Best Laid Plans

Chapter 9: May, 1990

~Jake POV~

Life was a sham. My life was less than the frail mist that hung amongst the branches of the tree that I could see out my back window. I had sat for hours, the bottle between my fingers steadily grew lighter while my spirit grew atrophied and heavy. She was gone. Amanda carried everything out with her like she did not realize what she had taken from me. And I allowed it. Just like always.

I stirred against my better judgment. My vision was blurred and my body was full of ache. A familiar hum stuck my ear from the void beyond the couch that made me want to retreat into the bottle to hide my embarrassment.

"Dear lord, it moved," Josh's voice rumbled in my ears without humor, but it also lacked malice.

I coughed as I leaned forward, my fingers reaching for a bottle that was no longer on the table before me. I frowned as I realized that everything before me had been cleared away leaving only a tall glass of water. "How long have you been here?" I asked as I oozed back into the couch.

"Couple days. Henry called Ronnie..."

I grimaced as Josh ran through the line. I had forgotten my parents were in Hawaii for an extended vacation. I could just picture Ronnie pounding on my door, to which according to Josh, she wanted to kick my ass for not answering.

"But then, she got scared, so she used the key to find your nearly naked ass passed out about where you are now," he explained with a shiver through his shoulders.

I scrunched up my face as the heat of embarrassment flooded my system. "Fuck," I sighed as my innards started to jiggle in protest.

"So, she called me and I happened to have some time," Josh remarked as he was swiping at the counter with a disgusted look. "Jesus, Jake, when was the last time you cleaned this kitchen?"

I could barely hold my head up as my mouth started to flood with spit.

"Anyway, I've been covering what I can at the shop. Sam got here yesterday and has been covering as well. He brought Danny with him, so between Danny and Henry, all your lessons are covered for a few more days. Dan's heading out on tour, so we really need to get your ass back into your shop."

My brain felt like toasted marshmallow and my mouth felt like it was filled with paste. Josh continued to clean, peeking into the oven to reveal the smell of food. He said that Ms. Ada sent a casserole - well, actually had sent many over. One for each day of this week. My stomach soured with the smell and produced a round of nasty burps that sent me flying to the bathroom. I retched everything out as if all the alcohol was fleeing my system by any means possible. I could hear Josh's ramblings as I thought for sure my internal organs were next to exit my mouth. I was shit. I was lower than shit and did not deserve any kind of help in the matter.

"Let's get you into a shower," he said softly, pushing me by the shoulders to rest against the wall.

I had no fight left in me. I watched as he turned on the spray, holding his hand under the water just like our mom used to, even did the little toe tap as he waited. He ordered me to take off my rags and helped me over the ridge of the bathtub. The water was like an acid spray as it struck my skin like hot sandpaper. I sputtered and choked as I made a show of doing what he wanted me to do while he stood protectively at the edge of the tub. I pushed my face under, allowing the sensation of heat and clean to consume my ravaged skin. Josh, satisfied that I was not going to fall over like an idiot, walked away for a few minutes.

"This is clearly not about Georgia," he said, returning with clothes to set on the vanity. "You danced a fucking jig when you signed those papers. What gives? I thought everything was going good."