In This Life (Sequel to 'In Another Life')

26

 I smiled at this, but Neece wasn't having any of it. Her face was still set in stone as she clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Are you still using?" she asked bluntly. "Neece!" I exclaimed, almost dropping my damn dessert. She just looked at me with her eyebrows raised. "What?" she replied, shrugging. "We need to know. You're a recovering addict. You don't need to be around that stuff or people who do." She turned her eyes back to Amber, staring her down. "I mean to make sure that it stays that way." Amber looked embarrassed and a little shocked. She looked down at her lap and started picking at her cuticles. "I understand that. I'm sober now. Two months. I know that's not a long time, but I'm tired of living that life." Amber turned her gaze to me. "JJ got locked up for dealing. Levi ratted him out." "What? Why?" I asked, in total shock. Levi and JJ had been the best of friends for a long time. "Because Levi got busted first. He was on over on Skid Row, selling, and sold to an undercover cop. He ratted out JJ because they offered him a lesser sentence, with probation." "Oh my God," I murmured, running a hand through my hair. This was so crazy. It's not like I didn't think something like this would happen eventually, but they were always so careful. "So that's why you're clean?" Denise retorted. "Because your dealer got arrested?" I sighed, and glared at her a little. There was really no reason to be so mean to Amber. "Neece, please chill out," I whispered. She looked at me and rolled her eyes. "No," Amber replied, her eyes narrowing a little at Denise. "I got clean right before it happened. The only reason I know about it, is because JJ called me from jail. He wanted bail money, but I couldn't help him. I moved back in with my Aunt, and I didn't have a job. People associated with that life kept contacting me, and coming by her home, until she got tired of it. She told me I had a month to find somewhere else to go. So I figured why not go somewhere where no one would know me as a drug addict...well, except you guys. This is my fresh start." She smiled, letting her gaze go from me to Denise, to Colby. "Besides, you have to tell me how you managed to snag this one. He's hot. Do you have, like, a brother or something?" Colby laughed and shook his head. "Watch it," I snapped, placing my hand on his leg, possessively. Amber laughed, and held both hands up in surrender. "Hands off, I get it." I loved Amber and we had been through a lot in earlier years, but that didn't mean I trusted her around Colby. I still remembered her sleeping with my ex when I was still with him, and as soon as he broke up with me. "I'm not like that anymore T. I swear," she replied, remembering the same thing that I was. I nodded, and cleared my throat. "So what have you been up too? PostMates driver huh? Where are you staying?" For the next thirty minutes, I ate my cheesecake and listened to Amber tell us how she had basically stayed in her car when she first arrived in LA, to staying with some guy who ended up being on drugs. She started doing PostMates, found her own little apartment, and had been there for two weeks now. "I'm proud of you for getting clean. It's not easy," I told her. "Yeah, it's not easy staying that way either," she admitted, running her hand through her dark hair. "You're telling me," I grumbled. She looked at me sympathetically. "So, I didn't want to ask but if you'd like to tell me, what happened to you? Why are you using a cane?" "She was in an accident. Was in a coma for a couple of months and woke up a few weeks ago," Colby replied, snatching my fork out of my hand and stealing a bite of my cheesecake. "Hey!" I exclaimed, watching the smirk form on his face. "Delicious," he said, smacking his lips. "Back off Brock," I replied jokingly. "I will stab you with my fork, remember?" He laughed, and passed me back said fork. "Guess you better take this back then. I don't wanna be stabbed." "You guys are so cute together," Amber said, smiling at us. "Yeah, yeah, they're adorable," Denise replied. "Shouldn't you be going to like deliver your other orders or something?" "Oh shit, you're right!" Amber said, jumping up from the couch. "It was so good seeing you guys! I haven't made any friends here, so this the most fun I've had in awhile." I struggled to stand, accepting the held when Colby put his arm around my waist and pulled me up. "Stop by any time Amber. It's been really good seeing you too. I'm super proud of you girl. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call," I replied, leaning over to hug her. "Thanks T. I really appreciate that. You guys doing anything this weekend? Maybe we can get together and go out somewhere?" I looked over at my cane then back to her. "I don't think I'll be making it anywhere for awhile." She put her hand over her mouth. "Oh. I'm sorry T. I forgot." I shook my head. "Honest mistake. No worries. Maybe you can just come over here next weekend or something. I would say this weekend, but Colby has some filming to do, and some of the others are busy as well." "Yeah, sure! I'd love too!" she said excitedly, nodding her head. Denise scoffed and stood up. "I'm gonna go call Sarah. See y'all later." Without waiting for anyone's reply, she exited the room. "She still hasn't forgiven me huh?" Amber replied, sadly. I shook my head. "No, but just give her time. She knows that addiction will cause people to act way differently than they normally would."