Chapter 9

I knocked on Joey's door and waited for an answer. There wasn't one. I was about to give up and go back home when he came around the side of the house, shirtless, sweaty... shirtless. He smiled at me and invited me to come around back where he was playing volleyball with Nowell.

"Hey Nowell. Uhm Joey, I need to talk to you guys. It's about Natie."

"Is she ok?" Nowell looked genuinely concerned.

"No. Since somebody decided to just leave her on my living room floor without a clue of what she had to drink or why she was frickin unconscious."

"I figured you could help her better than I could."

"You could always come up to my room and wake me up."

"Sorry. Why didn't you go to the party with her if you knew she was going to get falling down drunk and humiliate herself in front of everybody?"

I sighed. "Because she told me not too. She said there would be drinking and she didn't want me to be subjected to it."

"So you let your best friend practically kill herself with unknown amounts of booze?"

"Nowell.. shut up man." Joey put his shirt back on and tried to step between us, but I lunged at Nowell before he got the chance.

I kicked him as hard as I could in the shin and waited for him to fall backwards before I threw myself on top of him and started pounding his chest with my fists. Ok, so I fight like a girl.

"PIPER!" Joey grabbed my shoulders and yanked me back. He said something like, "Violence won't solve anything."

And of course I came back with my ever so pissy, "I DON'T GIVE A SHIT'S ASS!" Which made sense to me at the time. "My best friend is in my bathroom puking her guts out and singing about the very happy toilet! I woke up this morning to step on her head and hear an almost nothing tale about what happened last night! AND YOU SAY IT'S MY FAULT?!"

Nowell picked himself up off the ground and brushed off the back of his shorts. "Dude, nobody said anything was your fault. I'm just wondering why you haven't gotten her any help. How long's she been drinking?"

I sighed and push Joey away from me. "About 5 years."

"Since she was 12?"

"Oh... 6 years. She was 11."

"And you've let her go this long being a psycho drunk?"

I lunged at him again and threw him into the ground. "DO YOU WANNA EAT DIRT?! YOU THINK I HAVEN'T TRIED TO GET HER HELP?!" I grabbed a hunk of earth and shoved it into his face. "SHE HAS A BETTER FUCKING CHANCE OF GETTING HELP THAN YOU HAVE OF VOLUNTARILY EATING THIS DIRT!"

Joey pulled me off of him again and this time I shoved him backwards. "Would you LEAVE ME ALONE?! I wanna beat the shit outa him. Now just let me!"

Joey shook his head and pulled me to the front of the house.

"What the hell is your problem?! I coulda taken him."

"Yeah. I'm sure you could have. But you didn't need too. Look, I've known you and Natalie for a while and I know that she needs some help. Dammit, the girl's about 2 steps from being Ruthie on the Real World."

"You watch that show?"

"No. That's not the point. Just get her some help, put her in rehab or something. And please, don't make me eat dirt for saying that."

I know they were just trying to help, but I knew more than anybody that Natie wouldn't go into rehab. She hated councelors and...people in general. I just wanted to help her myself. "I'm just gonna keep her away from parties and stuff until she's..."

"Until she's what?"

"I dunno. How do you tell if a person's cured from alcoholism?"

"See, that's just it. You have no clue about alcoholics."

"I don't?" I could tell by the look on his face, he knew he hit a soft spot. He instantly took a step backwards. "I... Don't know about alcoholics? Are you fucking kidding me?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I'VE LIVED WITH MY WHOLE LIFE?!"

He shook his head.

"I lost my father to alcoholism. We told him time and time again to get help but he wouldn't. And now we've lost him. He's not the same man anymore. He's a drunken fool. And you're telling me I don't know anything about it?! I know EXACTLY what needs to be done and I know that Natie isn't going to get help from strangers. She needs help from people that love her. A shrink isn't gonna be able to do shit besides nod her head and write down Natie's life story on paper just to forget about it the next time she meets with her. I've been to a shrink before, Joey. And they do shit. Rehad isn't gonna be any better. Got that?! Now don't ever tell me that I don't know about alcoholism again or you'll be missing some vital external organs that are involved in the reproduction of little Joey's. You got that?"

Joey swallowed hard and nodded slowly. I don't think he knew I had it in me to be that bitchy. I mean, I'd always been a bitch to him, but he never really gave me a reason before. Now he had. I gave him one last dirty look and headed back to my house to help Natalie get home.

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