, I’m Dr. Waters, and we’re all here today because we care about you.”

  “Man, you don’t even know me!”

  “Dr. Waters cares about all of his patients. He along with everyone in this room wants you to go to treatment for alcohol. Tory, I love you, but you’re a drunk. Alcohol is killing you and our marriage. I can’t live like this anymore. Our lives weren’t supposed to play out like this.” Now, I definitely needed a few Kleenex tissues because the tears were spilling down my face.

  “Tory, I want you to be the man, brother, husband, and father that you were meant to be. I know you miss your father; we all do. But you have got to give up the booze,” Evelyn told him.

  “If I don’t?”

  “I’m changing the locks at your house tonight,” Steven responded. “No woman should have to put up with your drunken binges and rants. Nya deserves better than that.” He stood to his feet. “And don’t you even think about coming near my momma! You don’t know how many nights I’ve stayed up with her worried sick about you while you laying up in your hospital bed because you’re not man enough to deal with Pop’s death and had to resort to drinking. Nya told me about your drunk driving too. Don’t you know it’s a crime to drink and drive? I never imagined my little brother would be stupid and selfish enough to put himself and others at risk like that. You could kill somebody driving drunk. You don’t want to do something about your problem? Fine. But, just so you know, I don’t visit people in prison.”

  I never expected Steven to explode the way he did.

  “She’s my momma too!” Tory yelled at the top of his lungs. “It seems everybody has gone on with their lives and forgot about Pops, except me. No one cares.”

  Anne said, “Just because we’re not drinking ourselves into an early grave doesn’t mean we don’t miss Dad. We all miss him, but you got to do better than this. Mom and Pops raised you better than this. Go get the treatment.”

  Tory shook his head. “No, I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Get the help. I’ll come visit you and do whatever it takes for you to get better. It will save your life. Truth be told, I haven’t had one drink since we found you in the garage. I thought you were dead. It scared the shit out of me.” Kevin looked at Tory’s mom. “Excuse me for cursing, Mrs. Sothers.”

  Alex joined in, “I can count on one hand who my true friends are. Tory, you’re one of them. You can’t go out like this. You’re destroying yourself. I don’t want to have to explain to my kids why they can’t go to your house and visit anymore. You’re their godfather. They should be spending more time with you. Please . . . We’re all here today because we love you. We want to see you get better.”

  “How long is the treatment?” Tory asked.

  Dr. Waters responded, “It will be a ninety-day treatment. If you agree, we leave tonight on a plane headed toward Richmond. There’s a nice rehabilitation center on the outskirts of the city.”

  “All right, I’ll go.”

  “You will?” I asked, excited at the prospect.

  “If that’s what I have to do to keep my friends and family, I don’t have much of a choice then. Who else besides Kev and Alex is going to eat chicken wings with me during playoffs? Who else is going to fulfill my dreams as you do, Nya? Who’s going to believe in me even when I don’t believe in myself?” Tory turned toward his brother and sister. “Steven and Anne, who’s going to get in my ass when I need it? Most of all, who’s going to fix me the best jambalaya I’ve ever had than my momma?”

  I hugged him. “I love you. This will be a fresh new start for you.” This was one of the happiest moments of my life. I knew this would turn out well, which was why his bags were already packed.

  Later that evening, Tory was released from the hospital. Everyone, including Dr. Waters, went to Evelyn’s house for dinner and had a bowl of hot jambalaya. When saying farewell, I cried, but they were tears of joy, not sorrow.

  Chapter 20

  There was a knock at the door. I immediately ran to look through my peephole to see who it was.

  A hysterical Yvette sprinted into the house, almost knocking me down in the process. “I parked my car on the next street over, Nya.”

  “What’s going on? Why would you park your car over there when you can park in the driveway?”

  I sipped on my ice-cold glass of Lipton Diet Green Tea. I normally didn’t like diet drinks, but lately, my clothes started fitting a little bit too tight. I couldn’t even get into my favorite pair of jeans. I had to start being more conscious of what I was putting into my body.

  “Jarvis found out. He caught me in a lie. He’s going to kill me.”

  “Found out what?”

  “That I was having an affair.”

  I gasped, choking on the tea. “What?”

  “Well, he has suspicions. I need you to cover for me. Tell him last night we went to the movies and saw the new Indiana Jones release. Here are the tickets stubs for the seven thirty showing. If he asks, after the movie, you and I went and grabbed sandwiches at Wawa. We don’t have much time to talk. He’s on his way over here right now.”

  “Wait. I don’t understand. Why would I need to tell him this?”

  “Because he’s on the way over here. Right now!”

  “But you don’t have it in you to stray away from Jarvis.”

  Yvette simply put her head down. “Please . . . I’m begging you. Tell him I was with you. He’s going to leave me if he finds out I lied to him. I can’t lose him or my family,” she said, running up the stairs. “I’m going to your closet to hide.”

  The doorbell rang, and was followed by two loud knocks on the door.

  “Who is it?” I asked, forgetting to look through the peephole as I usually do before answering the door.

  “Nya, it’s me, Jarvis.”

  I opened the door. “Hi, Jarvis. Is everything all right with Yvette and the kids?” I asked, trying to play my role.

  “Sorry to be barging in on you like this. Yeah, Yvette and my babies are fine. Can we talk?” Before I could even answer, Jarvis had made his way to my living room.

  “Sure,” I replied as I closed the door. I was praying that Yvette stayed put in the closet and didn’t try to sneak and listen to whatever Jarvis had to say. I didn’t want him to catch her here, because then he would really think something was up, and she would look even more guilty.

  “I need to ask you something. Nya, I trust your word.”

  “Yes?”

  “Last night, did you
and Yvette catch a movie?”

  “Yep, we sure did. We watched Harrison Ford starring in the new Indiana Jones movie. Afterward, I made the mistake of smothering onions on my panini from Wawa and paid the price of having agonizing heartburn.”

  “Thanks for letting me know.” Jarvis let out a huge sigh of relief.

  “You’re welcome.” I smiled.

  “Things have been a little rocky between Yvette and me.”

  “You two are the exception to the rule and have been dating since we were all in junior high school. One thing I know for sure, Yvette and you love each other very much. Of course, there’ll be bumps in the road and everyday life gets in the way, but whatever is going on, you two can work it out. I’ll be right back,” I informed him, running into the kitchen.

  I came back and handed him a note.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s a gift card to you and Yvette. This card guarantees that I will babysit for five nights. Love is in the air. Maybe you two can get away and spend more time together to iron out your problems.”

  “Good idea.” Jarvis hugged me. “Thanks, Nya.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “By the way, how’s Tory rehab treatment coming along?”

  “He’s good and making progress. Last weekend, I went to visit him. Tory is taking it one step at a time. It’s all I can ask him to do right now.”

  “It’s not the same without him. I miss us all hanging out, you know.”

  “I do too. We’ve all had some fun times together.”