He was a great guy and I couldn’t wait to see him outside of the treatment center, but I had to stay away from him there. The problem I had was I literally felt drawn to him. I was happy when I was around him. He made me smile and brightened up my day. Even while we had avoided each other on the unit, I still felt so excited every time I looked at him.
When he pulled me into the doorway and kissed me, I wanted it so badly. I wanted to stay there and kiss him all day long. After I arrived back home, I laid on my bed for hours thinking about what life might be like between us when he got out. He could stick around Aspen for a while; we could go on dates and get to know each other.
I’d love to learn more about his company and his friend. I knew he didn’t have other family who cared for him, but I still wanted to know more about him and how he had become estranged from the rest of his family. It really felt like we were a good match.
As I walked onto the unit, there was a visible disturbance going on in the corner. Most of the patients were looking that way, and I saw Susan trying standing like she was ready to pounce on whoever was fighting.
We didn’t often get fights on our units, or at least not fights that actually required any physical involvement. We often had verbal arguments that got a little out of hand and required a staff member to intervene and calm the patients down. So, I hurried over to the area to see what was going on and if I was needed.
“What’s going on?” I asked Brianna as I made my way closer.
“Erik got into a fight with his Dad, I think, and now his brother.”
Since Erik hadn’t really talked about his family at all, I wasn’t sure who exactly he was fighting with. It was my understanding he didn’t have anyone who cared about him. I hurried over to get a closer look and found one man posturing like he was getting ready to punch Erik. I moved forward to stop the argument, but Susan grabbed a hold of me and stopped me.
“He’s not going to punch him,” she said. “Just wait.”
I was hesitant to wait. The last thing Erik needed was a wild family member trying to attack him. But I followed orders and waited for a minute to see if things calmed down.
“You can’t just buy your way back into this family,” the visitor to the unit yelled. “You think you can just buy what you want. You can’t buy me.”
“Heath, I was trying to do something good for you and Dad. That’s all,” Erik said calmly as he stayed away from the other man.
“Dad doesn’t take charity. I don’t take charity. Whatever this is, it won’t make things better.”
It was his brother, but I couldn’t figure out what had happened and why it was nearly a fist fight. Erik didn’t strike me as the kind of man who would fight with his family, but then again, I barely knew anything about them and only a little more about Erik. He
had been so closed about his story. I was listening to the argument and trying to figure out what the heck was going on.
“Heath, it’s not charity if it’s family. I just wanted to make life easier for you two. I don’t own the company. I don’t own your house. I don’t own Dad’s house. I just sent them the money so you don’t have to pay anymore.”
“No, I saw the paper. It says Erik Levy.”
Erik seemed exasperated as he tried to explain what was going on. He grabbed a piece of paper off of the table and slowly walked over to his brother who still had his fists up. Erik was calm and looked his brother right in the eyes as he started to talk.
“Heath, this is just a receipt of payment. That’s all. You will get the deed in the mail in a few weeks. Look, see right here, it says ‘the deed will arrive in two to three weeks,’” Erik said.
“It doesn’t say the deed with be in our names. The only name on that paper is yours.”
“Heath, I didn’t buy your house. What would I do with your house? You’re such a baby.”
“I am not.”
“You are, too,” Erik said as the two men sounded exactly like two brothers in an argument. “Now, go get Dad from outside and let’s figure this out.”
“Anything I can help with here?” Jarrod asked as he walked in on the scene.
“Yes!” Erik exclaimed. “I paid off my father’s business and both of their homes. But they both seem to be angry at me and think that I actually bought their homes.”
“Erik has never done a single nice thing for us. It’s not weird that we would think he tried to buy the business,” Heath defended his opinion.
“How about we get everyone together and head to my office? I’m sure we can work things out,” Jarrod said calmly.
Jarrod was bigger than both the men and stood between them as he made his suggestion, clearly more of an actual direction for them to do as he said. He had an intimidating presence, although he was really one of the best counselors I knew. He was much better than the therapists I had dealt with at my treatment center. In fact, most of the therapists I had spent our sessions talking about their own sobriety and hardly working with me at all. It was a wonder I was ever able to make it out of treatment and succeed at all.
I have learned that treatment is as much about your state of mind as it is about the people you surround yourself with. Sure, I might not have had the best treatment center in the world, but I didn’t use that as an excuse. When I returned home, I knew I had to build a support network of people who I could really count on, and I did it.
My heart actually grew as I heard what had happened with Erik and his family. They didn’t get along, and Erik still paid off their debts. I knew there must have been more to the story, but I had to commend the guy for making an effort at rebuilding those old relationships. If his family decided not to forgive him or not to have him in their life, that would be their decision, but it was clear that Erik was making an effort.