The Comfort of No one

Chapter Five: The Incident

Chapter Five: The Incident
"Did you and Noah talk or see his brother Andrew after you guys moved out?" Dr. Salvador asked.
"Sometimes" I started to say "Andrew wasn't the nicest guy and he was not mentally stable enough to see Hope at all."
"What do you mean he was not mentally stable enough to see Hope?"
"He was an alcoholic and occasionally did drugs. He didn't always make the right choices in his life and I didn't want Hope around that while she had to deal with her father. I didn't want another bad influence in her life, but we did see him occasionally, until the incident."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Christmas was mine and Noah's favorite holiday. We spoiled Hope every year with presents and decorated the house with Christmas decorations. Every place you turned in our apartment you would see Christmas decorations. Andrew would come over for Christmas to spend time with all of us. He would always come by himself because he could never keep a stable relationship.
Noah had been drug free for three days and it made me happy. The previous Christmas was a disaster, with Noah all messed up on drugs, and Andrew in jail for stealing. This Christmas was different, it was calm and happy especially Hope. I loved seeing Hope happy because ever since her father got into drugs she hadn't been the same. When Andrew showed up we had Christmas dinner together and talked about all the old memories we had growing up in the complex we all lived in as kids.
When Andrew left that night, Hope, Noah, and I cuddled together on the couch and watched Christmas movies together. It felt like an ordinary happy family and that wasn't something I was used to. By midnight we all were exhausted and ended up falling asleep on the couch.
The next morning Hope and I went over Rachael's house to exchange gifts and hangout. Rachael and I have been best friends since I was eight years old and she has always been there for me. Hope and I started staying at her place every other weekend to take a break from Noah. Rachel did not like Noah and she would constantly tell me to leave him. How could anyone leave the person they love dearly? Sometimes Rachael and I would fight about me not leaving Noah and it really tore me apart. I understand she is just looking out for me but Noah was the love of my life and I wasn't going to leave him. Noah was an amazing guy when he wasn't messed up and not everyone saw that, but I did.
"Addison, you're my best friend and I love you" Rachael said.
"I love you too Rachael, but why are you randomly saying this?" I asked
"Addison" Rachael said with a sigh "I do not want to see you and Hope suffer with that man any longer."
"That man happens to be my boyfriend and I don't respect you calling Noah 'that'"
"Addison, your boyfriend is a monster"
"Rachael, there's more to Noah then you understand"
"What is there to understand? I do understand that Noah is messed up on PCP all of the time and abuses you and Hope constantly."
"He isn't always messed up on PCP and abusing us. He is a great guy when he's sober and I love him. He is so sweet and funny and no other guy has ever treated me like I was their world. Noah and Hope are two peas in a pod Rachael. Why would I leave him?"
"Why would you leave him? What?"
I could tell Rachael was starting to get mad by the tone of her voice and the way she was looking at me.
"Addison, Noah is a drug addict that abuses you and Hope. PCP is a dangerous drug that makes people aggressive and fucked up from the hallucinations. Hope and Noah hadn't been close ever since he started doing drugs. You even said it once before that they were drifting apart. He is making yours and Hope's lives a living hell, Addison. You stay over my house every other weekend for Christ's sake and you have the audacity to ask me why you should leave Noah." Rachael said angrily.
"I'm sorry Rachael you just don't under-"
"No save your breath Addison" Rachel interrupted me. "I know what you're going to say. You're going to tell me that I don't understand that you love Noah and that he is a great guy when he is sober, but Addison honestly you need to realize what is best for you and Hope. You guys are miserable and are at danger every day in that house. Remember Josh? He cheated on me once and I left him. I loved Josh with all of my heart Addison. He was my world and when he cheated on me I lost a part of me but how could I stay with someone that cheated on me? Cheating on me didn't physically hurt me, it emotionally hurt me. Noah physically and emotionally hurts you and Hope. He may be a great guy but that "great guy" decided to start taking drugs and I know for a fact he knew how dangerous PCP was before he started taking it. If he really loved you Addison he wouldn't have put you in this situation especially due to the fact that he understands what it's like to have a drug addict, abusive person in your life. You need to do what's best for you."
"I'm sorry Rachael but I don't think leaving Noah is the best idea. If I leave him he will have no one and probably end up dead on the street and I can't do that to the man I love."
"Addison, I think you and Hope should leave."
"What?"
"I'm sorry Addison, but if you're going to have that attitude about this situation, then I don't want you and Hope staying at my place every other weekend. If you're going to keep you guys in danger like that, then I don't want to waste my time trying to save you if you can't even save yourself."
"But Rachael, I thought you were my best friend. Why are you doing this?"
"I am your best friend Addison and I always will be. If I wasn't your best friend, I wouldn't try to help you do what's best and safe for you. But if you won't take my advice, then I'll let you go off and do what you want but I don't want you guys staying at my house anymore. I don't want to see the pain and sorrow in yours and Hope's eyes. I don't want to see the bruises and the welts on your bodies. Until you decide to leave that monster, you can't come back. Good bye Addison."
I started to cry and Rachael hugged me for a while. Hope and I packed our bags and left Rachel's house. When we got back home, we saw broken glass everywhere and Noah sleeping on the couch. I had no idea where the glass came from until I noticed the kitchen cabinets were opened. It looks like Noah smashed all of the glass plates and cups on the ground. He must have been on PCP and got aggressive. I put Hope to bed, cleaned up all of the glass, and woke up Noah.
"Noah, what happened? Why are all the glass plates and cups all smashed on the floor?" I asked.
"What? The glass plates and cups are smashed?" Noah said confused
"Noah, Hope and I came home to all of the glass plates and cups smashed on the ground. Did you do drugs?"
"I must have."
"Noah" I said in a depressed tone "when is this going to end? The drug abuse is getting sickening and I'm tired of having Hope and I in this kind of a danger. It is not fair to us."
"I know Addison, I was doing so well with not doing drugs but then I got extremely stressed out and I needed something to help me get my mind off of things."
"What on earth were you stressed out about that made you go back to doing drugs?"
Noah didn't respond. "Noah?" I said
"It's Andrew" Noah said.
"What about Andrew"
"He's in jail again Addison"
"What did he do this time? Did he steal again?" I said angrily
"No it's more serious than that this time"
"Did he get caught with drugs?"
"Addison, he raped a fifteen year old girl." Noah finally said
"What... you're joking"
"I wish I was Addison. I wish I was. Andrew raped a fifteen year old girl named Cassandra and is facing five and a half years of jail maybe even longer than that."
"What possessed him to do something like that, Noah?"
"I don't know. The police told me he was high on heroin and that he raped a fifteen year old girl named Cassandra. They didn't tell me anything else."
I couldn't stop thinking about what Andrew did. Andrew didn't make the best choices in life but it put me in shock to hear that he raped someone. Everything in my life seemed like it was falling apart and I had to fall asleep to wake up for another day in hell.