I slammed my fist on the desk when I heard the yelling out in the hallway. The fighting was getting out of control and becoming harder to stomach. Every day I was breaking up one fight or another. That wasn’t the center I wanted to run.

I opened the door, stormed out, and headed to the other side where the fighting was coming from. April was still seated at her desk, but she had the phone in her hand, ready to call the police, I was sure. I held my hand up as I walked past her to tell her to hold off.

Two guys were in each other’s faces and one of our counselors was trying to intervene. I didn’t fault Diego for the fight. He was a good man and stayed with us when a lot of the others bailed. I didn’t blame them, either. They needed job security, and for a while, we weren’t it.

Diego was standing between the two men with a hand on each of their chests. He was the only one who would get in between two people about to fight. The others would help pull people apart, but Diego put himself in the middle of it to stop the fight from happening. We needed more like him.

“It seems there was a misunderstanding, but we’re getting it worked out. Right, guys?”

“Nothing’s going to be worked out until I smash his face in.” The one with a blue shirt lunged for the guy in brown. Diego struggled to keep them apart.

I sighed and grabbed the aggressor, pulling him from the others. “Talk to me. What’s the problem?”

“That guy takes whatever he wants whenever he wants it, and I’m sick of it. There are other people here.”

“What can I say? I’m a lucky guy.” Maybe I had it wrong. Maybe the guy in brown was the aggressor.

“Your luck is about to run out!”

I pushed on the guy in blue’s chest. I used to know the names of every client we had, but since Brody left, I hadn’t been on the rehab side much unless there was a fight.

“No one’s luck is going to run out. We’re about second chances here. Tell me what he took and we’ll see if we can’t make it right.”

“What I took today is nothing compared to the next time your mom visits.” The guy in brown stopped laughing the moment I turned on him and shoved him into the wall.

“This place may be about second chances, but it’s also about respect and earning that second chance.” I shoved him again. “What did you take?” I yelled when he wouldn’t answer, “What?”

He swallowed. “A cookie.”

I let go of his shirt and turned so I could look at each of them. “A cookie? A fucking cookie?” I placed my hands on my hips and shook my head. “You guys are ready to kill each other over a fucking snack.”

“Fuck you. We don’t get much.” The guy in blue was right, but they had themselves to blame for that.

“Well, if you follow the rules and complete the program what you have is a new life.”

“The fuck we do. We have the same life without the numbing effect of the drugs.”

I nodded. “You’re right. You will have the same life with that attitude, but what do you wish you’d done differently before the drugs got ahold of you? You can do that. Don’t tell me you’ve got nothing after this. Make something.”

I turned and walked away. I was sick of explaining what they’d never understand. The grunt behind me was more annoying than worrisome. I sighed but decided to keep walking. When I heard Diego yell my name, I turned to tell him to deal with it. I hadn’t expected the chair flying at me.

* * *

I flinched when April put ice on my head. She didn’t say much to me while we were at the emergency room. I figured she’d yell at me when we walked through our door after I was released. She walked to the sofa, told me to sit, and made a small dinner for the two of us.

I wasn’t surprised she took care of me after dinner and balanced an ice pack on my head. I didn’t expect her to snuggle up next to me. I figured I’d get the cold shoulder along with the cold head from the ice. “You’re not going to yell at me?”

“There’s nothing you could’ve done. Diego explained everything to me while you were knocked out.”

I muted the television. “I feel a but coming on.”

“There isn’t one. There are only facts.”

I leaned forward and took the ice pack off my head. “This should be good.”

She didn’t move. “The facts are simple. We lost most of the good help when the news broke and the clients left. We were able to hire more on as the clients returned, but we haven’t been able to get anyone who really cares about their job. Even if we did have great applicants, your decision-making was and has been a little off. You were preoccupied with Brody in the hospital, then Brody recovering, then making sure Brody was doing his community service, and most recently Brody on the road by himself. Would you agree so far?”

“You make me sound obsessed with Brody.”

“Even you have to admit you have been. May I continue?”

I nodded.

“You’re not a mind reader. You didn’t know that guy was going to pick up a chair and throw it at you. Still agreeing?”

I sighed. “It’s the only thing I agree with so far.” I didn’t appreciate her talking to me as if I were a child.

She sat up and sounded angry. “This is what you’re not going to agree with, but it’s also a fact. We will be hiring a mind reader again. We need someone who can control the vibe on that side of the center because you can’t even control yourself.”

She stood and paced the room. “You will not stop me from doing this because I own half of the company, in case you forgot. We can now afford an onsite mental health professional and we will have one. And, I’m not talking about those part-time docs who came in for certain therapy days. We will have someone who is there all day every day.

“If this person is any good, they will be in charge of hiring the counselors who work on that side of the building since they will be working directly with them from now on and not you.” She stopped in front of me, put her hands on her hips, and bent over to get into my face. “If you don’t like these facts, you can sleep on the sofa.”

I pulled her to my lap and wrapped my arms around her. “I’m only agreeing because I don’t want to sleep on the sofa. It’s hard.”

She adjusted herself on my lap and held my face. “You can’t do it all, baby. You and Brody were a good team, but you can’t be both. And I’m sorry, but Brody’s gone and a piece of you left with him.” She kissed me. “I need my Tim back.”

* * *

I was sitting in the interview with April and one of her three finalists for the therapist position. He was a tall man with black hair that had a little gray on the sides. I wondered how long he would continue to work before he retired.

April had given me a list of questions to ask in tandem with hers, but I didn’t want to follow her list. I had my own questions. She elbowed me to ask my first question. She was going to be pissed.

I looked at his hair. “How many years do you have left?”

April looked at me. “Left for what? What kind of question is that?”

“I believe he’s asking me when I plan to retire.” Dr. Cannes was a little more professional and stiff than we needed. No one was going to open up to him.

“Tim!” April was appalled by my question. “You can’t ask someone that.” She turned to Dr. Cannes. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’d actually like to answer that.” He wasn’t as friendly when he responded to me, but it was still professional. “I understand your point, but there’s no worry about me leaving this job soon after I get it. That is, if I’m lucky enough to get it.

“It takes a lot of schooling to get the degrees I have. It takes a lot of training to read people the way you need them read. That is, if I understand the job duties correctly. You won’t find anyone closer to your age who has had the proper schooling or training it takes to do the job you’re asking of someone.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Sure, you could hire someone younger, but they would be less qualified. It could be less schooling or less training. Neither would be a good option for you.

“Then you would have to worry if this is a job they want to stay in long-term. Just because they may not be of an age you think needs to worry about retirement, they may find out, since they don’t have the experience, that this isn’t a job for them. Then you find yourself with someone who doesn’t want to be here and eventually replacing them when they find the job they want.”

“And you’re sure this is a job you want?”

“I’m positive. I’m here to make an impact on people and help them through some of the hardest challenges they’ll ever face. I don’t take that responsibility lightly. This facility gives me the family setting I long for in my career. The hospital I work for now is just about cranking them out and moving to the next paying customer. That isn’t what I want in my life.”

I stood and shook his hand. “Thank you for your time today. We’ll be in touch.”

“Tim, I—” April was pointing to her paper when Dr. Cannes held his hand up and stood.

“It’s okay.” He turned to me. “I look forward to hearing from you.”

I walked him out and returned to a pissed off April. “What the fuck, Tim? I liked him.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t.” I left April sitting in the chair facing the door and went back to my chair behind my desk.

“What is your problem with him?” She stood and crossed her arms when she faced me.

My problem was I felt he could see right through me, but I wasn’t telling her that. I needed him to read the clients, not me. “I think he’s too professional.”

“How the fuck can anyone be too professional?”

“He’s stuffy. We need someone who can relate to these people.”

“Oh, like you and Brody?” She moved her chair back to face the desk. “Yeah, you’re doing a bang-up job of that, aren’t you?”

“Look, just hire one of the other two. I don’t care which one.”

“No, Tim. I’m hiring him because no matter how you tried to make him look like an asshole, you are the one who ended up with shit on your face.”

I looked at the door as she stormed out. “That didn’t even make sense!” I shook my head and went back to work. “Hire the fucking prick.” I rubbed my face. “He’ll see through your shit, too.”