That One November Night

Chapter 50: Drunken truths

Wasted, withered and washed down in booze, the 'mad man' was Greg.

What the fuck had happened to him?

For a second, he seemed sober, "Don't mind Denmarks. Just a bad habit." Another country pun, as if it would help lighten the situation. Jokes were something new to him, it made me miss the old Greg as I saw it as something only his drunk self-did. He had been referring to the marks along his arms which I kept trying to deter myself from.

Injections from drugs...

My words were lost. My body froze. My thoughts turned blank.

He smiled, wiping back the hair from his forehead, "Am I glad to see you!"

With a gulp, I begged myself to reframe from asking but the words chained me like a metallic lasso, "What happened Greg? Are you okay?"

"Pfft! Really? Are you seriously asking if I'm okay?" I took another step forward but stopped at that. Still looking down, his drunk talk became less ignorant, "I'm drunk. I'm on drugs. No. I'm not okay." Meeting my glance, "I didn't want this."

Heart strings snapped from within my chest. How long had he been like this?

Could I have prevented it somehow?

Taking a seat at his table, "Greg... Why have you done this to yourself?"

His bright eyes were the only recognisable feature on his deformed frame. He wouldn't answer my question.

Swaying saturnine, "You weren't there for me."

Frowning, "I didn't know you needed me... I'm here now though. Now tell me please."

"You weren't there for Greg." Repeated in third person this time, as if I hadn't heard him, "Greg had no one. Everyone was mean to Greg."

"I can't help you if I don't-"

"He did this."

"Who?"

"Him. Blackmailed. Family found out."

Blackmail? Mention of the word made me feel shameful for how I had reacted to Gwen. If blackmail could lead Greg to alcohol and drugs then it gave reason for the way Gwen reacted not just earlier but ever since I had met her. It changed your whole mind set. Made you afraid of everything.

"Who blackmailed you?"

"No." he shrugged turning to look out the boarded up window, "Parents found out. Hate me. Grandparents even worse. They despised me for being gay. What I did was even worse. I know it myself but... They religious so..."

He wasn't making sense.

"I was shunned. My employers knew. Deemed unprofessional. Unfit for work." He took the half empty bottle of beer and glugged it down, compressing it on his forehead when he was done.

Tossing it dismally toward the ground, "The drink and drugs won't wash him out."

I leant forward, "You have to tell me who blackmailed you and why they did it." I scratched my forehead, "I want to help you Greg but you're too drunk to understand what you're saying."

He shook his head, "I don't drink."

I delayed responding.

Eventually he spoke, toward the table. "Do you remember when we were almost... but I... well blackmailed was then..."

I questioned bluntly but without aggression as I was over it now. Especially given who Greg was now. "By the person you had a one night stand with?"