He wheezes a laugh and slaps his thigh. “Okay, thanks.Uhhhmm…” He rubs his chin and squints one eye. “So basically, my brother found you guys some months back. He’s pretty much taken care of me for likeever.” He draws in a deep breath and huffs. “He’s pretty mad. He gets mad at me a lot, and I don’t blame him. I’m not the easiest person to deal with, and I’ve got a lot of problems.” He points at the files. “All that stuff. Y’know.”
I nod and swallow the bile attempting to creep up my throat. “I do.”
“Yeah.” Archer nods quickly and emphatically, and then chews the side of his thumb. “So Colin… That’s my brother. I’m sure you read that, too.”
I offer a neutral, single nod. “Right.”
“Yeah, so Colin’s tried a lot of things to fix this mess, but I keep fucking it up.” His eyes flick to mine. “Isfuckokay, too?”
I smile again. “Yes.”
“Okay, just making sure.” He slaps his palms to the tops of his thighs and rubs them firmly. “So, I’ve been fucking it up for so long that he’s pretty much ready to wash his hands of me. This is my last shot. That’s what he said. So he hired you guys and gave me this incentive for making it happen and making it permanent this time. And I really want that incentive because it’ll let me do some stuff that I think I would be a lot happier doing, and would keep me out of trouble in the future. I haven’t ever had a real career or job, I just had work that I tried to do to make rent and keep Colin from having to always pay for my shit. Y’know? But because I never even finished high school, it’s always been like… just do what I could do. I’m flyin’ by the seat of my pants and treading water. Y’know? So he was like, if you can do this, I’ll give you this incentive that’ll allow you to pursue something that fulfills you, and you won’t have to worry about making money so you’ll be able to just throw yourself into it.”
“And do you have an idea of what that is?” I gesture with an open palm. “Meaning, the thing that you want to pursue that’s fulfilling.”
“Yeah.” Archer waggles his head in another rapid nod. “Back in school, I was really good at theatre. Like acting on stage. It was the only thing I ever did that just made me feelalive. Y’know? And he was like, we live in New York. You could do that. So I think that’s my goal if I can get through this program and earn the incentive.”
I nod as I scribbleWants to pursue actingon my notepad. “That’s a really good goal. I’ll work that in to our long-term plan for you. There’s obviously a few baseline goals we need to hit before we get to you pursuing that, but a long-term goal gives you something to shoot for and motivate yourself.” I pause as I roll the rest of his lengthy explanation over in my mind, and then poise my pen above the pad again. “You mentioned an incentive a few times. Is that a specific thing or just the general idea of successful recovery?”
“Oh.” Archer theatrically checks the closed office door and then leans across the desk, brown brows high on his forehead. “So I’ve never been able to stay clean for more than a month or so.But… he said if I can stay clean for a wholeyearwhile I do this program… he’s gonna give me amillion dollars. Like literallyone million dollars.”
My brows shoot upward, but I quickly recover as I turn my head down to make a bunch of superfluous notes merely to occupy myself for a few seconds.
Holy fuck.
That’swhy Colin needed the sale with Ernesto Reyes’ company.
That’swhy he wasn’t ever content to just nail down regular sales and snag typical commissions. He needed a lump sum to pay off his brother in an effort to get him to sober up.
And all ofthatis why he neededme.
Oh my God,my mind whispers.He is so fucked up. He is a classic enabler, and this is a classic codependent relationship, and this “incentive” isnevergoing to work.
I clear my throat as I finish writing unnecessary notes and look back up. “That’s um… very generous of him. How do you feel about him offering you money to stay sober?”
Archer bounces slightly in his chair. “Oh, I feel good about it.”
I blink. “Do you think the idea of having that money in a year is enough to keep you motivated and stay sober later?”
He nods emphatically. “Ohyeah.”
“Okay, well.” I gulp discreetly and fight the urge to facepalm. “As nice as that is for him to do, it would be my advice that you don’t focus on that as your motivation.” I sit back in my chair. “I know that in this world, money is unfortunately… kind of a ticket to freedom. But if money is your only motivation, you’re going to set yourself up to fail. And I would suggest that you consider the idea of your own pride and self-worth as being far more valuable. Imagine you’re able to get through this program, finally have your high school diploma, and be a working actor, paying your own bills doing what you love, and your brother doesn’t have to provide for you anymore. And while you’re doing that, you just have this nice nest egg that’s available if you need it.” I hitch a shoulder. “If it were me, I’d be a lot more fulfilled if I did all of that stuff and never even needed to touch that money. That would make me really proud of myself. And I think, if I had a brother like Colin, that would make him proud, too.” I open the file to Archer’s statement of intent. “And making him proud is what you specifically said you wanted when you wrote this.”
Archer’s jittery behavior miraculously stills for a moment as he leans forward to peer at his own writing. He stares at it for a long time, and his prominent Adam’s apple bobs at the center of his thin neck. When he looks back up at me, those crystalline blue eyes are red-rimmed and brimming.
He leans back and sniffs, wiping his nose on his sleeve. “I do. That’s the most important thing to me. Truthfully.”
I smile. “I can tell. So let’s makethatyour incentive. Picture Colin looking at you and being so proud that he’s beaming.” My own eye rims start to prick, and I blink rapidly to neutralize my expression. “Picture him saying, ‘I knew you could do it, Archer. I’ve always believed in you. And you proved me right.’”
A half-laugh-half-sob bursts out of Archer’s mouth, and he wipes his eyes. “That would be awesome.”
I nod. “It would be awesome. So are you ready to work towardthat?”
He offers a silent nod.
“Okay.” Turning in my chair, I retrieve the form that will really get all of this started. “So we’re going to fill this out, and tomorrow morning, you’re going to check yourself into rehab.”
Archer visibly stiffens, but his eyes suddenly have a shadow of that same intense focus and determination that I’ve seen countless times in Colin’s. And that’s when I know for sure that, regardless of whatever bumps in the road he encounters, Archer’s going to make it this time.
