evening to tell her what was going on. Ebby had warned her that drug addicts could be very unpredictable and that she should be careful around Sara. In the meantime, she assured Alessa she would work on getting Sara into one of the county rehabilitation clinics.
The next morning, Lucy woke and stumbled to the bathroom. The child was groggy as she eyed the small bag containing white residue with a syringe lying in the sink. Startled, she jumped back and ran to find Alessa. That’s when she heard a commotion in the kitchen and rushed across the hallway in a few strides.
Alessa, Remo, and Sara were in the kitchen together. Sara was naked, and Alessa was holding her by the arm as she tried to break free and lunge toward Remo.
“Come on, man!” Sara kept saying. “You can’t find a ten-dollar whirl in the sack as good as me out there. Come on, man. You can do whatever you want to me.”
Shocked and disgusted by the sight, Lucy lost her temper. Without a moment’s hesitation, she stepped in front of Sara with her hands balled into fists. “Sara, stop it! You’re acting like a whore! You can’t act like this in our house. Either stop it or get out!”
Lucy’s intervention startled Sara, but it surprised Alessa and Remo more. Sara seemed to sober up for a moment, as she looked down at this eleven-year-old who had called her a whore. Then she collapsed on the kitchen floor and lay there, exhausted. As Alessa sat holding her, Lucy quickly snatched up a blanket from the sofa and covered Sara with it. When they finally got her settled, she confessed that she’d found a little dope in a bag she had forgotten was with her and had figured she’d do it up. Sara was still out of it, but something about the things Lucy had said to her had brought her a little closer to reality.
Ebby called later that morning to tell them she had succeeded in placing Sara in a rehab center. They could take her over anytime that morning. Alessa explained what had transpired, but as the effect of the drugs eventually wore off, Sara agreed to go. Alessa reflected that like her, Sara’s life was so different now.
Early that afternoon, Remo and Alessa drove Sara down to the rehabilitation clinic. At her insistence, they stayed by her through the admission process. When asked, she readily agreed to give blood samples to test for STDs, including HIV and other venereal diseases she might have contracted on the streets. Sara admitted to having unprotected sex with men and women in the last eight months when she had to turn to prostitution to make money. As Alessa heard her describe her drug habits and her experiences with prostitution to the psychologist assigned to her, she shared Sara’s pain and regret. She knew that the psychologist was more interested in understanding if Sara was a risk to herself or others in the clinic. It was something she had learned in school, an important aspect of her work when she dealt with any addiction.
It took over two hours to complete the admission procedures. By that time, Sara was far more sober than they had seen her since she arrived at their doorstep. She recognized Alessa now and grew frantic as the time for them to leave arrived.
“I totally screwed up my life, Alessa,” she said. “Please don’t hate me.”
Alessa held her tight. “I could never hate you, Sara,” she said sincerely. “I want to see you get better, though. By the way, this is my husband, Remo.”
Sara looked at him, and her face flushed with embarrassment. From Remo’s hesitant stance, she suspected awful things were said to him in her drug-induced stupor.
“Nice to meet you, Remo,” she said shamefully. “I’m truly sorry for anything I might have said or done.”
Remo patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about anything,” he reassured her. “Focus on getting yourself better. Okay?”
***
As Alessa and Remo drove back to the Outside Inn, she told him how easily Sara’s life could have been hers. She reminded him that Sara had helped her and Lucy by bringing them together. Remo knew her well enough to understand that she didn’t want him to despise Sara.
“Look,” he said, “it’s not like I haven’t seen people on drugs before. We will visit her later and see what we can do to help her through this.”
Alessa relaxed in the seat next to him. “Some honeymoon, huh, Remo?”
He shrugged. “Well, at least we can say it wasn’t boring. We still have three more days left anyway, so how about if we enjoy the rest of our time together?”
Alessa leaned back into the car seat. “Sounds like a plan.”
