I'm worried that he might not be able to stay clean, but I'm here for him. "You've got mail!" my AOL notification on my phone tells me. 

I open it and it's from him. 

'Ray, I'm two weeks in and haven't missed any meetings and things are slowly getting better. I have a job lined up with my uncle and limited freedom. I'll take what I can get. 

How are the kids? Is anyone asking why I left? How have you been? Hope to hear from you soon. 

-James' is what he sent. 

I reply, reassuring him that he's doing the right thing and telling him about everything. 

I get a call from a blocked number during my lunch and I accept the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, Raylene," a familiar voice greets me. 

"James?"

"The one and only. My uncle wants to talk to you about being my sponsor."

"Does he have my contact info?"

"Yes, the day I quit is the same day I moved in here and he has all your contact info, even your email address. I have minimal privacy and it's working out for the best right now. How're the kids and you?"

"Good. Mikah and Caly are getting so big. Mikah starts kindergarten in September, he's so excited. I'm training this kid that goes by JT."

"He's my old dealer, be careful. He might try to get you to buy."

"He claims that you getting clean made him rethink his profession."

"Just be careful, please, Ray," he pleads. 

"I will. So, I was wondering if we could meet up or something," I bashfully mention. 

"It's something you can bring up to my uncle when he calls you."

"Alright."

"I feel like I'm a kid again," he groans. 

"James!" a man on his end of the line shouts. 

"Yes, Uncle Jeff?"

"Shoes. Who are you talking to?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm talking to Raylene. She said that she's more than willing to talk to you."

"Inform her that I'm calling her around seven."

"Let him know I said ok. The kids should be in bed by then."

"She said it works for her."

"I have to go back in, James."

"Call me after you talk to my uncle?"

"Of course, unless you would rather text."

"That or IM me."

"I will. Miss you."

"I miss you as well."

I finish up my shift and pick Caly up from daycare, stopping to get a gallon of milk before heading home. I get the milk put away and sit on my front stoop to wait for Mikah to get home from preschool. I make them tacos for dinner and get them bathed and into bed by 6:30 as always. I sit down for about twenty minutes and the name 'Jeff Bass' flashes across my phone's screen. "Raylene Kratos."

"Are you the Raylene my nephew speaks to?"

"Yes, I'm a friend of James'. Are you his uncle?"

"Yes, I'm Jeff. He told me you wouldn't mind being his sponsor."

"I have no qualms about it. I've been clean for almost five years and have two children."

"How would you make time for the meetings?"

"I go to them twice a week around nine in the evening, having my neighbor watch my sleeping children. I usually go Tuesday and Thursday and they're an hour and a half each."

"Why did you get clean?"

"For my little cousin, Mikah, to have a better life with me versus his mom who has been bouncing between friends and shelters."

"And you've been clean since his mom was pregnant?"

"Yes, I have."

"Once he's clean a year, I see no problem with you being his sponsor."

"Agreed. Thank you. I'll make sure he stays clean from that point in time on."