Kaleidoscope

Chapter Thirty-Five

Danny pulled into the parking lot of his dad's apartment and pulled out his phone. He had to reach Jen before he lost his nerve. When she didn't pick up he knew he was on his own for this.

You can do this. It's got to be easier than talking to Mom, he thought.

Once again, he stood in front of his dad's door and knocked. He hadn't called ahead so he hoped his dad was in. He wouldn't be working on a Saturday.

The door opened and Tom stood there, his eyes wide with surprise.

"How nice to see you, Danny," he said. "Come on in. Have a seat."

Tom opened the door wider for his son.

Once again, Danny felt out of place in his father's new environment. Gone were all traces of the man his father was, replaced by a big sign that said, "temporarily under construction." Danny didn't know if he was hoping that his father would make it homier, or come to the realization that he needed to move back home. But, with his mom on the warpath, that option seemed remote.

Danny took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, as the words 'drugs, alcohol, rehab, failure,' made it difficult to form the sentences he needed to say. The only thing he knew was that he needed to start somewhere.

"Dad, I've been keeping things from you and Mom. I finally had this conversation with her and it didn't go very well. Just so you know that I'm not expecting you to have any different reaction."

With that statement, Danny unraveled the last seven months of his life to his dad, watching all the time for some change of expression to give him a hint to his father's reactions. He looked straight into his dad's eyes, something he couldn't do with his mom, searching for a glimmer of acceptance. It was like looking at a mask.

When his story was unwound, Danny waited. He could hear the second hand on the clock as it counted its way to each minute. He was painfully aware of the silence in the room. Finally, his dad spoke.

"Son, I think I've failed you. You should have been able to come to me right away before this took hold of your life. Maybe you never realized that I would always be here for you. How did your mom react?"

"She was furious at the thought that I had drugs in the house. She was so ashamed of me. When I finally realized that the only thing that would help me was rehab, I had to go to her and ask her for the money. I've never been so mortified in my life. But, she said she'd help. I know she just wants me gone until I'm clean. I guess I'm a blight on the house and on the family."

"I'm so proud of you, Danny, for facing up to your problems. You're doing the right thing. I hope you're doing it for yourself and not for anyone else."

"Well, there is this girl that I'd like to get to know better, but I know I have to be honest with her and I can't do that if I'm still hooked."

"Tell me more about her," Tom asked.

Now Danny had to decide how much to reveal.

"Well, we met up at school and I found out that she lives really close by so I've seen her a couple of times when she was home on break. We're staying in touch."

Danny left out the part about Kim's resemblance to Theresa. That was a story for another time.

"Well, I'm glad there is someone in your life, Danny. Get yourself right and go for it. Chances don't always come along when you want them to."

With that, Tom threw his arms around his son and held on tight, sorry that he had to let go when they were just re-connecting.

"Good luck, Son, and please keep in touch with me if you want to. I'll always be here for you."

Danny turned to go, but not before he gave his dad a kiss on the cheek and told him he loved him. The olive branch had been extended and accepted.

The first thing Danny decided when he got home was to get rid of his pills. He knew there were places where he could turn them in with no questions asked. He was on his way up to his room when he almost collided with Theresa coming down the hall. Their eyes met and he knew. His mom had told her everything. They were both at a loss for words.

Theresa finally broke the silence and said, "I'm proud of you, Danny."

His body caved in on itself as he digested her words. Was this the same sister he had always resented? Why was she proud of him now in his moment of disgrace? Why couldn't she have been proud of him when he was a better person? But, beggars can't be choosers, he thought. He would take whatever he could get. Words would not come out of his mouth. All he could do was reach over and give her a hug.

Rose walked in at that moment to a scene she never thought she would witness. Her two youngest children, rivals always, were sharing a loving moment with each other. It appeared that Theresa received the news about Danny better than she, herself, had. Maybe it was a generational thing. The poor kids these days were exposed to so much and they were constantly struggling to stay on the straight and narrow.

Danny looked up to see his mom staring at them. Embarrassed, he gave Theresa's hand a squeeze and said he had somewhere he needed to be, then went up to his room to grab his pill supply. He knew this was it—this was the beginning of the end of his addiction. Once these were gone, he planned to enter rehab.

Downstairs, Theresa and Rose were having a quiet moment.

"I guess we really should be proud of him," Rose said.

"Mom, what he's doing is not easy. Yes, it's terrible he got into this situation in the first place, but he's finally on the right track, admitting he's an addict and doing something about it. He really needs us behind him now."

"I wonder how his visit with his father went? I'm almost afraid to ask. If he reacted anything like I did, the poor kid really must be miserable."

"Somehow, I think Dad wants to make things right with all of us, Mom," she hinted. "I'll bet he was very supportive of Danny." At that moment, Danny came down the stairs and asked for the car.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'm not going out to score. I'm going out to the police station to hand in my drugs. There won't be any more. And then I'll be out of your hair. I can get into the rehab center tomorrow night."

Rose reached out and hugged her son for the first time in a long time.

"I don't want you gone, Danny, but I do want you better. You go do what you need to do and we'll all be here when you get back."

There was a slight flicker of a smile on Danny's face as he went out the back door on his first step to recovery.

Back inside, Rose thought long and hard about what had become of her children. Where once she had three, whom she felt were normal children, now she had a drug addict and a child with disabilities. As far as she knew, Jen was fine but she hadn't been in touch except for brief texts for a while. She was approaching the end of her last semester and Rose thought she must just be busy. She wondered what her plans would be after graduation.

Rose turned to see Theresa wheeling herself down the hall and then thought about this new van she was planning on getting. She hadn't heard too much about it lately and hoped that maybe Theresa and Tom were reconsidering the whole idea. It was just too much for her to take.