American Woman: Book 4

Chapter 31

I nonchalantly walk into the living room and sit down across from both of them. "Where's the girls?"
"Oh all the ladies took them downstairs for awhile." Prince answered.
Perfect timing for me! "Cool. Don't want you to exhaust yourself with them for an hour or so." I snap.
"So, how did your doctor appointment go? Apparently not very well." Prince snickers.
"Oh it was very informative. She says my pussy has healed up very nicely..."
Shawn violently chokes on the sip of water he was taking.
"What the hell Jensen?!" Prince exclaims. "Do you not see Shawn sitting right there?!"
"Oh I do. Come on, he is married to Amy. He hears way worse on an hourly basis." I laugh.
"She's right." Shawn chuckles. "But sure didn't expect it out of your mouth. You are more like my sister, kinda shy and meek."
"And naive? Is that how you see me? Is that how both of you see me? Or dumb?! Bc out of three of us in this room I think I'm the only one with half a brain. Do you two fucking idiots think I wasn't going to find out?! At least eventually?!" I shriek.
"Uh oh, she found out we are part time lovers." Prince jokes.
"Save if Stevie! You two know exactly what I'm talking about. Now we can do this the hard way or we can do it the easy way. It's up to you. Shawn, your ass is fired regardless so you might as well tell the truth and it may save you at least some jail time..."
"Jensen, have you lost your mind?! What the hell are you talking about?" Prince yells.
"I'll give you a hint since you're either that dumb or just wanting to play that way. I went to my check up today."
"Ok?! And?! What does that have to do with me, and especially Shawn?" Prince fires back.
"Well, she told me I can't have any more refills of my Percocet, you know bc my pussy is fine and all..."
"This sounds like a private discussion. I think I'll go find Amy..." Shawn begins.
"Sit your ass down, you fucking enabling piece of shit!" I growl.
"Jensen! Enough! You can't talk to people that way..."
I start laughing hysterically and loudly. "Oh I can't?! Why not?! Bc it's rude?! Bc you're afraid he might sue us for verbal abuse or something?! So it's ok for you two to steal prescription medication and use it but I shouldn't call him a few names?! Are we back to JW logic? Bc it makes about as much sense..."
"Jensen, what are you talking about?!" Prince sighs. "Nobody is stealing anything first of all..."
"I guess you want the hard way since you are lying!!!! The doctor told me you have been calling to refill my Percocet every week..."
Prince looks like he's seen a ghost. "I thought you might need it baby." He muttered.
"Lie number 2! Shall we keep going?!" I exclaim. "I know you're taking them. Don't try to deny it. Let's just all save our breath and get down to the details. Shawn, I assume you have been picking the prescription up as one of your errands. So do y'all share them or do they all go to Prince?"
"I don't take them." He weakly replies, head already hanging down.
"Ok. Thank you. An honest thief we have here."
I reply. "So Prince takes them all. Got it. Now Prince has obviously been taking things long before the Percocet, so who wants to tell me that fascinating story. What were ya taking? How did ya get it?" I said in a song songy type of way. I knew I appeared crazy, especially to Shawn who barely knew me from Eve, but I didn't care.
"Hydrocodone and OxyContin. I get them from the VA." Shawn admits immediately.
Prince sighs heavily and glares at Shawn who won't look up from the floor.
"So how much do you get a month or whatever?" I probe.
"I get them weekly. Enough for three a day of each." He continues.
"And do you take any of those or do they all go straight to Prince?"
"I used to take them but not anymore. Look, I'm sorry. I don't want in the middle of this. I was just doing what my boss asked me to do. I think it's fucked up to get fired over it..."
"You do realize it's illegal, first of all, right?" I question in shock.
"Yeah, I mean, I guess. I hadn't really thought about it like that. I mean I was just picking up meds prescribed to me..."
"And then giving them to someone else!" I shriek. "That's the illegal part, genius!"
"I guess I thought I was helping him. He said he was in a lot of pain in his hips and he wished he had some relief. So I mentioned that I used to take Hydrocodone and OxyContin for my nerve damage pain before it was corrected with an electronic device they implanted in my back. So Prince asked if I could still get prescribed some and I said I would see, and I could. I know it's wrong but I guess I just thought I was helping him get through some pain until he had a surgery or something."
"So why move on to my Percocet? Were you not getting the other stuff anymore or something?" I continued, actually feeling a little sorry for Shawn who seemed to be a victim of my husband's manipulative ways.
"He said they were losing their effectiveness and asked if I could get more or a higher dosage and I said I couldn't. Then when you mentioned the Percocet, I did tell him they may help since they are a little different or he could take all three together."
"So you are trying to kill him?" I say, almost flatly.
"No! He told me he was having his surgery soon. I just was trying to help him until that point. I was going to stop once he got everything corrected. I guess I just felt, feel, bad for him bc I know what it feels like to live in constant pain and you'll just do anything for a little relief. And the added pressure of him being my boss and I wanted, want, this job..."
"Ok. I've heard enough. It seems I may have misjudged you somewhat. You, at least, have been more honest and open in the last five minutes than my husband has been in the last five months! Was Amy involved in any way?"
"No! She knows nothing. She's innocent, I swear. Please don't fire her. You can fire me, but please don't do that to her."
"I think you need to come clean to her. We will talk to you later. I need to be alone with my husband for awhile please. Tell everyone downstairs not to bring the girls up until I say." I order as he turns to leave.
As soon as he's out of sight, I glare at Prince. "What do you have to say for yourself?!" I muster in a shaky voice.
"I don't know. Nothing...."
"Nothing?!!" I shriek.
"Stay out of my business! You have no right to fire my employee. He's not fired. I am so sick of you overstepping your role...."
"Fuck you!!! I'm your wife! Stay out of your business?! What about our girls?!" I cry out.
"What about them, Jensen? They have nothing to do with this. I'm sorry I was taking your pain meds, but you weren't using them anyway. You are really overreacting..."
"I'm overreacting?! Prince I had to beg Dr. Thatcher to keep it to herself so you wouldn't get arrested! What the two of you are doing is illegal, on top of everything else! Have you completely lost touch with reality?!"
"Nobody is going to arrest me..."
"There's my answer! You think you're above the law?! Bc you're not! You continue to do it, I'll call the cops on you myself..."
"No you wouldn't. I won't call for any more Percocet refills, ok? Damn! You are blowing this way out of proportion! Are you telling me you've never taken someone's medicine before?!"
"It's way beyond that and you know it! You are taking opioids, Prince! That aren't prescribed to you! You are addicted..."
"No I'm not! Again, you're overreacting!!! Ok I didn't want you to know how bad my hips hurt. I was embarrassed. I'm just getting a little relief until they have time to heal..."
"Heal?! From what?!"
"Just being on tour. It aggregates my hips, but now that I'm home and off them more, it should get better soon. I was just trying to stop some of the pain until then. Ok? I'll try Ibuprofen..."
"Stop! It's not that easy and quit making it seem like it's nothing. You lied to me, hid things from me, stole...it's bigger than just the addiction, which is huge in itself! How am I ever supposed to trust you?!"
"It's not like that, momma. It wasn't like you needed the pills and I was taking them from you..."
"Stop! God, Prince! You don't get it! How can you not see what a big deal this all is?! Let's just start from the beginning. Go all the way back to when it started, which I assume is around the time John called me about you going to the ER. What really happened? No more lies!" I demand.
"I don't remember..."
"Bullshit!!! If you can't even come clean now, I'm done. Don't talk to me until you're ready to be honest." I get up to go downstairs.
"Ok. Fine! Sit down." He demands harshly. "I'm not lying. I don't really remember much. After those first two shows wherever we were, I had really hurt my hips. I was jumping around more at those shows I guess. So we got to Milwaukee a couple days early and I tried Ibuprofen and ice and heat. It wasn't cutting it and I needed to be prepared for the show the next night so I knew John's wife had just had oral surgery and had a bottle of Vicodin in her purse bc I had seen her pull it out at a restaurant. I was in so much pain that I went over to their hotel room and snuck a handful into my pocket and left. I went back to my suite and just downed them without even thinking baby. Luckily she must have went to get one not long later and noticed some missing and they connected the dots and called the front desk to get into my room once I wasn't answering. I was unconscious apparently and they immediately called the paramedics. John's such a great guy he didn't want word getting out and back to you and he was trying to cover my stupid ass so he called you while the paramedics were working on me and made up that I was in ER with flu. I'm really sorry. I would never make that mistake again..."
"You can't guarantee that." I sob, tears rolling down my face and onto my lap. I take a deep breath so he can understand me. "So it must have been a paramedic who yelled out that you were awake?"
"I honestly don't know baby. I guess. They had to give me a Narcan shot..."
"What's that?" I stutter.
"Sometimes it's called a save shot. They give it to people who have overdosed to reverse the effects and revive the person..."
"Oh my god! You almost died!" I bury my face in my hands and wail.
"I'm sorry honey. It scared me too. And I was so ashamed. I know some of my band thought I tried to commit suicide or something. It was so embarrassing. So I swore I wouldn't ever take anything again. But then Shawn came out on the road with us and we somehow started talking about his hip pain and one thing led to another and I convinced him to give me his meds. I thought I was being safer bc I was taking them as prescribed..."
"As prescribed to him, Prince!!!" I shout.
"I'm sure I could get them too. I just didn't want to take the time to find a doctor..."
"Stop the excuses! At any point in the last few months as you've been shoveling pills down your throat or sneaking around and calling the pharmacy as basically a thief, did you ever stop and think about me? About your daughters? About your life?"
"Yes, you know you three girls ARE my life..."
"That's not true. If that were the case, you wouldn't have done all this..."
"I've made some mistakes Jensen. Ok, I admit it. I was wrong for all of it. That doesn't mean I don't love you and our children. But you also have blown it out of proportion..."
"How? You almost died in Milwaukee, you manipulated Shawn into getting drugs for you, lied to him about getting a surgery, constantly lied and hid things from me for months, you are illegally taking someone else's medication, you are addicted to opioids, you illegally kept refilling my prescription and illegally taking them, just have essentially become an all around sneaky, manipulative, lying scumbag...what exactly am I overreacting to?"
"I can stop. Ok. I'll stop. I'll go see Dr. Jacobs and see what he can give me..."
"Oh my god!!! Do you hear yourself?! So you basically just said you will stop taking them illegally and get your own! Stop means stop! Not just get some under your own name! Do you not realize what these drugs are doing to you?! Do you think you've been normal lately?!"
"I know they can make me tired..."
"It's more than that! It's changed so much about you! You're, You're, You're...Lenny..."
"Fuck you! I'm not an alcoholic pothead!"
"No, you're a prescription medicine ADDICT which may be worse! You need rehab..."
"Fuck that! I can quit on my own..."
"See! You're Lenny! How can this be happening again..."
"You're so selfish! Oh poor Jensen, two loser husbands..."
"I didn't say that. It's just hard to fathom. You were so against all of that kind of stuff when Lenny was going through it and such a supporter of his going to rehab and getting help...."
"Bc he needed it. I don't! I told you I can quit."
"No you can't. Dr. Thatcher told me you shouldn't."
"So you're going to trust her over me..."
"Prince, stop. You need help. You obviously tried quitting a few weeks ago after Waverly was born. I know that's why you got sick. It wasn't the flu...again wasn't the flu! You were having withdrawal. And then what happened? Huh? You added Percocet to the mix. It's just going to keep spiraling out of control. You will need more and more or higher dosages or different stuff...until it kills you!"
"I'm not going to rehab. I'm not leaving my girls."
"Go to rehab or I'm going to the LA house with the girls. So either way you won't see them..."
"Don't threaten me! You can't take my kids, Jensen! That's kidnapping!"
"I'll file for temporary custody. I'm not going to make the same mistakes I made with Lenny. I can't afford to. I have children now. They are my top priority."
"Over me, huh?"
"Don't do that. You know I love you. That's why I'm doing this. Go to rehab or we are leaving."
"Jensen, please. There are other options."
"Not to me. Choose one and choose it now."
"No. We can talk this out. Just take some time to cool down. Don't make any rash decisions."
"Choose! Now!"
"Fuck you, Jensen! You are being a heartless bitch! You want to go, then go! Leave! You're no different than everyone else I've ever met! You want to run away across the country with my children, try it! You'll be hearing from my lawyer." He yells, storming out of the living room and slamming our bedroom door so hard it literally shook the entire living quarters.
I was scared, more scared than I had ever been in my life. I didn't know what to do. Everything told me to take the girls and go to the LA house. But what if it does look like I kidnapped them? But I can't stay here with them and him refusing to help himself. I can't put them in any danger. What am I going to do?!!!