Fuentes Next

I didn't want to tell them about the pills. I'd already told them so much. Dad had no idea. They both knew nothing about the abortion. No one did, only Alysha. She kept her promise and told no one. I broke away from Dad and put my head in my hands. "When I got the band together and had to go to my trial everything changed. I couldn't do it. I lost. They told me that one of the worst nights so my life didn't even happen. Do you know how fucking unfair that is?" I asked. "But that's life. So I changed."
"You didn't have to." Mike said gently.
"No. I did," I told him. "I worked so hard for the band. I got the guitar player. I became manager as well as vocalist. I put everything I had into that band. I even cut my money just so everyone else would get paid. But it wasn't good enough. I had to skip all my classes. That's why I got called in by school. I didn't want anyone to be disappointed. But there weren't enough hours in the day."
"Oh God." Dad muttered. He was finally starting to get it.
"A friend of mine took these pills to get through uni. He would stay up for nights at time. I got the pills. I would take them and be able to go to school and then work on the band three nights in a row. I wouldn't need sleep."
"You did it for the band?" Dad asked and I nodded.
"I didn't think it was a problem. All that mattered was the band. I even lost all my old friends. But we had a meeting so it was okay. We went and I stayed behind to talk to the guy. He offered me a sure way of getting signed."
"You didn't?" Mike asked hopefully. I didn't reply and looked at Dad. He looked so defeated.
"Please, say you didn't." Dad said.
"I wanted to get signed so bad. It was quick and over. I wasn't even bothered at the time, I was in my head. After I felt awful. So I took more pills to make me happy and to make the sad go away."
"What that guy did was wrong." Mike told me.
"I know." I shrugged.
"We're going to make him regret touching you." Dad said angrily. I sighed but nodded. I was watching him get mad again. I stopped talking and waited. Slowly Dad started to calm down again.
"Then we went on tour. I was still taking the pills. I didn't need to. But I did need to. I needed them. Fay would try to get me to stop and say I was addicted but I didn't believe him. That's when I ended up in hospital. After they staged a little intervention for me... It didn't work. So I guess they thought tying me to a bed for a week and making me go cold turkey would get me off of them." I explained.
"Is that everything?" Dad asked and I nodded. He sat down and looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry for not being there for you, Effy."
"No, it's not your fault." I said thickly.
"Come here." he urged. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he held me close to him. I was practically sitting on his lap but I didn't care. I needed him. "I'm going to be there for you from now on. No more secrets. I promise."
"I promise." I agreed. "I don't want to keep anything from you anymore."
"We need to get you off the pills though." Mike said.
"How are you feeling?" Dad asked.
"Not as bad. I was shaking before and I didn't want anything touching my skin. But now it's better." I said. Mike and Dad both exchanged a look.
"How long were you here for?" Dad asked.
"Five days." I replied. Dad felt my forehead and smiled a little.
"You're not shaking." he told me.
"No, that stopped." I explained.
"I had a friend who's going to be unnamed," Mike said. "He may or may not be Casey. Anyway, he got hooked on something. We didn't want his family knowing and we couldn't afford therapy for him. So we just let him stay at our house for a few days. We wouldn't let him take anything and we watched him like a hawk. He was bad. But after he didn't need it anymore, we got him off of it." he explained.
"So Casey got addicted to something?" I asked.
"I said the person was remaining unnamed." Mike reminded me.
"So what?" I asked confused.
"What Mike is saying is that Casey managed to get past it after three days. You're not showing any of the cold turkey signs. You've been off them for five days now. Do you feel like you need to pills?" Dad said.
I thought for a while before I replied. Did I want one? Of course I did, they make me feel good and make me happy. But did I need them? I didn't think so, not anymore. "No." I finally said.
"You don't want to put all that in your body." Dad said. "I'd rather you smoking. Just not too much, especially what Mike smokes. If you smoke it all the time you'll end up stupid like him."
"Thanks Vic." Mike mumbled sarcastically.
"Do you... do you still want to talk to me? Am I still allowed to come home after tour?" I asked.
"You're always allowed to come home." Dad promised.
"Do you have any secrets you'd like to tell me?" I asked. I saw Dad look at Mike who was staring at the wall.
"None." Dad replied.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Positive." he smiled back at me. But something was off. It didn't seem right. But he did handle what I said very well. Perhaps I should leave it.

Notes

Hey! What do you think? Was you expecting that? Will Effy go back to the pills? Is Vic hiding something? :)