After Annie: A Novel

Annemarie is now abusing pills and regularly gets prescriptions from various doctors for both real and fake injuries. She lies to her dentist and claims that she is still having pain from the cracked tooth, but she does actually injure her finger while loading furniture into her car, so she gets a prescription for the pain. Finding it difficult to focus on work because of the effects of the opiates, Annemarie remembers the artist who taught her about “speedballing,” or chasing depressant drugs with stimulant drugs. While at a dinner party with Tom, Annemarie hears the host describe her son’s attention issues and steals his meds from the bathroom. Tom notices that Annemarie’s personality changes periodically and accuses her of having an affair. Thankful that he doesn’t suspect her of relapsing into substance use, Annemarie claims that she is just distracted by her growing business, which she has expanded internationally. In truth, Annemarie is regularly sleeping with other men, but she justifies the behavior by telling herself that they are only one-night stands; she believes that she needs the adventure of extramarital affairs because having sex with Tom is boring and gentle, and she wants it to hurt.