Al

By Al Lucas

Al is Al's first book with an unabashed allusion to his name. He has grown use to it. It has a familiar ring. It is also his first book to play with the specific tenets of recovery, i.e., The Twelve Steps, The Twelve Traditions, The Promises, heck, even The Ten Commandments and The Boy Scout Code come under his purview. Not to be outdone Al takes off on his own flight of fantasy in the second half offering a profundity of postulation for posterity. Preposterous? Possibly. Proceed promptly and perceive proof. He argues we have only twenty years left before coastal flooding. His last thought before his embers are flushed down the toilet. "Drink plenty of water."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9781304571120

Al Lucas

This is the original 1st person version called High Steppin' off da Crack, first submitted as a 3rd person account under the name of simply Hi' Steppin' years ago. This 1st person version is more in keeping with an autobiographical style while still using fictional names as characters and was created before the 3rd person version, but lost, only to be found later after the 3rd person publication. It opens with an emaciated man standing on the day of 9/11 in the VA lobby, awaiting hospitalization for crack usage. One bizarre incident after another occurs leaving his sanity no longer in question. Being a Vietnam-era vet, he is screened and then followed up by two psychiatrists of Oriental persuasion who treat him rather realistically, to his chagrin. He is discharged with a nursing plan to attend Avon Park, a renowned dual diagnosis center in Sebring, FL, but first must go to SafePlace, a transitional housing facility in Tampa to protect him from the dealers while he awaits an opening in Avon. First, however, Paul decides to go home and have one more bout with crack, to get the high he never had, using his car as leverage. It doesn't work out so well. He thus attends SafePlace without a car. It should be noted, he has read to one of the psychiatrists his ongoing novel and continues to read or have read to any and all its contents. One person, a roommate, at SafePlace is so moved, he blows his brains out. At Avon, he is assigned a class coordinator, Manfred Mundane, an ex-military pilot, who is unsympathetic about Paul's writing skills. Getting kicked out for bumming cigarettes, Paul comes home with new verve. He will in fact attend AA and does. He fights his way out of bankruptcy and foreclosure blindly with no help from family or friends and miraculously incurs twelve years of clean time. The book ends with a surprise, reserved for the reader. It should also be noted, the narrative weaves between Paul's acid days in Morocco and his current plight. His journal is in the past tense; the book's outcome, in the present with both coming to an end in Paul's bedroom where reality merges in a sexual farce.

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Al

By Al Lucas

Copyright © 2024 Al Lucas

ISBN: 978-1-304-57112-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ENJOY

Al Lucas is an author of fiction and commentary.  His prior works include: The Step Series and The Bon Mot Series.  These works can be purchased at his site: lucaslore.com, from bookstores, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Lulu.  Visit lucaslore.com for more information on Al Lucas and his books.

The Step Series:

The First Step, Hi’ Steppin’

The Second Step, Lo’ Steppin’

The Third Step: Quitting: the Smoking Gun and the Coughing Nails, a Real                   Read Herring.

The Fourth Step, Running to Dream Big

The Fifth Step, The Last Job, to Sweep the Heavens

The Bon Mot Series:

Mister Bon Mot, & The Election of 2016

Mister Bon Mot, and The Meaning of Wife

Other Books:

    The Art of Aging, a Dwindling Supply

    The Mojo and the Mind

    The Menagerie of Metaphors

      The Underlying Meaning of it All

?@Intelligence.com

The Last Refrain Played by the Book

Table of Contents

Prologue      7

Chapter 1: Unmanageability      13

Chapter 2:  Restored to Sanity      14

Chapter 3: Turning It Over      14

Chapter 4:  Inventories      16

Chapter 5: Confessing      17

Chapter 6: Willingness      18

Chapter 7: Asking Him      19

Chapter 8: Making a List; Checking it Twice      19

Chapter 9: Living Amends      19

Chapter 10: Connecting the Dots      21

Chapter 11: Devotionals      22

Chapter 12: Psychic Awakening      24

Chapter 13: Unity      24

Chapter 14: The Ultimate      26

Chapter 15: A Genuine Desire      27

Chapter 16: Autonomy      27

Chapter 17: Carrying the Load      28

Chapter 18: Endorsements      29

Chapter 19: Was It Worth It?      31

Chapter 20: Non-professionalism      32

Chapter 21: Organized      33

Chapter 22: Public Controversy      33

Chapter 23: Promotion      34

Chapter 24: Principles Before Personalities      35

Chapter 25: Promises, promises…      35

Chapter 26: Boy Scout Cod      35

Chapter 27: The Ten Commandments      36

Chapter 28: No More Big Ideas      39

Chapter 29: Alien Charm      43

Chapter 30: The Encounter      44

Chapter 31: Years Later      45

Chapter 32: The Primaries      48

Chapter 33: The General Election      50

Chapter 34: The Monarchy      50

Chapter 35: Act One      52

Chapter 36: Act Two      54

Chapter 37: Act Three      61

Chapter 38: Addendum to the Tale      63

Chapter 39: Hell      63

Chapter 40: Conclusion      64

Prologue

Al is not a hero. Not many people are. He is not despondent, though. Life is changing too fast.  Or was it too slow? Al had hung unpleasantly from the wrong limb for years, until all the trees were fallen by timber predators, like the rest of the world’s species that have been so harshly dealt with over the decades.  What did this have to do with his lack of heroism? Well, he was a human on a planet that deserved preservation too.  Something was wrong, even if it was mankind, individually and collectively. He would make his views known despite cataclysmic reversals and for that he is modestly heroic.

Yes, life is fast. The earth revolves around the sun at 18.5 miles per second. But the real speed is the hyperactivity of the brain. It wants an answer to the world of ideas when in all actuality not all ideas are good. Some come from dictators of reality while some are a recycling of Mom and Dad and are retarded. The brain processes more than can be calculated by mere consciousness, but consciousness isn’t the only thing that matters. Unconscious reaction seems to be the thing. Theoretically, the bombardment of radioactive particles from outside only adds to the input as the brain recoils as if a synapse had misfired, but basically, the only conscious thought should be the manifestation of self as it stands up to outside selves that are quick to interfere. The manipulation of energy from all walks of life might be considered a simple problem, but the politics are sickening. The staunch self considers the question compromising. The desperate self, however, lives in futile obstinance, a hell bereft of knowing just how to get out. Time to make a service call Al sees it. 

Despondent, out of sync, poorly vibed, it doesn’t matter, Al is clean now. And has been for twenty two years. No booze, no drugs. He is a good boy, no longer impish. It is even true to call him caring.

As a perfect example of concern, he knew he must provide what had been provided him. A chance. The VA gave him that chance. AA gave him another.  As inane as he has been in the past, he puts up the inanities in a laughing manner. He cares that much. What can he do about it? While the bottomline might not be perception, it is fun to fight for a little respect. To ignore or to be ignorant of your surroundings is one thing. but not to see the writing on the wall…well, perhaps it is not that glaring. To be able to think reasonably is his victory over not having done so repeatedly prior. Harely overconfidence, but if the party is small or the quality of the crowd penurious, what does it matter? Not particularly sanctimonious, is he? 

To play a game of reverence means to him laughing at The Twelve Steps. To stir up shit for shit’s sake doesn’t rank well in any crowd, much less an AA group, but to expect dignity after executing Twelve Steps is beyond Al’s capability. He has sinned and sinned mightily. Yet it pales compared to many, many others. It doesn’t matter, though, he is still an individual coward, answerable to God for lack of a better word. Penury is the base of AA and its moral compass. A man after twenty or so years of iAA, comes to the political concept of DEI, diversity, equality, and inclusion. In fact if AA was a political stereotype caucus, what a wonderful world we would have.

But the rooms are not p;ure. A person who deems himself smarter than you, whether that person is successful in the workplace or has fought the good fight