Ever After by Annie Jocoby Read Free Book Online

wanted that for her, more than anything.
    Loretta was able to Skype once a week from the treatment facility, and she already was looking better. Her skin didn’t look quite so sallow, and she appeared to be getting plenty of rest. She also was looking quite a bit less puffy in the face, and it appeared that she was also losing weight.
    I was starting to notice just a hint of beauty on her no longer ruddy and sallow face. Her eyes were the same color of green as Scotty’s, and her facial features were really much the same. She was looking so much better, just being off of alcohol for this short period of time. I would imagine that there was the possibility that Loretta might just be something of a stunner, like her daughter, once she was sober for a long period of time and she lost about 150 pounds.
    She also seemed much more coherent than the first time I met her, of course. Her speech was getting clearer, and she was sounding less illiterate than before. I wondered if being out at the treatment facility, which catered to the very wealthy, was rubbing off on her and her speech patterns somewhat.
    Scotty was thrilled to see the changes in her mother, changes that were happening rapidly.
    “Look at me, Scotty,” Loretta said, while she looked into the screen. “I’ve lost 20 pounds already! They’re feeding me nothing but healthy stuff. No processed foods, just lots of veggies and organic meats. Do you know about organic meats? They taught me a little bit about that. They say that diet is very important to mood, and so it’s going to be important that I keep eating like this so that I might be able to stay off that damned sauce.”
    Scotty smiled, big. “You look great, mom. Really, I can’t even believe it. Twenty pounds in just two weeks. That’s amazing!”
    “Well, you know, the doc here says it’s mostly water weight. Apparently I had a lot of extra water because my liver wasn’t functioning very well with all that booze. But I feel about 100 pounds lighter, I really do. I’m also exercising a lot. They make me do it every day for an hour. I have to take these classes with these weights and mats and stuff. And I go for long walks every day. This place is beautiful, Scotty. Really beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. All this green, and flowers and trees and birds and stuff. I love to walk around here.”
    “I’m so proud of you,” Scotty said. “Really proud.”
    “I’m proud of me,” Loretta said. “But I don’t like those needles they put in you. I mean, you can’t really feel them, they’re so tiny, but I hate the thought of them being in there. But, you know what, Scotty? I feel amazing after that’s done. After they take those needles out, I feel just great. You should try it.”
    “Oh, you’re doing acupuncture, I guess? I heard that’s really good for all kinds of things. I never heard it being used for alcoholism, but I’m not surprised.”
    “Yes, acupuncture. I kept forgetting what they called it. Acupuncture. Oo, boy, Scotty, I really didn’t think that I could feel this spoiled.”
    “What about therapy, mom? How are you doing with that?”
    “Well, that’s not so great. I hate talking about myself. It’s just so embarrassing.”
    “I know, mom. I’m doing therapy myself. I’ve been going every day, every evening, really, at 6 o’clock. I think it’s really helping me, too.”
    “That’s great, Scotty. I had hoped that you would get a head shrinker. God knows I screwed you up enough that you definitely need it. I’m sorry for that. I mean, I have to make amends as part of my program, to the people I hurt, like you. And Aaron. They’re teaching me about what that means. I need to make amends to you, Scotty. I don’t know why you still love me, but I’m so glad that you do.”
    Scotty nodded her head. I looked at her, seeing that her face was masking how she was really feeling. She had told me that a lot of what she was talking about to Adele was about her