You And Me (Gallavich)

I Wish You Never Came Back

"We're all here for our own personal reasons, and we've all done things we regret. Frankly, I believe there is no such thing as a mistake somebody couldn't overcome."

Mickey tried his best not to roll his eyes at the councilor's words, he really did. But he hated sitting in this damn circle, surrounded by druggies and assholes who got what they deserved while some lowlife looking for some extra cash on the side listens to their problems. It all seemed cliché.
"We have a newbie here today," the councilor, Anthony, held a hand towards Mickey who sat uncomfortably in his chair, fingers interlaced on his lap. He gave a curt nod in response to the scattered "hello's" he received. Anthony crossed his legs. "Tell us a little bit about yourself, Mickey."

Well, my asshole of an ex-boyfriend left me to God knows where after my brother killed my dad and probably my mom too- "I'm Mickey. I'm here for beating the shit out of some prick while I was drunk."

"Yeah I remember that," one woman said from the other side of the circle, chewing her nails. "You know that 'prick' is still in the hospital, right?"

Mickey glanced at her with his jaw clenched, biting back any words he'd regret saying. All he had to do was get this damn session over with and he could go home. "I did my time."

"Yeah, a night in a cell and probation, that's fucking great," the woman scowled.

"Why don't you shut the fuck up?" A man next to Mickey spat out at the woman. Mickey raised an eyebrow and looked at him, the whole circle quiet. "You don't know shit. Just keep popping pills while you still can."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, here," Anthony interrupted, giving the man a hard stare. "Casey, we talked about this. You can't lash out at everyone. And Sophie, it isn't your place to call out Mickey on something he's clearly done his time for."

Nobody said anything. Anthony sat back in his chair comfortably and placed his hands on his lap. "So, who would like to go first and tell us what they've achieved this week?"

Nobody in the 10-some people group replied. There were scattered coughs and sneezes here and there, but nobody wanted to step forward. Mickey slumped his shoulders. This was going to be a long few hours.

"How about you, Casey?" Anthony suggested. Mickey heard Casey's low groan and smirked a little to himself. It's good to know he wasn't the only one who thought this was complete bullshit. "I'm interested in knowing how your week went."

"I bet you fucking are," Casey mumbled under his breath. Mickey snickered, covering it up with a cough. He saw Casey look at him from the corner of his eye. Casey sat up and cleared his throat. "Well, I didn't punch my barista in the face when he put whipped cream on my coffee. I mean, who the fuck does that? Who puts fucking whipped cream on coffee?"

People muttered agreements. "Yeah man, you heard of Starbucks? Those assholes got whip cream on every fucking thing they sell," a man said from another chair. Casey agreed.

"I saw some guy eat gum the other day, without talking the damn wrapper off," another woman added in. "What the fuck is wrong with people?"

Everybody shook their heads disapprovingly. Casey sighed. "They're all lazy man, lazy."

Mickey was entertained. These people are completely ignoring their own problems and are taking it out on other smaller things. The woman sticks needles full of drugs in her arms but is giving some guy shit for chewing gum with the wrapper. Mickey chuckled to himself. It's genius.

"Improvement is good guys, but judging isn't," Anthony protested. The group quieted down. "Until we fix our problems we cannot call others out on theirs."