muscle.’ He rubs a hand across his belly. ‘I’ve been working out.’
‘Your wrist, maybe.’
‘Blimey, it’s horrible isn’t it?’ Caroline says when she reaches them. ‘Hasn’t stopped all day.’
‘I haven’t been out,’ Heather says.
Caroline looks at her watch. ‘Should we go in?’
‘Probably should,’ Chris says. ‘You don’t want Robin beating you to the biscuits.’
Caroline looks at him, expressionless. She says, ‘Why are you such a hateful cunt?’
If Chris is taken aback, he doesn’t show it. He cocks his head. ‘I think it’s just a gift.’
Heather pushes open the gate and starts walking towards the front door. She turns and shouts to Caroline over her shoulder. ‘Honest, apparently. He’s an honest cunt.’
… THEN
‘So, everyone had a good week?’
Tony looks around the group. He makes eye contact with Caroline, who nods enthusiastically. By now, someone else will have filled her in, let her know that the seemingly innocent enquiry with which he always kicks things off is a well-understood code within the group for a rather more important question.
Have you stayed clean? Are you still drug and alcohol free?
Tony is less concerned at these sessions with those behaviours that have, in some cases, replaced the more dangerous ones. It was often the way it worked when you were dealing with addictive personalities. He remains concerned about Diana’s compulsive shopping and he suspects that Robin is still regularly using prostitutes, but they are not the primary issue. Besides, not all these secondary activities have been shared with other members of the group.
Different therapists have different time frames. The one day at a time brigade usually demand that anyone attending a session must have been clean for the previous twenty-four hours, while others insist on a longer period of abstinence. Seven days works well enough for Tony. It’s what he’d become used to when he was in therapy.
‘Good,’ Tony says. ‘So let’s crack on.’
A day, a week, a month. Whatever the time frame, it doesn’t preclude simple dishonesty, of course. And addicts are very good at lying.
One member of the group will not make eye contact and Tony can’t help wondering just how ‘good’ Chris’s week has been. If he has done something rather more damaging than spending whole days playing video games or watching online pornography. Chris is the member of the circle Tony is most concerned about. He’s the most unpredictable, the most chaotic. He decides to try and talk to Chris privately when their time is up and suggest a few one-to-one sessions.
‘I’m wondering if maybe we should address one of the issues from last week.’ Tony glances down at the notepad on his lap. ‘There was a certain amount of friction between Caroline and Chris…’
‘No friction from me,’ Caroline says. ‘I was on the receiving end.’
‘He was at it again when we were outside,’ Heather says.
Chris mutters, ‘Grass,’ just loud enough for Tony to hear.
‘What were you doing outside?’ Tony asks.
‘Just talking,’ Heather says. ‘Having a fag, you know? Then Caroline arrives and he kicks off with the fat stuff.’
‘We don’t want that kind of thing in here,’ Tony says. He sits back, appearing genuinely saddened. ‘Conflict is nearly always counter-productive and we do not reject people because of who or what they are, especially because at some point that’s exactly what’s happened to
us
. Right? Chris, come on, you know how we work. You’re not a beginner.’
Chris looks at the floor, shrinks a little, like a chided schoolboy.
‘Look, it’s fine,’ Caroline says.
‘No, it isn’t,’ Robin says.
‘He should apologise.’ Diana looks for support. ‘He should just say sorry and we can all move on.’
Tony acknowledges the nods and murmurs of agreement and looks to his left. ‘Chris?’
It takes half a minute or so, then Chris raises his head and looks across
‘Your wrist, maybe.’
‘Blimey, it’s horrible isn’t it?’ Caroline says when she reaches them. ‘Hasn’t stopped all day.’
‘I haven’t been out,’ Heather says.
Caroline looks at her watch. ‘Should we go in?’
‘Probably should,’ Chris says. ‘You don’t want Robin beating you to the biscuits.’
Caroline looks at him, expressionless. She says, ‘Why are you such a hateful cunt?’
If Chris is taken aback, he doesn’t show it. He cocks his head. ‘I think it’s just a gift.’
Heather pushes open the gate and starts walking towards the front door. She turns and shouts to Caroline over her shoulder. ‘Honest, apparently. He’s an honest cunt.’
… THEN
‘So, everyone had a good week?’
Tony looks around the group. He makes eye contact with Caroline, who nods enthusiastically. By now, someone else will have filled her in, let her know that the seemingly innocent enquiry with which he always kicks things off is a well-understood code within the group for a rather more important question.
Have you stayed clean? Are you still drug and alcohol free?
Tony is less concerned at these sessions with those behaviours that have, in some cases, replaced the more dangerous ones. It was often the way it worked when you were dealing with addictive personalities. He remains concerned about Diana’s compulsive shopping and he suspects that Robin is still regularly using prostitutes, but they are not the primary issue. Besides, not all these secondary activities have been shared with other members of the group.
Different therapists have different time frames. The one day at a time brigade usually demand that anyone attending a session must have been clean for the previous twenty-four hours, while others insist on a longer period of abstinence. Seven days works well enough for Tony. It’s what he’d become used to when he was in therapy.
‘Good,’ Tony says. ‘So let’s crack on.’
A day, a week, a month. Whatever the time frame, it doesn’t preclude simple dishonesty, of course. And addicts are very good at lying.
One member of the group will not make eye contact and Tony can’t help wondering just how ‘good’ Chris’s week has been. If he has done something rather more damaging than spending whole days playing video games or watching online pornography. Chris is the member of the circle Tony is most concerned about. He’s the most unpredictable, the most chaotic. He decides to try and talk to Chris privately when their time is up and suggest a few one-to-one sessions.
‘I’m wondering if maybe we should address one of the issues from last week.’ Tony glances down at the notepad on his lap. ‘There was a certain amount of friction between Caroline and Chris…’
‘No friction from me,’ Caroline says. ‘I was on the receiving end.’
‘He was at it again when we were outside,’ Heather says.
Chris mutters, ‘Grass,’ just loud enough for Tony to hear.
‘What were you doing outside?’ Tony asks.
‘Just talking,’ Heather says. ‘Having a fag, you know? Then Caroline arrives and he kicks off with the fat stuff.’
‘We don’t want that kind of thing in here,’ Tony says. He sits back, appearing genuinely saddened. ‘Conflict is nearly always counter-productive and we do not reject people because of who or what they are, especially because at some point that’s exactly what’s happened to
us
. Right? Chris, come on, you know how we work. You’re not a beginner.’
Chris looks at the floor, shrinks a little, like a chided schoolboy.
‘Look, it’s fine,’ Caroline says.
‘No, it isn’t,’ Robin says.
‘He should apologise.’ Diana looks for support. ‘He should just say sorry and we can all move on.’
Tony acknowledges the nods and murmurs of agreement and looks to his left. ‘Chris?’
It takes half a minute or so, then Chris raises his head and looks across
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