“I’m Sonny Andrews.” He shook hands with everyone before sitting down. “I want to thank you for coming, as it is imperative for Grady’s recovery to know his family supports him.”
Dr. Andrews relaxed in his chair and looked at each of them. “I want to go over what Grady and I have been working on. When you’re an addict, you have many wars within yourself. Not only is your body fighting against your decision to get clean, but the war also makes you second-guess yourself and the people surrounding you. Grady is slowly working through events and has accepted that his road to recovery is going to be harder than anticipated. He has some anger issues to work on, self-deprecation and esteem issues, and the overall feeling that he doesn’t belong on earth.
“I ask that you listen, answer his questions, and tell him your fears and how we can work together to make Grady’s time in rehab more meaningful. Grady, you indicated earlier that you’d like to start.”
He nodded, moved his hospital-issued shoes around, and cleared his throat. “My family thinks I’m a failure, and I believe they wish I would’ve died that night.”
That night. The one that haunted everyone.
“Oh, Grady,” Johanna choked out. She reached for his hand, but he pulled it away. Graham saw how his brother was breaking their mom’s heart.
“Why do you feel this way, Grady?”
“I can see it in their eyes. I can sense it when I’m around them. They don’t want me anymore.”
“That’s not true,” Johanna said. “We want you, Grady. Why do you think we’ve been doing what we have all these years?”
“Which is what, Mrs. Chamberlain?”
Johanna stilled. Graham watched as his mother shut down. She would never admit to an outsider their part in Grady’s addiction, but Graham would. “We’ve enabled from the beginning,” he started and glanced quickly at his father. “At first, we called it coping. What he experienced the night in question—we never actually knew how it affected him; we only assumed, so we drank with him. We got him drunk, held him while he vomited all over the place, picked him up in the middle of the night, and drove him home. I can admit it was nice forgetting everything or at least putting a foggy haze over what transpired. But then, weeks turned into a month, which turned into two, three became four, and a year later, he was still drunk, and we still enabled. It’s been a very long and difficult fifteen and a half years, and Grady hasn’t seen a sober day since, and until recently, my family has always given him a safe place to drink.”
“That would be the Whale Spout?” Dr. Andrews asked.
Graham nodded. “The bar has been in our family for generations. I now co-own it with my father, and I firmly believe the reason my dad won’t relinquish the rest of his ownership is because he wants Grady to be able to drink there freely.”
“Do you disagree, Mr. Chamberlain?” All eyes were on the patriarch of the family. George was uncomfortable under the scrutiny but nodded.
“I didn’t want my son to go without or for him to be one of the people you see on the street corner. I tried to protect him. I thought if he had a roof over his head, warm meals, and clean clothes, he would someday come to his senses. I can see now the mistakes I’ve made.” Johanna placed her hand in George’s and kept it there.
“Grady, do you blame your dad for your addictions?”
He shook his head.
“Graham, Grady told me about an episode which happened over the summer on the beach. He said you hurt him.”
Graham tensed as his parents made eye contact with him. He cleared his throat and said, “This past summer, a friend who had disappeared after the accident returned. Grady blames her for Austin’s death. I think her return triggered something in him, because he changed a lot. He became more manic, demanding, bordering on violence. We were having a party on the beach, and he went after her. I tackled him to the ground to get him away from everyone.”
“Grady, how did that make you feel?”
“Like my brother chose his friends over me.”
Partly true, but Graham wouldn’t admit it. He wanted Grady far away from everyone because when he was around, he caused a scene. What he had done to Brooklyn was inexcusable.
“I was trying to save Grady. Others were there and protective over the woman he went after. It wasn’t going to end well for him.”
“Have you always tried to protect Grady?”
Graham nodded. “Up until this past summer, and then I stopped caring.”
“Why’s that?” Dr. Andrews asked.
“Because after the incident at the beach, I suspected he was using but couldn’t confirm anything, and one morning, I got to work, and the back door had been busted in, cases of beer and booze gone. I didn’t want to think it was my brother, but when he didn’t show up to the bar day after day, those suspicions grew. I told our dad Grady wasn’t welcome in the bar anymore.”