Losers Never Win

Chapter 3

A week later on a Saturday afternoon, Serena was sitting in a room with ten other people. After her ‘incident’ at her old group home, she was moved to another place that specialized in teen drug abuse. Serena didn’t want to go, but at the same time, she didn’t care. She disliked her last home anyway, and was glad to be rid of Stephanie and her gang. Unfortunately, her new home inquired that they take monthly drug test and was much stricter.

            Serena sat shyly in her seat with her arms folded and head lowered. She stared at the floor as different people where asked to introduce their selves for the rehabilitation class. The classroom set up consisted of ten chairs placed in a large circle, with a seat for the instructor in the middle. The person to Serena’s left just got done greeting the class and sat down. Mrs. Kerry, the instructor glanced at Serena, letting her know it was her turn.

            Serena slid out of her seat, nervously moving her hands behind her back.  “… I’m, Serena. And, I’m sixteen years old,” she paused, wanting to stop.

            “Is there something else you’d like to tell us, Serena?” Mrs. Kerry said. She was urging Serena to tell about her drug issue, like everyone else did. Serena lightly shook her head, but Mrs. Kerry’s soft eyes persuaded her other wise.

            “And I, I sometimes… use drugs,” Serena painfully confessed.

             “Thank you Serena, you can be seated now,” Mrs. Kerry smiled. She stood up from her seat and addressed the class. “I just want to let ya’ll know that you should all be proud of yourselves. Coming here today is the beginning of a new drug free era in your life.”

            Serena sighed on the inside. Being at the rehabilitation class was utterly humiliating. Mrs. Kerry may be nice, but she talked to them like they were children. All Serena wanted was to be left alone, but it seemed as if that was too much to ask.

            Mrs. Kerry told the class to close their eyes and Serena unwillingly obeyed. “Alright, I’m going to ask you a series of questions, and I want you to raise your hand if it applies to you.”

            Everyone in the class nodded and closed their eyes. “Okay. Raise your hand if you ever tried marijuana,” Mrs. Kerry announced. She watched as the whole class lifted their hands. “Raise you hand if you ever took any form of pills, legal or illegal,” Two people in the class lowered their hands while the others kept them raised. “Alright, raise your hand if you tried any of these drugs. Cocaine, heroin, crack, or meth…” four more people lowered their hands, leaving Serena and two others. Mrs. Kerry wrote down the names of those who still had their hands raised.

            Mrs. Kerry took special interest in Serena however. Everyone in the class was eighteen and older, minus Serena. The fact that Serena tried drugs on that level at her age worried Mrs. Kerry. She figured she’d have to pay special attention to her.

            “Okay. Lower and your hands, and open your eyes.” Mrs. Kerry said. She caught Serena’s eye and smiled at Her. “Now, for our next exercise, I want you to form groups of two.”

            Serena slid back in her chair. She hated group work, and was ready to leave. Unfortunately she had an hour left in the class. So her day was far from over.

            Meanwhile, Cain was riding in the back of a van staring out of the window. It was time for him to move to his new ‘home’. From what he’s been told, the group home he was going to was more like a juvenile hall. He hated the idea of that.

            The van rode down two more blocks of road and stopped in front of a large building. The driver and Cain’s Social worker stepped out first, then unlock Cain’s door. Can’s social worker, Mr. Derek went ahead and entered the building while Cain got his one suitcase and book bag.

            When Cain came into the building, ne noticed there were two glass doors. The one on the right was where Mr. Derek was, but Cain wondered where the other door led. Having no time to wander, he entered the right door and walked to Mr. Derek.

            “Cain. Sign in here,” Mr. Derek ordered. Cain sighed and went to write his name on the form. Afterwards he dropped the pen on the paper and glared at the social worker. “Mr. Tony will be down in a second.”

            Cain cut his eyes and leaned against the wall. It wasn’t long before the door next to the office flew open, letting in a male and female. The man was tall, strongly built, and looked like he didn’t play games. The lady was older, probably in her forties, and had a stern face. The man shook Mr. Derek’s hand and turned to Cain.

            “Cain, this is Mr. Tony, the head of the home. And this is his assistant, Mrs. Miles.” Mr. Tony extended his hand to Cain, who reluctantly shook it.

            “Good to have on board Cain,” Mr. Tony greeted.

“Welcome home,” Mrs. Miles added. The look on Cain’s face told them how he hated that this was going to be his ‘home’.

            “Follow me,” Mr. Tony commanded in an easy voice. Cain picked up his luggage and did as told. While walking through the halls and showing Cain around, Mr. Tony explained to him the rules. “Now this place can be two things, it’s all up to you. It can be fun, or it can be hell. How you act decides that,” Mr. Tony walked up the stairway and headed to the second door on the right. “This is where you’ll be staying,” he showed Cain an empty room with one bed. “We only have one person per room, tends to keep the tension low.”

            Cain entered his room and dropped his luggage. “Word,” he muttered.

            “Now, lunch is in a hour, any questions?” Mr. Tony said.

            “Yea… how come you only showed me half the building?” Cain asked, thinking about the door he saw when he first entered the place.

            “That’s because we only own half the building.” Mr. Tony explained. “The other half is another group home for drug abusers. In the past we tried to run as one big home, but it didn’t turn out so well. So the owner decided to make the two separate,” Cain shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t ask for all that excess information. “So… see you in a hour,” Mr. Tony walked to the door, but stopped in the doorway. “Almost forgot, I don’t know if Mr. Derek told you, but you start school on Monday.”

            “Ight,” Cain sighed. He watched Mr. Tony leave the room and laid out on the bed. He dreaded the thought of school, but whether he was ready or not, it was coming sooner than he liked.