A Million Little Pieces - James Frey [14]
I’m Hank.
We shake hands.
I’m James.
What happened?
Don’t exactly know.
You fucked up?
What’s it look like?
Looks like that might be an understatement.
Looks are not deceiving.
We laugh and the light turns green and Hank continues driving and we continue talking. He’s from Massachusetts, where he spent most of his life as the Captain of a Commercial Fishing Boat. He was always a Drinker, but after he retired it got worse. He lost his House, his Wife, his Family, his mind. He came here to get help and after he got well he decided to stay and see if he could help others. He’s an easy talker and as the ride drags on, I begin to think of him as a friend.
We drive into a small Town and turn onto what seems to be its Main Street. There’s a Grocery Store, a Hardware Store and a Police Station. Halloween decorations hang from the Streetlights, and People, who all seem to know each other, wander in and out of the Shops. Hank pulls into a parking spot in front of a Bait-and-Tackle Store and we get out of the Van and we walk to a small door next to the main Entrance of the Store. Hank opens the door and we walk up a flight of stairs and we go through another door and we enter a small dark Room with two couches, a sliding-glass Reception Area and a small table littered with magazines and Children’s books.
Hank heads to the Reception Desk and I walk over to one of the couches and I sit down and I begin looking through the magazines. On the other couch a woman sits with a young Boy looking through a picture book about Babar the Elephant. When I find a magazine and I lean back to start reading it, I can see the woman watching me out of the corner of her eye. She moves closer to the Child and she puts her arm around him and she leans over and kisses his forehead. I know why she does it and I don’t blame her and as I open my magazine my heart breaks and I hope that the little Boy doesn’t grow up to be anything like me.
Hank comes back from the Reception Desk.
They’re gonna take you right now.
I set down the magazine and I stand.
Okay.
I’m scared and Hank can see it.
You all right?
He puts his hand on my shoulder.
Yeah.
He looks me straight in the eye.
I know this is a podunk Town, but these people know what they’re doing, Kid. You’re gonna be fine.
I look away.
A Nurse calls my name and Hank moves his arm and I walk toward an open door where the Nurse waits for me. Before I go in I turn around and I see the woman and the Child staring at me. I look to Hank and he nods and I nod and for a brief second I feel strong. Not strong enough to face myself, but strong enough to keep going.
I walk through the door and the Nurse shows me to a clean white Room and I sit down in a large dentist’s chair in the middle of the Room and the Nurse leaves and I wait. A few seconds later the Dentist walks in. He’s in his forties and he is tall and he has dark hair and dark eyes and rough skin. Except for the white coat and the clipboard, he looks like a Lumberjack.
You’re James?
He pulls up a chair and sits in front of me.
Yes.
Doctor David Stevens, nice to meet you.
We shake hands.
You too.
He puts on a pair of thin clear latex gloves.
I got some info on you from the Doc at the Treatment Center.
He grabs a small flashlight from his pocket.
But I need to check you out more myself, see what exactly we’ve got going on here.
He leans forward.
Can you open your mouth?
I open my mouth and he turns on the flashlight and he moves toward my face.
Can I lift your upper lip?
I nod yes and he sets down the flashlight and he lifts my lip and he picks up a long thin metal tool with a sharp end.
This might hurt.
He touches the shards of my outer teeth with the end of the tool and he starts pushing into some of the damaged areas of my gums. The pain is instant, sharp and overwhelming.