Garden of Eden Therapy Center:
"And remember, it works if you work it. Say it with me, everyone. It works if you work it. It works if you work it. It works if you work it...."
As the chanting grew in decibel level, Katherine gently massaged her temples and fought the overwhelming urge to run out the doors or punch someone in the face or do both. After the meeting ended, she trudged along with the others to the back of the gymnasium where the usual refreshments awaited. Of course, 'refreshments' was an overstatement for a group of dry muffins, horrible coffee, and tasteless sandwiches. As she poured herself a cup, she could almost feel the metallic, watery taste coating the back of her throat. It was only her second week, and it already felt like an eternity.
“Never gets easier does it?” a voice hissed next to her ear. She shook her head in annoyance and shot back, “I’m not in the mood.”
“When are you ever?” the voice giggled, dripping with mirth. Katherine turned to look at one of the ‘best and brightest’ of their group, Edward Coombes, or as he liked to refer to himself as ‘Ever-ready Eddy’. The painful cliché was clearly lost on the man, just like his sense of timing and morality.
“Ed,” Katherine began lazily, “seriously, I’m not in the mood. I can barely taste anything, even water tastes like dirt.” She pushed past him and grabbed a handful of sweeteners and began ripping and pouring them into her cup like a woman possessed. Ed continued to snicker and approached her cautiously and hissed once again, “My offer still stands, just so you know.”
“Yeah, why don’t you take your offer and shove it up your ass?”
“Oh no! it’s YOU who’s supposed to take my offer and let me shove it up your ass.” He clicked his tongue in disappointment, “Damn girl, the withdrawal is messin’ with ya.”
She stirred the coffee furiously before walking out into the chilly night air. She almost gagging at the hideous taste of sweet, metallic caffeine. But she gulped it down anyway because it kept her mind from what she really craved. Cigarettes and Sex. Disposing of the cup, she made her way around the building and headed towards her bus-stop.
“This fucking itch is gonna drive me crazy.” Her nails clawed at her arm through the fabric of her jacket as she took a seat at the bus-stop. Her nostrils flared suddenly as she smelled something tempting and forbidden, she turned to look at the source and found two teenage boys standing by a streetlight, smoking.
“It works if you work it, it works if you work it, it works if you work it.” She began chanting and rocking back and forth in her seat. Eyes firmly shut and trying every trick her sponsor taught her to block out the image and temptation, until finally, “Who the fuck am I kidding?”
A few minutes later Katherine took a deep drag of the cigarette that she bummed off the boys and exhaled slowly. Savoring the taste, the smell, the sensation running down her throat. Her body shivered again but this time not from the cold, but from sheer pleasure, which was cut short by a voice carrying a familiar hiss.
“Feels good doesn’t it?” Ed mumbled as he lit a cigarette of his own and sat down at the far end of the bench. To Katherine he looked like a character out of a Lovecraft story. Enveloped in smoke, eyes blazing with a hunger that could only be described as ravenous, and an easy, bestial grin which was a permanent fixture.
Katherine looked around the empty bus-stop, “Don’t you have a car?”
“Yep, that I do.”
“So, what’re you doing here?”
Ed nodded towards her, “I came for you.” A thick plume of smoke exited his lips, “Wondered if you’ve reconsidered your position about my offer.”
Katherine narrowed her eyes and went on to puff on her cigarette stick furiously. Ideally, she would have liked to savor every vapor of smoke with leisure but given the direction the conversation was taking, ‘leisure’ just flew out the window.
“I told you to fuck-off Ed”. She flicked the cigarette away. It had been smoked down to the filter. Ed got up and made his way towards her and handed her his half-smoked cigarette stick. Which Katherine accepted immediately and began smoking urgently.
“C’mon Kat.” Ed crooned as he got closer and deeper into Katherine’s personal space than ever before. She could feel his hot breath inches from her ear, “You know you want it. I know you want it. So, let’s the cut the bullshit and go over to my place eh?” His hand gently cupped one of her ass cheeks and squeezed making her moan as she exhaled. Despite her annoyance with Ed, the touch of his hand on her body sent arousal through her body like a lightning bolt.
“There it is.” He whispered in her ear and gently flicked the earlobe with his tongue tip. She could smell the tobacco and booze on his breath. And while the smell would repulse others, to Katherine it was the scent of heaven. She took a deep breath and turned her face towards his and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke through her open mouth. Ed’s tongue slithered out gently to meet the smoke and her lips before being interrupted by a violent jerk to the side.
“What the hell are you doing?” The owner of the voice demanded as he looked at Ed with rage and at Katherine with disappointment. It was her sponsor, Jerry.
“Hey watch what you’re doin. I was just enjoying a friendly chat with a fellow sufferer here.” Ed was more concerned about his lost opportunity than he was about being caught.
“You always were a bad-apple Ed. I knew it. Get out. Don’t ever come back here again. Go now, and I won’t call the cops.” The sponsor came between Ed and Katherine. For a moment, Katherine thought things would take a violent turn but then Ed simply shrugged, “Fine, whatever, have fun prayin’ yourselves to death.” He walked away, giving Katherine and her savior a backward glance, but his eyes were only directed at Katherine and what he saw in her made him grin.
Katherine flicked the cigarette away. Her sponsor’s intervention allowed her to smoke fast and hard until she finished the stick. She looked away from Jerry and readied herself for the same nauseating speech he’d given her an obscene number of times in two weeks, “Katherine, I am disappointed in you.”
“So, what else is new?” She mumbled in response.
“I’m not talking about the cigarette. Everyone has a relapse. It’s what makes us human and it’s also what makes what I do worth doing. I’m talking about the company you keep. A cigarette stick or a glass of booze is only gonna be with you until you’re done with it, but guys like Ed are gonna be with you until they’re done with you.”
“I’m a big girl Jerry.” Katherine tried to look in control and defiant. She only managed to look constipated and sleep-deprived, “Besides it’s not like you know what’s happening with me.”
“Hey! I didn’t become a sponsor out of the blue. I’ve been in the shit. I know more about what you’re going through than you are. So, do me a favor. Come back inside, we’ll sit down and talk. Maybe we can get a cup of ice-cream or something and I’ll drop you home.”
The sound of the bus pulling up to the bus-stop was music to Katherine’s ears, “Yeah well, that’s my bus. See ya around.” She made for the steps of the bus just as Jerry dropped a final pearl of wisdom, “Katherine. It works if you work it.” To which Katherine responded with silence and willful ignorance as she made her way into the bus.
Ed’s apartment complex was in that part of the city that was so un-charted that even Google-Maps gave up trying to map it. A grimy, vertical structure of broken windows and moldy doors greeted Katherine as she walked from the bus-stop. It had been six hours since their conversation at the bus-stop. Six hours was as long as her commitment to sobriety held, in the face of his offer. For most people walking inside the complex was tantamount to suicide. Given all the activity that went on inside, the people who entered the building were either there to buy, sell or kill. And in Katherine’s case, she was there to do all three, but in a more figurative way.
Ed’s apartment door was open. He always said he left it open because he had nothing to hide, and that he was a ‘giver’. The smell is what hit Katherine first. A liberal mix of sweat, sex, nicotine and old meals. She looked around the apartment, furtively at first and then decided to announce herself, “Ed! You in here?” She could hear the faint noise of a TV set coming from somewhere inside. The living room was mostly a collection of empty pizza-boxes and cigarette stubs.
“C’mon in partner” Ed’s voice floated out. Followed by an obviously lecherous laugh. Kat steeled herself and walked in deeper and found herself at the door of the bedroom. The lighting inside was colorful and dim. A mix of red and blue thrown in with the dominating white-light. Ed lay sprawled in bed puffing on a cigarette and watching a football game. He grinned as he saw Kat standing at the door and ran his tongue over his teeth slowly, “Well well well, look what the cat dragged in.” he grinned at Kat and waited for her to appreciate the pun. She didn’t. Other than his grin however, there was one other matter that grabbed Kat’s attention. He was sprawled in bed, naked.
“C’mon in then.” He patted the bed and beckoned her closer, “The game’s goin’ good and our boys just might win it all.”
“I’m not here to watch the game Ed. Gimme the stuff.” Kat hated the words coming out of her mouth, but she had come too far to let satisfaction slip away from her.
“Ah yes! The stuff.” Ed grinned and reached to the side and pulled out a packet of smokes. Sealed. And tossed them just at the edge of the bed along with a zippo. “Knock yourself out.” He smirked and lay back as he inhaled and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. His torso covered in a sheen of sweat despite the lack of heating in the apartment. As Kat made her way to the foot of the bed and popped a stick between her lips, her eyes flitted over Ed’s body and lingered at the veiny cock which was throbbing and resting along his thigh, “Good. Isn’t it?” Ed inquired as Kat took a deep drag of the cigarette and exhaled slowly. Her body welcomed the taste and sensation. She felt her shoulders relax and drop down. Her neck suddenly seemed to have found a new level of flexibility as her head dropped back and a satisfactory sigh left her lips along with the smoke. Her eyes closed as she gently rolled her shoulders and enjoyed the high and the relief.
“That’s it” the whisper floated up to her as she looked down to find Ed sitting at the foot of the bed. His legs on either side of her as his hands slowly stroked her thighs over the fabric of her warm jeggings. He looked up at her and instead of the same cocky grin that was plastered on his lips permanently, she found Ed looking much more primal, “That’s it babygirl.” He whispered again before sliding his hands up her hips and lifting her hoodie to expose her fleshy lower-belly and gave it a kiss. Kat gasped and sucked her belly in and felt it flutter. The cigarette still smoldering in her fingers as he watched Ed’s glistening tongue slide out and lick up her torso. His hands lifting her t-shirt towards her breasts as he dragged his tongue up her body with a low groan. She found herself taking his cue and lifted her arms over her head as he slipped the t-shirt off and dropped it on the floor. Caressing her hips and looking at her large breasts. His eyes locked on hers as he whispered, “Just let go.” Leaning forward he kissed the small tattoo between her breasts and caressed her breasts in his palms. Thumbs rolling over the nipple buds and feeling them go stiff at the touch. Kat gasped and swayed side to side as Ed buried his face in her cleavage and massaged her tits slowly.