Homeless

Chapter 18

"About a month in, she introduced me to a handful of her friends. We met them at the shelter one night and things kinda went south from there."

I pause as I debate how much I want to share. The pan is hot now, so I transfer the shrimp and let it cook for a minute.

"They introduced me to alcohol first. We would go to this park late at night and just drink. 20 years old and I was drunk out of my mind 7 days out of the week. And Roxy would take advantage of that. She took advantage of me. She'd be drunk too but never as drunk as me."

"That's horrible Derek," Danielle says.

"Horrible but right on par with my life." When the shrimp starts to get opaque, I add in the broccoli and some extra soy sauce and honey. I cover the pan to let everything cook.

"My alcohol tolerance grew and soon I would be drinking every night but not getting the same effect. And definitely not the effect Roxy was looking for. That's when she introduced me to cocaine. The group was already doing it but I held out for the longest time. Alcohol was one thing but drugs were another."

I uncover the brown rice to see that it is just about finished. I turn the burner off and place it on a cool burner.

"But yeah, I started snorting coke almost every night. Coupled with the alcohol..." My thoughts drift off to some of the darkest nights of my life. "I was a wreck Danielle. An absolute wreck. There were some nights I would black out and I wouldn't wake up for 2-3 days." My eyes start to water. "It was so so bad."

Before I know it, I'm crying. I realize that this is not something I've ever talked about outside of my rehab program.

"Derek." Danielle is at my side and pulling me in for a hug. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry you went through that."

The tears stream down my face as I hold her. As much as it hurts to relive the pass, it feels good to share this with her.

After a minute, I wipe my eyes and take a step back from her.

"I should probably turn this shrimp off." I turn the shrimp off and try to get back to cooking.

"Derek," Danielle tugs my arm and pulls me close. She places both her hands on my face and makes me focus on her. "Thank you for sharing that with me."

I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her in. "Thanks for listening."

Danielle's POV

Derek's story shocks me. I'm horrified at what he went through at just 20 years old. From his childhood into his early adulthood, he's been through such a rough time.

As we pull apart from our hug, I'm curious as to how he got clean. I know he doesn't drink and I'm assuming this is why. Instead of asking, I turn my attention to the pan of food in front of me. It smells delicious and I can't wait to dig in.

"Should I get us some plates?" I ask.

"Yeah," Derek says. "That's a good idea."

I grab a couple plates and bring them to the stove. Derek scoops us both some rice then places the honey garlic shrimp and broccoli on top. It smells incredible.

I place them on the dining table as Derek gets us both glasses of water. He grabs us silverware before meeting me at the table.

"This smells so good Derek." When he hands me my fork, I immediately dig in. It tastes even better than it smells. "Thank you for cooking."

"You're very welcome." Derek takes a few bites. "You didn't ask me how I got clean," he points out.

"I figured you would share when you were ready," I respond.

"Well," Derek says, taking a sip of water. "One night, I got woken up by the cops. I was completely naked. Roxy was laying on top of me, also naked. I don't know how long we had been out and the cops gave us two options. They were either going to take us to jail and charge us or they would drop us off at a local rehab. I opted for rehab and Roxy went to jail that night."

"Wow," I say. "How did you make that choice? I can't imagine it was an easy one to make given how often you were using?"

"I was honestly just so disgusted with myself at that point. I couldn't believe I had sank that low and it all started with alcohol. Then escalated so quickly. I was so embarrassed to be found that way. I knew I needed to get clean. Even if I was gonna live on the streets, that wasn't the way I wanted to live."

My eyes water. "I'm really proud of you Derek. Just to make that decision is huge."

"Yeah." Derek doesn't say much else about the situation so I know that's probably it for tonight.

"Thank you again for dinner," I say when we both finish up our plates. I take the plates to the dishwasher and Derek follows behind me with our cups.

"You're very welcome."

We load up the dishwasher and Derek turns towards me.

"And thanks for today. It was one of the best days I've had in a long time."

We're standing face to face and there are butterflies in my stomach. Just being around Derek makes my heart beat a bit faster. I look into his electric blue eyes and all I can think about is taking one step closer and placing my lips on his.

"I should probably move my clothes to the dryer and get showered," Derek says, stepping aside. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay," I respond. I try to make my voice sound strong but it comes out as a whisper. "See you."