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The east caldwell community center was located between Caldie Pizza & Mexican and the Caldwell Tennis Acade old far acreage had been used to grow corn, the place had a nice front lawn and a flagpole and so sets out back

When Phury materialized behind the facility, all he could think about was getting gone again He checked his watch Tento make himself stay

God, he wanted a red s laps in his ribs and his pal washcloths and his itchy skin was driving hiet out of his body, he looked at the parking lot Twenty cars were in it, with no pattern in the makes or models There were trucks and Toyotas and a Saab convertible and a pink VW Bug and three minivans and a MINI Cooper

He put his hands in his pockets and walked over the grass to the sidewalk that ran around the building When he reached the asphalt stretch thatlot, he took it over to the double doors under the aluminum-sided porte cochere

Inside, the place smelled like coconut Maybe from the floor wax on the linoleu off, a humanfading as the door marked MEN eased shut behind hiuy asked as he dried his hands with a paper towel He had kind brown eyes, like a retriever, and a tweedy jacket that looked heavy for summer His tie was knit

"Ah, I don&039;t know"

"Well, if you&039;re looking for the , it&039;s down in the basement" His smile was so natural and easy, Phury nearly returned it before he reoing there now if you want to come with me If you want to wait a little, that&039;s fine too"

Phury looked down at theback and forth, back and forth

"I&039;uy said "Hands are sweaty"

Phury smiled a little "You know I think maybe I&039;ll come with you"

"Good I&039;m Jonathon"

"I&039;lad they didn&039;t shake He didn&039;t have a paper towel, and his pockets werehis oeaty palms worse

The ECCC&039;s basement had cement-block walls that ashed in creah-traffic dark brown; and a lot of fluorescent lights in the low ceiling Most of the thirty or so chairs that were arranged in a fat circle had someone parked in them, and when Jonathon headed to a vacancy at the center, Phury nodded a see-you-later and took one as close to the door as he could

"It&039;s nine o&039;clock," a wo to her feet, she read off a piece of paper: "Everything that&039;s said here, re, there is no side conversation or cross talk"

He didn&039;t hear the rest of it because he was too busy checking out as there No one else earing Aquascutue range was early twenties to late forties, maybe because the time of day was convenient for folks orked or went to school

Staring at the faces, he tried to figure out what each one had done to end up here, in this coconut-s, stark basement with their butts planted on black plastic

He didn&039;t belong here These were not his people, and not just because none of theht

He stayed anyway, because he had nowhere else to go, and he wondered whether that could be true for soroup," the wo to talk"

Jonathon stood up His hands were still working the re back and forth over as now an iar

"Hi,of hellos bounced around the roo addict I I, ah, I used cocaine for about a decade and lost just about everything I&039;ve been to jail twice I&039;ve had to declare bankruptcy I lost my house My wife she, ah, she divorced ht after that, I lostfrom bender to bender

"I&039;ve been clean since, yeah, last August But I still think about using I live in transitional housing right now because I got through rehab and I have a new job Started teeks ago I&039; in a prison, actually The prison I was an inmate in Math, it&039;s math" Jonathon cleared his throat "Yeah so, ah, one year ago tonight one year ago tonight I was in an alley don I was ht Not by the cops By the guy whose territory ere in I got shot in the side and the thigh I"

Jonathan cleared his throat again "As I lay there bleeding, I felt et moved around The shooter took my coat and my wallet and my watch, then he pistol-whipped me in the head I really I really shouldn&039;t be here right now" There were a lot of uh-huhs s like this because I had nowhere else to go Now I choose to coht h Soin, so I don&039;t look into the future any further than next Tuesday at nine o&039;clock When I coain So, yeah, that&039;s where I&039;ve been and where I am"

Jonathon sat back down

Phury waited for people to pile on with the questions and the comments Instead, someone else stood up "Hi, my name is Ellis"

And that was it Person after person testifying about their addiction

When it was nine fifty-three, according to the clock on the wall, the black-haired woman stood up "And now for the Serenity Prayer"

Phury rose to his feet with the rest of them and was shocked when someone reached for his hand

His palh

He didn&039;t knohether he was going to -haul The wizard had been with hi he did knoas that next Tuesday at nine pain

He left with the others, and as the night air hit hiht up

As everyone else scattered to their cars and engines started and headlights cas with his hands on his knees and his feet planted on the patch of raw earth

For a second, he thought he was being watched¡ªalthough maybe paranoia was an offshoot of recovery, who the hell knew

After about ten minutes, he found a dark shadow and dematerialized upstate to Rehv&039;s place

As he took for he saas a figure at the sliding glass doors of the den

Cor outside, she quietly closed the slider and crossed her arms for warmth The bulky Irish knit sweater she had on was his, and the leggings had been borrowed fro and loose, down to her hips, and the lights froold