Anytime someone needs help but refuses to accept it,
                an ... intervention is appropriate. Family and friends
                may initially be ... ambivalent. Some may be afraid
                of the person, others may be angry. The goal is to move
                from this disorganized and chaotic state to a cohesive,
                focused group.
                                —The Intervention Center

It was one of those utterances that sparkled—the very daring! Could you see us? Canoe shrugged, to be expected. After all, Canoe was our local recovering. Truth be told, it was she who left those pamphlets in the clubhouse next to the men’s Nineteenth Hole.

Still, the very daring!

Intervention.

Canoe cracked her knuckles, lit a cigarette. We sat around her swimming pool absentmindedly pulling weeds from the flagstone. The ice of our iced tea had already melted into water and it was too cold to swim, besides.

“It’s obvious,” Canoe said, blowing. “He’s …