Decisions for Withdrawal (Alice in Chains)

Road to Recovery

Zipping up Eddie's coat, I was almost in tears. He was off to school for the very first time, already five years old. Layne was about to leave to get new gear. He and the guys from Alice in Chains had been talking about getting back together to do a couple of shows. Dave Grohl was going to be guitarist.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? I really think I should. We should take him together," Layne said.

"I thought you needed to leave soon."

Layne rested his hand on my shoulder. "It can wait a little. It's a big day, right little man?"

Eddie nodded his head and the three of them gathered into Layne's car. Eddie was so cute, bouncing around in his seat in the back. Layne looked at him through the rear-view mirror.

"Don't be nervous," Layne assured. "It's going to be fun. You're going to make a lot of new friends, today."

Eddie giggled a little, but when he entered his new classroom, he got nervous again. I got nervous too. My baby didn't need me as much anymore. I would putting him in another person's hands. It was going to be just as tough for me, letting go of him after five years. We both introduced ourselves and Eddie to his new teacher. Eddie looked around the room with his wide-eyes that reminded me of Jerry. His hair was just like his too, very blonde.

"Alright Eddie," the teacher said. "Go put your backpack on a cubbie and join the rest of the class in the circle on the rug."

"Okay," Eddie smiled as he took off his backpack and jacket and headed toward the rug.

"Eddie are you forgetting to say something?" I asked, squatting down. Layne squatted beside me.

"Oops," he laughed, coming back to give me a hug. "I love you Mommy."

"I love you too," I said, hugging him tight and kissing the side of his head.

Layne opened his arms too and Eddie hugged him. "I love you, Eddie."

"I love you too, Daddy."

Eddie ran back to the circle, sitting between two of his classmates. Layne put his arm around me and we got into the car. It was weird and a little sad seeing an empty car seat in the back. On the drive home, I noticed that Layne was taking a different route.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Layne started smirking. He was trying to hide his smile but failed miserably. He refused to answer me.

"Come on," I said, playfully hitting me on the arm. "Tell me."

Soon enough, we pulled into the strangely empty parking lot of the diner where we had been so many times. I liked the idea. We hadn't been out in a while since Eddie was born and since our lives had drastically changed, so even just breakfast seemed nice. Walking into the diner, the first thing I noticed was that it was empty. There was one table in the center of the restaurant, illuminated with candles, from what I could even see. It was too dark to see much of anything; the lights were off.

"What the hell?"

"Don't ask questions yet, just have a seat," Layne said.

"O-o-kay," I said, sitting down.

Layne went into the back and it confused the hell out of me. Why was he going back there, and why was the diner closed? They were open all hours of the day, and this was the prime time for their business. Layne had gotten me a couple of books that I had been reading about the restaurant business. A little later, Layne flipped on the lights. It was SO different. It had been repainted and all the seats and tables had been replaced. It looked beautiful and updated. Layne was holding a folder filled with papers. He sat across from me and smiled as he pushed the folder toward me. When I opened the folder and saw the first page of the stack, I gasped.

Jerry's

I covered my face and felt the tears coming quickly and Layne grabbing my hand.

"Liv, I want to buy this place for you. I thought since Eddie is in school full-time now, that you could be the owner of this place, like you've always wanted. It could be a simple coffee shop or a diner."

I was speechless.

"I know this is a lot, Olivia, and you could wait a little while to start and I would help you. Or if you hate this idea, then...but...I think it would be good for you."

I jumped out of my seat and went over to sit on his lap.

"I love it!" I exclaimed.

"Really?"

"I wanna start today! This is awesome! Thank you Layne! This was the project you kept talking about so secretively?"

Layne nodded and held me tight. "So," Layne pulled away from me a little and pointed to the corner. "I was thinking we could have a stage over there and have bands or singers play there. We could have a huge reopening day. Mike, Sean, Dave, and I could put together a little set. We could get this placed packed."

We had both been through so much, raising the child of a guy we were still grieving. Taking on this new adventure with him was going to be our own road to recovery.  I was ecstatic that I never left for Portland again to stay with my mom. Staying in Seattle was one of the most important decisions I had ever made.