Shifting Sands (eBook)

Anna Treloar (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018 | 1. Auflage
194 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-5439-5531-6 (ISBN)

Infos

Freedom Hall looks large, modern and very stable. But inside both staff and patients are in a state of flux. Freedom is not licence though, and some will pay a price for the choices they make. When Chaz and Mary-Lou arrive there one cold winter night, one will seek sanctuary and safety while the other will prove the catalyst for change.

Textauszug

Chapter One

Mary-Lou

The train had emptied and most passengers had left the platform already. Chaz was annoyed. He had been told that there would be somebody waiting to pick him up. It was very cold. The sun had set long ago. The waiting room at the station was locked and there was no heating anywhere. He ignored the “No Smoking” sign and found a cigarette. Just the action of selecting it from the packet, lighting it and taking the first drag calmed him. He blew out a very complicated smoke ring and noticed a small figure huddled on a bench at the far end of the platform. It seemed to be a girl. He decided to walk closer and take a look. She did not notice him approaching until he said “Hi there. Waiting for somebody?”

She started nervously. “I, uh, yes…but nobody’s come. And I don’t know this town at all. I, uh, I can’t think what to do now”.

So where are you headed then?” asked Chaz, seeing a chance.

“Mm, just a place where I can stay for a bit. Till I….” she broke off uncertainly, noticing somebody at the other end of the platform.

“Looks like my lift at last” said Chaz. “About time too. They knew when the train would get in. I don’t like to be kept waiting”.

Toby walked up to the pair. “Hi” he said. “You must be the people for Freedom, right?”

“Mate, mate, good to meet you”. Chaz wrung Toby’s hand. “Can we get going? It would freeze a witch’s tits off here. No, only got my backpack, nothing else”.

Toby turned to the young woman. “You right to go then?” he asked. “What’s your name again?”

“Mary-Lou” whispered the woman. She stood up and went to wheel her suitcase behind her. “I’ll take that for you” said Toby. “Car’s outside. Hope they left you some dinner. We told them to but they don’t always remember. You know how it is”.

“No worries at all, mate” said Chaz. “I got a couple of pies on the train”.

Mary-Lou said nothing. The train ticket and a cup of coffee at the station before the eight hour journey had used up all the rest of her money. She wondered if she could at least make some toast and a cup of tea when they arrived, but did not like to ask. She was overwhelmed by everything that had happened to her in the last week. Toby seemed kind but Chaz frightened her. There was something about him which she found unsettling.

Silently she followed the men outside to the carpark. Toby lifted her suitcase into the boot and signalled to her to take the front passenger seat. Chaz went to light up another cigarette but Toby said “No smoking any more, sorry. Not in the car and not in the centre. Against the rules”.

“But rules are made to be broken aren’t they?” smiled Chaz, looking for his lighter in his pocket.

“I mean it” Toby said. “Strictly no smoking”.

Chaz started to say something, but thought better of it. He put his cigarette away again and climbed into the rear seat. He felt in his backpack. Yes, the pills were still there, hidden in the lining underneath a seam. “Don’t want to start on the wrong foot” he thought to himself. “Keep in good with them till I find out what’s the go”.

Mary-Lou stared out the window into the darkness. She knew nobody here and it was a long way from what she had grown up with and from everything she was familiar with. She could never have imagined having to come here. Only two years ago her life had been fine – not exciting, not even enviable perhaps, but she had had enough, her boyfriend, her dog and a garden flat at the back of her grandmother’s house, with a job at the local supermarket and at the weekend, netball with her friends and then maybe dinner at the pub afterwards, if she had enough money. She and her boyfriend had talked about getting married sometimes, but when he found work interstate, he left without asking her to come too. She had received a few texts in the first few weeks he was away, but then nothing, and when she tried to ring, the number was disconnected.

She watched as houses, gardens, cars and trees rolled past. After what seemed like only a few blocks, the car drew up outside a large modern building which blazed with lights. An enormous gum tree stood outside shading the front door. Toby parked the car, and came round to help her with her suitcase. Chaz jumped out, reached for his backpack and said “Bigger than I expected. Do we get our own rooms? I’m not sharing - been there, done that before”. He remembered the prison cell and the unpleasant cellmates he had been forced to live with.

Mary-Lou, who already looked pale and strained, now looked even paler. Share a room? With a stranger? Surely not. She felt she could only just manage this new venture if at least she had some privacy, and a place where she could escape and hide.

Toby did not answer Chaz’s question as he was already unlocking the front door with his electronic swipe card.

“OK, guys, this is it” he said. “I’ll take you round to the office and then leave you to the night worker. My shift’s over and I’m already late. Catch you tomorrow maybe. All the best”.

He led them though a large foyer and stopped outside a door marked “Office”.

“Cheers mate” Chaz replied, looking around his new environment with interest. It seemed clean, modern and new, which he thought was good. He wondered what the program would be like and who else would be there. The main thing was to do the three months without too much trouble and then he would be able to move on and do what he wanted again.

Chaz knocked on the office door and it was opened by one of the most frightening men Mary-Lou had ever seen. His brawny arms were covered in intricate tattoos, he wore silver ear-rings in both ears, he sported a black leather vest, and a goatee beard obscured the lower part of his face. Chaz moved forward and proffered his hand. “Chaz” he said, “Pleased to meet you. Now can we get through the paperwork, whatever it is you want, quick as possible? I want to get round to my room and settle in”.

“Not so fast” replied the man. Mary-Lou noticed he had bright blue eyes and they seemed kindly. “First of all, what are you here for – detox or rehab?” “Oh rehab of course” said Chaz. “Done the detox bit last week. Suppose you want to see the bit of paper about that? – detox clearance they call it”.

“Yes, we’ll need that and we also collect a urine specimen from all new arrivals so we can do a baseline drug screen - test for drugs”. Chaz looked taken aback, but only for a moment. “Mate, you know how it is” he said in a conciliatory way. “All day on the train, couldn’t afford even a cup of tea let alone something to eat, water bottle ran out after an hour, sorry but I have nothing to contribute at the moment. Later?”

The man sighed. He had heard stories like this many times before. “Tomorrow then” he said. “Now I need to do a bag search. No mobile, no tobacco, no drugs, prescribed medication goes in the clinic until it can be checked tomorrow. OK?”

“Smoked my last on the station” said Chaz. “No mobile. Who’ve I got to call anyway? Drugs? I wish - sorry that was a joke. Can I just sign the paperwork and get to my room? By the way, what’s your name anyway?”

“Jacko” replied the worker. “So I’ll show you your room first then. Sign for the key. Dinner’s over but you can make tea and coffee, and there are biscuits and fruit for snacks. Room inspection at 8 am tomorrow, program starts at 9 am tomorrow. Don’t be late. They are very strict about attendances here. Your case manager will meet you tomorrow after the 9 am meeting and fill you in on everything else”.

“Sweet” said Chas, relieved he had managed to avoid a search.

“Just take a seat and wait for me” Jacko said to Mary-Lou. “Be with you in a minute”.

Mary-Lou sat down in the armchair Jacko had indicated. Her stomach rumbled. Her mouth was dry. She felt dizzy. Nothing to eat since last night, nothing to drink except for stagnant water from the water dispenser after that cup of coffee at the station before the train left. Detox – to her it was a shameful word. She had no idea what would happen here.

She did not fully understand why she had had to come here. Two years ago she had injured her back lifting boxes at the supermarket. She had been told to get the shelves fully stocked before the sale started, but there was nobody to help her. The manager went back to his office after he had issued the instruction so she worked on alone, until she misjudged the weight of a box, and found she could hardly straighten up. She did her best to finish the task and to get through the shift because she needed the money. She took the last available appointment that evening at the local doctor’s surgery, and the doctor, a kindly man who had known her and her family for all the years he had worked in the suburb, prescribed “something for pain”, advised rest, and wrote a referral to the physiotherapist.

The pills were like magic to Mary-Lou. It wasn’t only the pain that went away, so did all the worries and stresses which were part of her daily life. She used up all the pills...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 17.12.2018
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Pflege
• ISBN-10: 1-5439-5531-2 / 1543955312
• ISBN-13: 978-1-5439-5531-6 / 9781543955316