Phoenix Rises

Chapter Four Fighting the Fire

There was something missing in the newfound life I started with my mother, my father Rocky. At one point I asked my mother about him, and why I didn't get to see him anymore and she responded with, "He chose a woman named Crystal instead of us." At my age I didn't understand the joke, but what she meant, was that Rocky had chosen drugs instead of his family. It was difficult for me to believe that the man I viewed as my knight in shining armor, who swooped me away to safety when I most needed it, had forgotten all about us. I spent many nights in my room, missing my father.

Enough time had passed by now that I was in kindergarten, and Lucy promised us when she first regained custody of Anna and I that things would be different. She wasn't going to hit us anymore and she wasn't going to drink or use drugs. I see now that my mother was putting in her best effort to do what she believed was right, but the stranglehold of addiction is a fiery beast from hell. One that is impenetrable from the faulty weapons that humans have created to fight it.

"It works if you work it", a group of alcoholics at the Dry Harbor Club in Roswell announced in unison as they ended their nightly meeting. Lucy brought Anna and I along with her to these meetings. She also moved us into a new apartment and made a new group of clean and sober friends. She got herself a sponsor too, a woman named Debbie.

Debbie had fire red hair, and a great big dog that went by the name of "Gator." I loved going to Debbie's house. I grew to affectionately call her my "Aunt Debbie."

"Who is your favorite figure skater Phoenix?" Aunt Debbie asked.

"I like Kristi Yamaguchi!' I excitedly declared as I sat with Debbie watching the Olympics.

I had many wonderful moments just sitting on the couch with my aunt and watching T.V. with her or going out to grab a plate of spaghetti. She taught me how to twirl spaghetti noodles on a spoon with my fork. The "proper way" to eat pasta she said.

It is my mother's unique relationship with Debbie that would go on to change the course of my life forever. In ways that no one ever would have expected. In ways that never should have been.

Debbie had a wonderful idea. She had a large family of 8 other siblings. The youngest of which, a man named Kenneth Ladd. My mother was a single struggling woman, and Kenneth was a lonely single truck driver. In Debbie's mind, the two were a match made in heaven, so she set the two up on a date.

"You know Debbie, I don't mind going on this date, but you really need to make sure that your brother knows I have two small girls. They come before anything and to bring a new person into our lives, I need to be sure he is ok with my children." My mother reminded my aunt.

Debbie assured my mother that everything would work out just fine, and Kenneth doubled down on the sentiment by inviting my sister and I along on their date. It was a pizza place that was well loved by the children in the area, "Peter Piper Pizza." Kenneth was 6', balding, and wore a trucker's hat and blue jeans everywhere that he went. This wasn't exactly my mother's type, but he had his life together. A new characteristic in my mother's choice of men to be sure.

"Bop, Bop, Bop" I laughed as I knocked the top of the alligator heads with a soft padded hammer in the arcade of the pizza place. Kenneth ran up behind me and stuck more quarters into the machine, letting me play another round. He even grabbed the other padded hammer and helped me mash away at the alligator heads, in hope to win more game tickets.

We ate pizza, drank soda, and played as many games as we could while Lucy and Kenneth chatted away at the dining room tables. The date was a hit, and as Kenneth drove us all back to my mother's place we laughed and made funny jokes. It reminded me of all the times we had spent with Rocky. Before the trip was over Kenneth looked over at my mother and said, "You have such cool little kids. I really had a lot of fun and I hope that we can do this again sometime." With that, my mother's heart was stolen and it began a time in my life that could best be described as, "too good to be true."