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They tried to make me go to rehab but i said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black but when i come back you'll know know know
I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me go to rehab but i won't go go go
I'd rather be at home with ray
I ain't got seventeen days
Coz there's nothing
There's nothing you can teach me
That i can't learn from mr hathaway
I didn't get all lucky at class
But i know it don't come in a shot glass
They tried to make me go to rehab but i said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black but when i come back you'll know know know
I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me go to rehab but i won't go go go
The man said 'why do you think you here'
I said 'I got no idea
I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose my baby
so I always keep a bottle near'
He said 'I just think your depressed,
kiss me here baby and go rest'
They tried to make me go to rehab but i said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black but when i come back you'll know know know
I don't ever wanna drink again
I just ooh i just need a friend
I'm not gonna spend ten weeks
have everyone think I'm on the mend
It's not just my pride
It's just til these tears have dried
They tried to make me go to rehab but i said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black but when i com e back you'll know know know
I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me go to rehab but i won't go go go
Rehab
Amy Winehouse
Resist Anything But Temptation
Chapter 1
a little bit of everything
Nolen took a deep drag off the joint and rolled his head back on the back of the couch. Getting high was so relaxing. His associate Dan nudged his side with his elbow and held his hand out to be passed the joint. Nolen took another hit before passing it to his friend. Well, in reality, they weren’t really friends, more like smoking buddies, but since Dan’s older brother got the best herbs in the city he was more than willing to put up with the guys crappy attitude and whiny voice.
“Dude, what’s that noise?” Dan asked as his head rolled towards Nolen in laughter. Dan laughed at everything when he was high which irritated Nolen who became really calm at time like this.
Nolen looked around the room they were in as if it were going to give him some answer as to the buzzing sound. It seemed like it was really close but he couldn’t place it anywhere. The buzzing stopped and Dan started cracking up. Nolen shook his head because his vision was blurry and swimming around his skull, he probably shouldn’t have taken the two lines of cocaine earlier. At the time it seemed like a good idea since he was bored and Dan had extra from a party.
A few minutes later the buzzing started again and Nolen searched the room for the noise. It was becoming annoying and was driving him nuts. The need to find it was the up most importance at that time. It took Nolen a while to realize the noise was coming from his cell phone in his jean pocket. He fumbled with it as he pulled it out and read the name and number with blood shot eyes.
“Hewo?” he slurred as he flipped it open and lazily pressed it again his ear. He tilted his beer slowly towards his lips and poured it into his mouth until he couldn’t hold anymore. He closed his lips and swallowed while listening to the voice on the other end of the phone.
“Nolen,” oh it was his brother Quinn. He couldn’t read the name because his eyes wouldn’t focus. Quinn was such a good guy. “Nolen, where are you?”
“I’m at Dan’s,” Nolen replied smiling and getting off the couch. He shouldn’t have done that. A wave of nausea and dizziness swept through him as he faltered on his feet. “Oh shit, man I don’t feel so good.”
He grabbed onto the television in front of him and bent over to throw up on the carpet. He really wished he hadn’t eaten that spaghetti earlier. Mixed with the drugs and alcohol he wasn’t having a very good experience at that moment.
“Nolen,” Quinn shouted in his ear. He pulled the phone away to stop the loud noise and moaned. His head was becoming fogged and his vision was leaving him.
“Nolen,” Quinn said again. “Nolen, stay with me man. I’m on my way there. What have you taken?” Nolen could hear Dan laughing hysterically from the couch as his knees gave away and he fell on the floor. He couldn’t even find his voice to respond to Quinn. “Nolen! What have you taken?”
“Cocaine—” Nolen managed to mutter before dropping the phone and forgetting it was there. He wondered what time it was since he and Dan had been going at it for hours. It’s not like he could see the clock. Quinn’s voice sounded farther and farther away as Nolen’s chest hit the carpet and he lay on the floor bent in half. He felt sick as his eyes fluttered closed and he fell into a deep sleep.
“Thomas Nolen White!” oh shit. He knew that voice as well. It wasn’t the same as the first one and it definitely didn’t mean the same things. Maybe if he stayed asleep they wouldn’t bother him. He didn’t feel like going to school that day either way. If they made him go he supposed he could get high before and muddle through the rest of the day. It always made it go faster as well.
“Wake up, we know your not asleep.” His fathers voice said harshly as someone shook his body awake.
He tried to roll over and slap the person’s hand away but instead his hand collided with a metal pole which sent a wave of pain through the side of his hand. Another pinch of pain shot through his arm like a knife pressing into his skin.
He screamed and opened his eyes as his body flailed wildly. His father held him down so he couldn’t hurt himself anymore as he looked at plain white walls, beeping machines and tubes sticking out of him, which made up his hospital room.
A nurse came in and helped Nolen’s dad hold him as he calmed down from the shock. She checked his chart and made sure everything was okay before sticking the I.V. that he’d pulled out of his arm back in. His father started pacing in front of his bed as things began to calm down again.
He looked at his mother who was sitting beside his bed with her head cradled in her hands. Her face was pale and tear stained and she looked like she hadn’t slept in days. His father had the same haggard and tired look on his face as he pursed his lips together and looked extremely pissed off.
“What happened?” Nolen asked eyeing Quinn who had walked into the room with coffee for everybody.
“They pumped your stomach, sweet heart.” His mother replied grabbing his hand and crying all over again. He pulled his hand from her and glared towards his dad.
“Why?” he asked annoyed.
“Because you over-dosed your stupid son-of-a—” his father replied.
“John,” his mom hissed cutting him off.
“We’re sending you away.” His father changed his wording and glared towards his son. “We’ve had enough of this behavior.”
“What?” Nolen replied angry and in disbelief. “Sending me away where? Rehab? Do it, their just going to feed me drugs.”
“No, we wouldn’t give you that treat. You’re going to a ranch in Arizona for the summer.”
“A ranch? What the fuck?”
“Nolen—” his mom pleaded quietly still crying from all the shouting. Quinn came over and placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. She squeezed his hand once before getting up and leaving the room as the men continued to yell.
“Yes, a ranch. We’re not dealing with this behavior anymore and were stopping it the best way we can think of.” Their father continued.
“This is bullshit!” Nolen argued. “You didn’t do this to Teddy!”
“Would you rather I gave you to the police to handle? Possession and consumption of marijuana, cocaine and whatever else you were on doesn’t seem like great charges to have against you. Are they?” he challenged. Nolen remained silent as he watched his father. His eyes began to blur but he blinked away the tears and refused to cry in front of his father. “This is it, Nolen. You either shape up or were cutting you off. Completely. You will not live under my roof and behave like this. We won’t tolerate it anymore.”
He left the hospital room as Nolen slumped back onto the pillows with a glare towards the door. Quinn stood from where he was leaning against the window and walked to the side of the bed.
“I found you passed out at Dan’s place.” He explained. “Your pulse was really faint so I called 911 and they brought you here, pumped your stomach, and worked their magic. You don’t even know the scare you gave everyone. They thought you were dead, they almost declared you, Nolen. You’ve been asleep for almost two days, you have no idea how lucky you are and this is the way your treating everyone for your own damn mistakes.”
Nolen didn’t reply as a headache washed over him and his stomach lurched. He started to dry heave as Quinn held his hand and rubbed his back.
“It’s the medicine. They said this would happen.” Quinn muttered.
“Fuck you,” Nolen hissed wiping his mouth and pushing his brother away. It was his fault he ended up there. Dying probably would have been better compared to the hell he was going to go through with his parents and Arizona
“Yeah, I’m glad you’re alive too.” Quinn smiled before tapping the metal bedpost and leaving the room.
Nolen lay in his bed breathing deeply. He couldn’t believe what had happened. He couldn’t believe his parents were doing this to him. He couldn’t believe anything. So he screamed.
He’d fought and pleaded with his parents the last few weeks of school but they’d refused to hear reason. Then as soon as the last bell rang at school for the summer they’d stuck him on a plane and sent him off to the middle of nowhere. He knew it was the middle of nowhere because he took the smallest plane he’d ever seen to get there and he was the only passenger.
Now, as he stood surveying the town he regretted every picking up a joint freshman year. The town, if you could even call it that, was only one street maybe a mile long that seemed to have everything one needed in little ma and pa shops. They didn’t even have a Walmart for heaven sake!
“Over there, son.” The pilot of the small plane said pointing towards a man around his fathers age with graying hair who was leaning against a pretty nice truck. “That’s your ride, enjoy your stay.”
Nolen jumped the two feet to the ground and stalked towards the man who stood straighter as he approached. “You must be John’s boy.”
Nolen didn’t reply as he stared at the man in boredom.
“Yeah, you look just like him, same attitude as well. I’m Mack, college friend of your fathers.” The man said holding his hand out towards Nolen to shake. Nolen ignored it and shifted his bag again. “Not the talkative type, huh? Well you’ll warm up I suppose. Let’s get going then.” He turned and got into the drivers seat of the truck. Nolen slowly walked around to the passenger side, tossed his bag in the back, and climbed inside with a scowl.
As soon as the car started a wave of country music came out of the radio. Nolen cringed and sunk into his seat.
“Put your seat belt on.” Mack ordered as he drove away from the town. Nolen turned his glare towards the man while ignoring his request. Instead he sunk lower and stuck his feet on the dashboard. Mack reached over and slapped them down.
The rest of the ride was in complete silence except for the crappy music playing in the background. Nolen was ready for rehab now. An hour later they finally pulled into the two mile long driveway that led to the ranch. Everything was surrounded by a white fence as horses grazed around them and raced along beside them towards the main house. Green hills surrounded the ranch as a lazy sun stood overhead, shielded by trees everywhere. Two giant red barns framed the ideal white house with wrap around porch and balcony. It would have been a gorgeous sight if Nolen cared for the country life.
Apparently as well as being stock owners the Steven’s’s bred horses and showed them at rodeos. As they pulled up Nolen caught sight of a few men working with the horses and was informed by Mack that most of them were bringing the stock in from the fields. They were going to be branding the calves and foals tomorrow, which Nolen was oh so looking forward to.
Nolen exited the car and grabbed his duffle bag as he followed Mack up the front steps. He caught a glance from one of the ranch hands who wasn’t giving him the most welcome look. He turned away bored and walked inside the semi-air conditioned house.
“Hey ya’ll!” a cherry voice celled as a trim woman around the age of his mom came walking down the hallway. “Supper’s almost ready, you must be Nolen, Oh your mom had told me so much about you kids and of course I get ya’lls Christmas pictures every year, but I haven’t seen ya’ll since you were yeah high and you probably don’t remember but you use to play tag with my boys for hours on end until we’d have to drag ya’ll from the streets just to get you to bed on time. Well look at you now, all grown up and quite filled out, listen to me rambling when I’ve got supper to finish up. I’m Marge dear. Mack show the boy to his room already and ya’ll remember to wash your face and hands before coming to the table, you hear?”
Nolen couldn’t even think of a response to Marge’s rambled mixture of words as he turned and followed Mack up the stairs. He was shown to a small single room with a regular sized bed and a wooden dresser. There was a picture of Jesus hanging on the wall above the bed and a cross over the dresser. A window showed a view of the South where he saw about six men on horses herding the stock into the corral.
Nolen sighed before being shown the bathroom where he washed his face and hands and took a quick leak before following Mack back downstairs to the kitchen. As soon as he was seated at the table that set eight three guys and a girl came waltzing through the back door.
“Don’t ya’ll slam that screen door!” Marge called placing a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table in front of Nolen. His eyebrow rose as he stared at them. He hated potatoes of any kind.
“We’re not ma,” called the oldest guy as he wiped his feet on the door mat as took off the cowboy hat he was wearing. The others did likewise and followed him to the kitchen sink where they washed their faces and hands before taking places around the table.
“Hi, I’m Ewan,” a young eager looking kid said with a smile on his face as he stuck his hand out towards Nolen to shake. Nolen stared at the guy and stuck his hands into his jean pockets. He wasn’t shaking anyone’s hand. Ewan was fourteen and just about the most willing to work the ranch and do everything his parents asked. “Not the friendly type, huh?”
“Leave him alone Ewan,” the older guy said ruffling the kids head as he took a seat beside him. “My names Ian, and this here’s Flint, and the little one’s Molly.” Ian introduced his brother and sister who took the two seats on either side of Nolen.
Ian was twenty-three and lived in Tucson with a bunch of college friends but worked on his parents ranch during the summer the save them money on farm hands.
Flint was twenty-one and living with Ian while going to college. He wasn’t as eager about working the ranch like his two brothers but he did so because his family needed him. Blood is thicker than water type of shit.
Molly was the youngest of the bunch and thirteen. She was a rodeo queen and spent most of the day on a horse with a gallon of water attached to her hip. She was a spunky red-head, like the rest of her brothers, but thought Nolen was a snot.
The screen door slammed behind Nolen who jumped but didn’t turn around.
“Now Heidi, how many times do I have to tell you not to slam that blasted door?” Marge directed towards the female that had walked through. Marge finished setting the table as the girl washed her hands and took the remaining spot across from Nolen. He looked up and glanced at her quickly but had to do a double take when he saw her. She was gorgeous for a farmers daughter. Long straight red hair that was matted with sweat and clung to her neck which she rolled to get whatever aches she was feeling out of it. She pulled her hair off of her neck and put it in a messy bun before her eyes landed on Nolen.
He blinked as she smiled towards him before blushing and looking away. Heidi Stevens was seventeen and a knock out. She was the prettiest girl in town according to the ranch hands and most liked among everybody. She had a wild temper and an appetite for getting into trouble which her parents and brothers liked to deny.
After Mr. Stevens said grace everybody began talking at once and passing the food around the table. Nolen filled his plate with green beans, salad, fried chicken and a roll but ignored the mashed potatoes.
“Well, now that everyone is here and have introduced themselves to our new helper Nolen, I think we’ll go over the rules for this summer. Which applies to you younger kids as well.” Mack said while chewing his food. Nolen grimaced and tried to ignore that fact. He glanced up and caught Heidi rolling her eyes as she took a sip of her lemonade.
Mack started listening off the rules and responsibilities Nolen was going to have that summer but he only half listened as he watched Heidi. He’ll basically be working everyday with the ranch hands but won’t be earning a wage except for the small allowance provided by his parents which he’ll get to spend on the weekends.
He’ll be living in the main house with the family instead of with everyone else and his meals will be taken with them as well unlike the ranch hands who provided their own meals in their barracks. This is to prevent him from being influenced by the other hands in any way and they’ve all been warned that providing Nolen with anything will result in immediate dismissal.
He can’t drink.
He can’t smoke anything.
He can’t do anything illegal.
He can’t even swear.
He was basically in hell all summer and Heidi was laughing at him. Not laughing out loud mind you but she had a smirk on her face which Nolen caught as he glanced towards her again. It was going to be a long summer that was for sure.
Heidi caught him as he was walking out of the kitchen after having cleared and washed his dish.
“Hey,” she greeted with a smile while holding her right hand towards his. She had her other hand stuck in the front pocket of her jeans which gave her a very innocent girly-girl look. “I’m Heidi, I realize I didn’t really introduce myself earlier so I thought I would now.”
Nolen stared at her hand for a second before slowly reaching out and shaking it. “Nolen,” he muttered giving her half a smile before walking past her and continuing towards the stairs.
“Pleasure to have you with us this summer, Nolen.” She said to his retreating back as he grunted in reply and ignored her.
Ian caught him on the stairs and spoke quietly. “I don’t think I really need to tell you this because it must be pretty obvious, but I’m going to make it clear just in case. Along with all the rules you have to follow I think this one’s the most important. Don’t touch my sister.”
He gave him a little push as he walked past him up the stairs. Nolen rubbed his shoulder which stung before glaring towards Ian’s back. He hadn’t planned on doing anything with either girl since neither were his type, but now, just because they all assumed it was going to happen, he figured a little fooling around couldn’t hurt anybody. It might even get him sent home sooner.
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