“How you feeling?” asked the doctor. “I’m fuckin’ hurtin’- I’m dope sick, I ache all over, and you people come in here at 5:00 in the fucking morning poking me all over the place, why can’t I get more methadone?” Shaggy growled in response.
I was taken aback by how harshly Shaggy spoke to the nurses and doctors. This was only Shaggy’s third day in the hospital, and the drive to score some dope was already starting to rear its ugly head.
I brought Shaggy a stack of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and a large Mountain Dew as I had promised. He had also asked for something to read, so I also brought a copy of Henry Miller’s play, “Death of a Salesman.” Shaggy and I have been discussing aspects of free will vs. determinism, and how the struggle against negative forces is quite often just too much for some individuals to overcome.
“I think I’ve heard of that book,” Shaggy exclaimed. “It’s not a happy story,” I replied. “Life isn’t a happy story, so I’m sure it will be good read,” Shaggy concluded.
I then asked about any updates to his medical condition. Shaggy informed me that the major problem isn’t the infection in his foot, but rather a staph infection he has in his blood. Shaggy stated that it’s hard to say just exactly how he developed staph infection in his blood, considering all the nasty water he’s used to cook his dope. I’ve personally witnessed Shaggy injecting water from a public toilet into his arm.
“I’m thinking about getting out of here for a little bit today, go score a bag real quick and then come back,” Shaggy admitted. “Well bro, I can’t tell you what to do, but I’ll tell you this; if you bolt from this hospital today, I won’t be able to invest any more time into this. There are just too many people out here suffering. I won’t hate you, I won’t be angry with you, I’ll just be disappointed.”
Shaggy paused and stared in silence out the window for several minutes. Just on the other side of that glass, somewhere not so far away, is a bag of dope…
I broke the silence and said, “I know you’re tougher than that, Shaggy. This isn’t anything like being dope sick in County Jail. Just stay in this mother fucker and get this infection taken care of. If you bolt now, you’ll just have to come back and go through the entire process all over again – IF you live. Right now, you have me to help you get through this, bolt, and you’re on your own, brother. Fight the demon man, fight the demon.”
I’ll be back to visit Shaggy on Friday, if he’s still there…
Hang in there, Shaggy!
I am just hooked on this story, phenomenal job as always Chuck.
Demon is right. Just pure evil. You know, normally I am anti the death penalty but recently there was a huge fuss here in Australia because 2 Australian heroin smugglers were to be executed in Bali All over the media “happy” stories of how they’d changed in prison How they’d “found god” blah blah And I thought I don’t care. If there is a hell (you are going there and I’m glad. The only hell really is the ones they and scum like them have made fofoso many others. These guys weren’t desperate users dealing to feed the addiction, they were smart shrewd businessmen who the media and supporters proudly proclaimed had never used heroin themselves. I wasn’t “happy” they were shot, but I wasn’t unhappy either.
Good on you Chuck
For those hooked on the story here is what you dont know and the rest the story. I personally know shaggy. I am a west side junkie as well. He contractes HIV and HEP C when he was mistakenly put in PC Division at county and gang raped. That is why he has disregaurd for his life. He also did end up loosing his leg. What really happened is he used puddle water to mix his heroin and it had some sort of animal fecial matter in it. He then shot up in his foot. Poor guy please pray for him.
Jason, you are one of the most dishonest people that I know. There is much to the story that you don’t know. I was in the hospital with him multiple times, and it was never mentioned by the doctors that he has HIV. I know you have made this claim after you allegedly discovered that you had contracted HIV, but I don’t think Shaggy is the one that gave it to you.