The Long Road

I brought Katie outside and left her to watch over him while I got Billie or Adrienne. I dodged desperately through the loud and drunken throng of people, until I found Adrienne and Billie sitting together in a corner. Billie was whispering something in Adrienne's ear and she laughed softly. I walked up and they looked up at me.

'Hey Leslie, are you enjoying yourself?' Adrienne asked me.

'Billie, Adrienne, someone has spiked the drinks and Joey is drunk.' I gushed, feeling tears stupidly coming to my eyes.

They instantly both jumped to their feet in panic and followed me back to the veranda. Katie had Joey sitting upright again, but he seemed to be fast asleep. Billie rushed over and tried to get Joey to wake up. Adrienne stood next to me, looking shocked and angry at the same time.

'Joey! Wake up.' Billie yelled in his son's ear. Joey jerked awake, but he was still completely smashed.

'Heeey, Dad. You tried some of that punch? It's great!' Joey said, a stupid grin coming over his face.

Billie pulled Joey to his feet and pulled him back inside. Adrienne went over and apologised to Pat for leaving so soon. Adrienne gathered all of us up and took us home. Everyone else was talking and laughing amongst each other, but I was worrying for Joey, hoping he would be okay.

We parked outside and went inside. Adrienne took Joey upstairs while we all sat in the living room.

'I knew that punch tasted funny.' Brittney said softly after I explained why Joey was so drunk.

'So, are you saying that Pete kid gatecrashed and spiked the drinks? What a fucking dickhead!' Tre said, who had sobered up enough to make decent conversation.

'I just hope Joey doesn't vomit all his internal organs up.' Mike added quietly. Billie didn't seem to be saying anything. He looked disappointed and shocked at the same time.

Soon enough, Adrienne came back down, her face flushed a deep red.

'Well it looks like Joey is going to be spending the night in the bathroom.' she said angrily to Billie. 'Why didn't you tell me there would be alcohol there, easy enough for Joey to get to?'

Billie sat up. 'Hey, I didn't know someone was gonna spike the drinks! You shouldn't be getting angry at me.'

'Huh! You were the one that said it was going to be a friendly get together and not some rave to get everyone drunk!'

'Adie your being ridiculous' Billie said, standing up. 'Maybe your a little drunk yourself!'

'How dare you! I'm not drunk! At least I have my self respect and don't go and get smashed after five minutes!'

'Oh that's rich Adie, real rich.' Billie yelled. 'You've gone a little strong on the drink yourself more than once. I'm not always the one that gets smashed.'

'Well, maybe if you were a better example to Joey, he wouldn't have gone near that punch bowl.'

'Oh here we go with the "better example" talk again. Just stuff it Adie! Joey doesn't even give a crap about me anyway.'

Adrienne scowled at Billie, turned on her heel and marched upstairs. We all stared up at Billie in the chilly silence. Billie huffed and sat down on one of the armchairs, his eyes narrowed and still staring at where Adrienne had stood.

'Uh, you know what Billie, we're gonna get going. Brixton will need to get tucked in. Come on Brittney.' Mike said, grabbing Brittney's hand and leaving the room. Tre got up with Mike and Brittney.

'I got to go as well. I wanna get some good sleep for once. I might give you a call tomorrow' The two Jason's and Jeff used the same excuse and everyone left, closing the front door gently behind them.

Everyone else started heading towards the basement, while I slowly walked up to Billie.

'Are you gonna be okay?' I asked him gently.

'Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine. I'll see you in the morning.' Billie said huffily, not looking at me.

Feeling slightly hurt, I patted Billie's arm and left the room. I started feeling like this was all my fault. If I hadn't just stuck with Joey, this would never have happened. I went to be that night with a heavy heart and a guilty conscious.