Off the Wagon (Users #2) by Stacy, Jennifer Buck Read Free Book Online

said.
    “Well he’s up and walking, and if Doc said it was okay, I was planning on taking him home,” Carter said, but Walt lifted one eyebrow and scrunched up his face into a confused expression.
    “He’s not going home with you today. He’s staying here,” Walt stated, very matter of fact.
    Now it was Carter’s turn to throw Walt a confused expression of his own.
    “What do you mean he’s staying here? For how long?” Carter asked.
    “Permanently,” Walt said with a tone of finality. “He obviously can’t be back out in regular civilization without getting into trouble. His place his here.”
    “No, it’s not. He needs to get back into school. He needs a regular life,” Carter said. “He can’t stay trapped inside these walls for the rest of his life, surrounded by other ex-junkies. It’s not healthy.”
    “Listen, I just want what’s best for him,” Walt said.
    “So do I, and I’m his sponsor, not you.”
    “About that, I don’t think he’s ready for a sponsor. And as I said before, I don’t think you are ready for the responsibility.” Walt pointed at him.
    The already hot blood in Carter’s veins began to boil. Carter didn’t doubt that Walt had Barber’s best interests in mind, and his method for helping Users get clean was sound, but this was no environment for a young man to grow up in. Carter couldn’t escape the image of old Dan, wrinkled and decrepit, hiding for days on end in his cabin. That’s not what he wanted for Barber, and that is where the current path that Walt had him on, led. Exactly nowhere.
    “He’s going home with me today, so if you want to help, talk to him now. Otherwise get out of my way or not even Evan will be able to hold me back this time,” Carter said with a fire burning in his belly that was ready to explode.
    Walt let out a heavy sigh.
    “This is exactly what I’m talking about. The second something doesn’t go your way, your adrenaline starts pumping and your fight or flight responses start to kick in. Except you don’t seem to have the flight part quite down, so it’s always a fight,” He explained. ”How are you supposed to show Barber to live what you call a regular life, if you can’t even handle a grown-up discussion without it coming to fisticuffs? How will you teach him to cope and deal with life and the real world as a normal teen, nonetheless a User teen, without turning to drugs, when you can’t keep him clean for even a week?”
    Carter knew Walt meant no insult by his line of questioning and dropped his defenses.
    “Walt, I know I fucked up. I didn’t exactly have what you would call the most exemplary parental role model,” Carter said. “I didn’t get it, but I do now. I’ll pay better attention. I really believe I can do this. I understand him, and I know what he needs. I will make the effort, I will be more conscious of him, and really be there for him this time.”
    Walt eyed him skeptically for a moment.
    “If anyone deserves a second chance, it’s you. You can take him, but if something else bad happens to him, if he so much as gets a hangnail, you’ll have to answer to me,” Walt said.
    “Agreed. Now will you just go talk to him.”
    “Talk to who?” Barber asked.
    The two of them had been so deep in conversation, they hadn’t noticed as Barber walked right up behind them.
    “You,” Walt said. “Take a seat.”
    Walt motioned to the wooden patio furniture across the table from him. Barber slowly ambled his way over to the chair and sat down.
    “What’s up?” Barber asked. His eyes shifted from Walt to Carter and back to Walt nervously.
    “I’m just going to ask you flat out, because there’s no reason to beat around the bush here,” Walt said. “Have you relapsed?”
    “Y-Yes,” Barber said hesitantly.
    “When?”
    “The other day.”
    “Where’d you get it?”
    “School.”
    Carter sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You’re supposed to be going their to learn, not get