Bonnie flipped herself through the air to run backward so they were facing each other. She did the toe-tap run she used in the ring to stay light on her feet and get points for footwork, bouncing elegantly like a show pony as she talked.
“You will. Just need time to adjust.”
“You’re not…even sweating,” heaved Lucky. “I…hate you.”
Bonnie turned sideways, side tapping her heels to slow herself down to Lucky’s pace. Lucky pulled what sounded like a gigantic wad of phlegm from her throat and spat mightily into the grass.
“Let’s break,” said Bonnie.
“Oh, thank god.” Lucky collapsed onto the lawn and sprawled her long limbs into a star. “I’ve got to stop smoking,” she groaned.
Bonnie had read online that it was not advisable for smokers to try to stop in their first year of sobriety since trying to kick too many dependencies at once could lead to overwhelm and relapse.
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” said Bonnie quickly.
Lucky glanced at her.
“I thought you hated my smoking?” she said.
Quit your addictions in the order they could kill you, one website blithely advised. Given that harrowing logic, Bonnie figured they should focus on the drinking and drugs for now; everything else could wait.
“I’ll stretch you.” Bonnie lifted Lucky’s leg from the ankle. “Hold this straight.”
Lucky let out a little yelp, of pleasure or pain Bonnie couldn’t tell, as she extended her leg. Her sister made a cushion for her head with her hands and exhaled happily. Pleasure. She was finally doing better, Bonnie noted with satisfaction. Now, she needed to make sure Lucky didn’t forget what she had just been through.
“Do you think you should go to a, um, meeting or something?” she began, keeping her eyes on the task of stretching Lucky’s Achilles. “Like Avery does?”
Lucky made a pffft sound beneath her.
“She’s not as together as you think, you know.”
“Avery? What do you mean?”
Lucky opened her mouth to say something, then appeared to think better of it.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit sad?” she said eventually. “Avery still needing meetings after all these years?”
Bonnie looked down at her and cocked her head.
“They help her. Why stop?”
Lucky sat up on her forearms.
“But isn’t it a bit of a crutch? Like, now she’s just addicted to meetings instead of drugs.”
“Everyone’s addicted to something. Might as well be something good for you.”
Lucky tilted her head and peered up at her.
“You’re not. You’re, like, Miss Clean Dream Supreme.”
Bonnie snorted softly and swapped legs.
“You know that was my second choice for ring name?”
“No, seriously,” said Lucky. “Have you ever been addicted to anything in your whole life?”
“Sure, I have.”
“What then?”
Bonnie bared her teeth.
“Pain, baby.”
Lucky rested her head back in her hands and stared up at the blue swath of sky, unscarred by clouds. She sighed.
“The thing is, I think that’s probably good for you too.”
Bonnie dropped Lucky’s leg and crouched next to her on the grass. There was something she’d been wanting to ask Lucky for the past few days and now finally seemed like the time.
“I have to ask…” She glanced at her sister. “Why now? What made you want to stop?”
Lucky sat up and folded her long arms around her knees.
“I don’t know that I can put it into words,” she said. “I only know I had to try. Also, I had you.” She looked at her solemnly. “I wouldn’t have been able to get through this week without you, Bon. I mean it.”
Bonnie swallowed and placed her hand gruffly on Lucky’s back.
