CHAPTER 15
I heard the family coming in downstairs from their trip to the Camerucci’s. Ethan was still napping when Amie came up to check on him and found me sitting on the bed in Pete’s old room, watching him as he slept peacefully.
“My God, Gina. You certainly took your offer to watch Ethan very seriously,” she said softly, giving me a smile.
“Oh I love watching him sleep. He’s like a little angel.”
“You’re a great aunt for saying that,” Amie said.
“I meant it. I think he is so incredibly sweet, and so incredibly lucky to have the parents that he has. Amie, you and Pete are really, really blessed. I hope you know that.”
She looked at me quizzically; Amie wasn’t used to me talking so emotionally to her. I knew she thought I was sort of a hard, abrasive type. Maybe I was; maybe it was just a front. A lot of my past had unraveled over the past couple of days because of Mrs. Camerucci’s passing. I was anxious to change the subject.
“So how is Leo doing?” I asked.
“According to your mom, it hasn’t hit him yet. He’s in shock. I guess that it’s a blessing Nick and Teresa are there with him. Nick asked about you, by the way. I hadn’t realized that you and he had lived together at one time. Pete filled me in on that on our way home.”
“That was a long, long time ago,” I said, getting up and stretching. Ethan was starting to stir in the crib.
“Still,” she said, “The way that Pete described it sounded so freaking romantic. Nick was your big brother’s best friend. You were the ‘little girl next door’ so to speak; you crushed on him when he had no clue you were growing into a woman. One day he suddenly notices that you’re all grown up - I mean-”
“Listen Amie; it wasn’t all that. I don’t know where Pete got his information. Nick and I were young and dumb; and totally incompatible. It was no fairy tale, I assure you.”
“I guess Pete got his information from Nick. They still talk occasionally.”
“Yeah? Well Pete was away at college during that time so I guess he wasn’t really around for the reality.”
Amie was looking at me very strangely now. I had clearly said too much. I needed to shut the fuck up and get back to my room.
“Hey - gotta run. I should have called Tristan before now. I know we are leaving right after dinner for the wake. See you at dinner.”
“Hey - thanks for watching Ethan, Gina.”
“No problem,” I said, making it out the door into the hallway.
When I got back to my room I called Tristan. I told him everything was okay and that we were getting ready for dinner and then heading to the funeral home. I asked him how things were going at the club. He told me to trust him, he had everything under control.
(Smart ass!)
“Okay then, I will see you tomorrow at the airport.”
“Gina, is everything okay?”
“Yeah, well sure. I mean as ‘okay’ as everything can be at a funeral. My mom is holding up pretty well.”
“But what about you, Gina? How are you holding up?”
“I am fine, Tristan. Geez, I mean I was close to Mrs. Camerucci, but it wasn’t like she was my mom or anything. I just want to get through this and get back to Atlanta.”
“I miss you too, Gina.”
“Then make sure your ass is at the airport on time tomorrow to pick me up, Tristan.”
“I’ll be there, baby. I love you.”
“Right back at you, Tristan.”
The family got through dinner. I tended to tune out the conversation whenever it turned to the good ole days and had anything to do with Nick.
My thoughts returned to that fall that I’d left Nick to come back to Hoboken. I had told my parents that I wanted to go to college. Since I hadn’t applied to any during my senior year, I enrolled in the local community college. I was able to get in at that late date since classes didn’t start until mid-September. I enrolled in the Marketing/Advertising Associate degree program.
I had been in school for about six weeks when I walked out of school after class one day and spotted Nick’s Pontiac Bonneville parked next to my mother’s car that I had been driving. He was standing outside of his car, smoking a cigarette. My first reaction was to panic. I was afraid of Nick. The fact that he hadn’t attempted to contact me since I left had given me a false sense of security.
As I neared my mother’s car, I saw that he had a bouquet of roses in his hand.
“Gina,” he said, approaching me cautiously. “I know that you have no reason, no reason at all to talk to me or even trust me, but I had to come here. I had to tell you how sorry I am for everything that I did.”
“You really shouldn’t have bothered, Nick. I hope you didn’t waste a trip just for that.”
I unlocked the car and tossed my books onto the front seat.
“Gina, please. Please at least hear me out. I need to tell you that you were right about everything. That fucking cocaine ruled and ruined my life. That was my fault though. I had a choice. I did not make the right one. I didn’t realize what a monster I had become until the reality finally sunk in. It took me losing you and my job to realize that I had hit rock bottom. I went to rehab, Gina. I just got out. Part of the 12-step program requires that I make amends to those that I hurt. You are at the top of that list.”
“So what does that mean, Nick?”
“It means that I am here before you, as a flawed human being that recognizes that I have an illness. Because I didn’t seek treatment for that illness, I hurt myself, but most importantly, I hurt the one person that I love so very much. I hurt you, Gina. I am asking for your forgiveness; maybe not today, but perhaps someday?”
Part of me had wanted to tell Nick to go fuck himself. I mean, he had reduced me to nothing. But the other part of me had not wanted to believe that his sick treatment of me over those few months was the ‘real’ Nick. How could I possibly have been wrong about him for all of those years that I had crushed on him?
“Nick,” I had said, “I will do my best to forgive you. I know that eventually, I will. But I truly hope that you will stay clean now; not for me, but for yourself.”
“Thank you, Gina. You don’t know how much this means that you will forgive me. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I will promise you to take one day at a time in my recovery. That is all anyone can do.”
“I am glad to hear that Nick. Now, I’ve really got to get Mom’s car back home to her.”
“Sure,” he said, “Oh here, these flowers are just a small token of my appreciation for your compassion.”
I took the bouquet from him, thanking him as I got into the car.
“Gina - there is one thing you could do to help me; I mean if it isn’t too much trouble?”
“What’s that, Nick?”
“I am going to be staying with my parents for the next couple of weeks. I attend either NA or AA meetings twice a week. I will do this for the rest of my life. I just thought if, well if maybe you had a free evening on Tuesday or Thursday over the next couple of weeks, you might come to one to see how well I am doing. I have my first one tomorrow night in Hoboken. I will be introducing myself and telling my story. No pressure. If you decide to come, it is at 7:30 p.m. at Central Methodist Church. I hope to see you there.”
With that, Nick had taken off on foot, leaving me there to stare after him feeling guilty.
I had allowed Nick’s visit to torment me for the better part of a day and a half. I had finally decided that I would go to Central Methodist the evening of his meeting; I had wanted to hear what he had to say. I had slipped in to the church auditorium quietly and taken a seat in the back. Several minutes later the meeting started with reciting the Serenity Prayer.
I had spotted Nick sitting in the front row. There were a couple of other people in the same row. I had figured they were newbies. I had been right.
The first order of business was to allow anyone new to get up and tell their story. Nick had been the second one up to the podium. I had watched as he went to the podium and adjusted the microphone to accommodate his height.
“Hello, my name is Nicholas Camerucci and I’m a cocaine addict.”
Everyone in the crowd had clapped at his disclosure and then greeted him with a thundering “Hello Nick.”
I had scrunched down in my seat for fear he would look out amongst the crowd and see me sitting in the back. I had wanted to hear what he said without him knowing I was present.
Nick had stood at the microphone and told his story to the room full of strangers.
“A year ago, I had everything. I had a great job at a casino in Atlantic City, my own apartment, and best of all, the love of my life, my girl next door had moved to Atlantic City to be with me. We had been together for more than two years. I was her first, and truth be known, she was mine, though being a dude, you never, ever admit that to a chick.”
There was some laughter in the audience at that one. I had been frankly surprised at his admission. Though we had never discussed it, I had simply presumed that because Nick was older, an athlete and very popular at school, he had gotten his share of tail.
“I guess I had too much wealth hit me all at once; I mean I spent a year in college that totally was a drag. I wanted to make money now; I wanted my girl with me. I wanted all those things without paying my dues. I was all about ‘instant gratification.’ Working at the casino, I was making more money that I ever thought imaginable. I took shifts for other people; the tips were awesome and I was addicted to making my paycheck increase each week. I competed with myself. The problem was, working all those shift for others required that I be on my game, pardon the pun.”
A few more chuckles rippled through those in attendance.
“So even before my girl came to live with me, I had started using coke to keep me ‘up’ - to keep me on my game. It worked for a while. I had promised myself once my Gina got there, it would stop. Well we all know how those types of promises go, I guess. It was not realistic. I was already hooked. Once Gina arrived, everything had been perfect. We worked together, lived together and loved each other. I hid my addiction from Gina, for a while. Once she found out, she was an angel. She didn’t want to lecture me; she didn’t give me ultimatums; but, she was not an enabler, either. She talked to me about it; we discussed options. I finally figured out that I had to get clean or lose her. I had reached a point where I was getting physically abusive to her. I hated myself for it but it was like I was someone else. I knew I was close to losing her. Nothing would have been worse than losing Gina. So I set about getting clean. I was almost there.”
He had stopped then. Tears were flooding down his cheeks. He needed a minute to compose himself.
“There was a night that Gina worked a double at the casino. One of her friends had called off sick. I told her she didn’t need to do it, but if she wanted to, I would pick her up after her shift. She said she wanted to work the shift. We had been trying to save money. The friend of hers that asked her to work ended up coming over to our apartment. Short story: we got high and ended up in the sack. Gina found us. I was a total ass to her. I am too ashamed to tell you people the horrible details.
Nick had stopped for a moment, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
“Needless to say, Gina left me and she had good reason to do so. I knew immediately I needed help. I went into rehab the next day. Here I am. I have been clean for seven weeks and two days. I thank God for helping me to get clean. Thanks for listening.”
There was a round of applause as Nick had taken his seat and the next addict had gotten up to tell her story. I had hurriedly slipped out of my seat and left the church before Nick had seen that I had been there. I had needed time to process what I had heard him say to the group.
In the following two weeks I had attended all of Nick’s meetings and by this time, he had known I was there. We had re-opened our lines of communication. Both set of parents had been ecstatic over that. By the end of my first term of college, I had transferred my credits to a junior college in Atlantic City and had moved back in with Nick.
Things were ideal for several months. I had attended college and worked a part-time job as a cashier at a drug store; Nick had found a job as a pit boss at another casino. We had found a different apartment; it was a beautiful townhouse. I had told Nick I couldn’t stomach going back to the one with all of the horrible memories. He had understood. Nick had continued to attend at least one weekly meeting at NA; I had gone with him as much as possible.
As Valentine’s Day had approached that year, Nick managed to get a night off. He had planned a very special evening for us. He had taken me to a very expensive restaurant for dinner. Nick had turned twenty-one by this time, so he had champagne brought to our table. We had sipped champagne, dined on oysters and fresh lobster. For dessert, Nick had ordered Cherries Jubilee. It had been perfect.
Later, back at our apartment, Nick had spread rose petals across our bed. There was a card and a wrapped box on the bed.
“Open it,” he had instructed me, softly.
The card had been very romantic; he had told me how much he loved and cherished me; how we would be together forever. The box had contained a beautiful, red silk nightgown. It was floor length with spaghetti straps; very classy. He had purchased it from one of the upscale shops downtown.
I had changed into the gown, while Nick had lit candles around our bed. We had made love very slowly, very sensually. Nick had not been rough with me on this occasion. It had been the first time that I had experienced an orgasm. It had taken both of us by surprise. Afterward, I had wrapped myself around Nick as if I couldn’t’ get enough of him. I had finally felt some sort of a connection with him on a very intimate level.
“I love you, Nick,” I had whispered to him.
“I love you back, Gina.”