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Sitting in the empty dive bar, the neon beer sign flickering in front of him, Stanton swirled the bourbon around and around in the bulbous glass. The stench of stale beer wafted off the sticky ground around him. Stupidly, he’d believed that being sober would be enough. Being sober and honest would be enough to keep the worst of life at bay. That was his sponsor’s promise. Stay sober. Keep honest. Everything else will fall into place. Life has a way of working out, I f*****g guarantee it, Stanton. It worked for me; it’ll work for you. What a crock of f*****g s**t. Turned out Gregory was dead-a*s wrong. Might have worked for him because he wasn’t struck with terror at the idea of becoming a father.
Stanton had used drugs to run himself ragged and avoid his emotions. He thought he’d deal
