Diary of a junkie 4: Cocktail of Codeine and Marijuana with the high and mighty

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By Garnet
 
Nothing is a waste of time if it adds to the person that you are…and I mean nothing.
 
Friday couldn’t come soon enough. If I could remove Thursday from the calendar and fast forward time to Friday when I get to hang out with Stephen, I would have.
 
Thursday to me felt annoyingly slow and I can’t remember a time I had been crankier.
 
I snapped at the tiniest provocation, and kept to myself all through that day. The only person I wanted to talk to was Stephen.
 
But I didn’t call him. Not because I didn’t want to but because I didn’t want to seem way in over my head.
 
Sometimes, I wish we could actually see what the schematics of our life looked like so we can skip doing most of the things we do and delve into what’s supposedly important.
 
Then again, I ask myself, if things actually happened like that, what then would be the fun of living? What then would be the measure of our lives?
 
Because, believe it or not, every phase of our everyday existence is a part of who we are, and who we turn out to be. Our whole lives is an adventure in itself. How we choose to live is solely up to us.
 
I didn’t stay for the end of my classes in school that fateful Thursday because I found my day was in a complete daze.
 
I had no idea what was happening, what I was doing, or where I was even going. I was aware of my activities but I wasn’t just me.
 
I didn’t want to snap at anybody else, so I resolved to go back to my room and sleep off the crankiness.
 
At about noon, I left campus and went home. Just as I was about taking a nap, my phone rang, and your guess is as good as mine. It was Stephen; “Hey babe, where you at?” I went ‘lucky you, I just came back from school. I couldn’t stay till the end of my classes. What’s up?”
 
Stephen’s next question surprised me to say the least. “I can’t wait for Friday to see you again. If you wouldn’t mind, can I come steal you from now till Sunday?”
 
WoW! What have I gotten myself into? I used to think then that fate was supposed to divert some things that we tend to do that sometimes don’t end up well. Why let us do things that might end in regret?
 
I stopped asking that question when my mom told me every human had his or her portion of responsibility, and the sane decision you make in a moment of weakness makes you who you are.
 
“Hello? Hello?” Babe, you there?” Apparently, I was lost in my own thoughts and forgot Stephen was on the other end of the phone.
 
It’s no problem if you can’t make it, Stephen was about to say, but I stopped him short and told him to call me when he gets to Alakahia (where my house was located in school).
 
He said he’ll be there in 30mins and hung up.
 
I immediately sent a text to my roommate telling her I was going to spend the weekend at a friends’ place, and would see her on Sunday evening. I also sent a text to Stephen giving him directions to my house so as to save me the stress of walking out to the junction to meet him, then I packed an overnight bag, showered and waited for Stephen.
 
At exactly 30mins, my phone beeped. I checked it and was greeted with a text from Stephen…”I’m outside your gate”. I checked the time, and it was 2pm. A guy that keeps to time. Another surprise.
 
I flew down the stairs and walked up Stephen’s car. He got out, gave me a hug and opened the passenger door for me.
 
I had on crazy jeans, a shirt and an all-star. According to Stephen, I looked perfect.
 
When I hung out with Stephen the previous day, I told him I was a country music freak, and he slot in a mix into the CD player and gave me a stick of cigarette. Surprisingly, he sang alongside Kenny Rogers, Smokie and the likes. He told me he made the tape himself. This guy was just full of surprises. He noticed my distress, smiled and told me there was so much I didn’t know about him.
 
Obviously!
 
Well, I wasn’t about to ruin my day by asking tons of questions. So far, this guy has not proven to be a monster. Rather than see things that weren’t there, I decided to go with the flow.
 
Stephen wasn’t driving towards the direction of his house, so I had to ask where we were going, and he said it was a surprise.
 
Hmm. I became uneasy, but tried not to let it show. I just prayed…
 
Yea right, I prayed. Sue me, but by this time, I was still telling myself I wasn’t doing anything wrong…Or was I?
 
Stephen drove to a scary part of town here in Port Harcourt. People call it Abuja Down.
 
He asked me to remain in the car while he came down and made an exchange with a guy. He got back in and tossed a bag to the back seat. In one swift movement, we were out of that place and back on the express road.
 
He brought the car to a halt at some point, and reached for a bottle from the bag he had just collected.
 
He opened it, took a big gulp and asked me to down the rest. He said it was cough syrup, but with codeine. I had no idea what it was for, or what it did but I emptied the bottle without a question.
 
Stephen gave me a stick of cigarette and said it was for a better feel considering what I had just taken.
 
I did everything this guy told me to do without complain. I had no idea why I trusted him so much, but I did.
 
Common sense demands that I at least adorn the vest of caution, but the ‘free spirit’ in me was stronger than the voice of reason.
 
I was on my second cigarette when I found that my mood had changed completely.
 
I was at peace with myself, and for the first time in a long time I was so calm, really calm.
 
I tried to explain how I was feeling to Stephen, but couldn’t find the right words. He smiled and said this was the beginning of a life with no worries. What more could be better than a worry free life I thought to myself.
 
We continued to another part of town entirely. Somewhere around Moscow road.
 
We came down from the car, and I was faced with lots of dilapidated houses.
 
Washed off paints here and there, burnt or broken down cars, and uncompleted buildings scattered around.
 
It was more or less a slum. I would never admit this to anyone, but I was very scared.
 
So scared the first thought that came to mind was to run. Stephen came to my side, smiled and whispered that everything was fine all I needed to do was trust him. Of course bro, I trust you I said to myself.
 
Outside one of the uncompleted buildings, there were posh cars. Lots of them, and some official number plates.
 
We walked into the building, and I was greeted to the smell of weed. There were lots of uniformed men around, so obviously there was nothing to be afraid of.
 
Cans of all kinds of beer lay on the floor, and there were lots of trays and basins filled with marijuana.
 
Stephen brought his ear to my lips and said “what’s better than doing something illegal with law enforcement officers?” Before I could answer, he went ahead to introduce me to the guys and the ‘show’ continued.
 
A lot was happening. There was music blaring from a small speaker on the floor.
Most of the guys were arguing about virtually everything. From the president, to the state, to the country, to the world in general, to football, even fashion was not left out. 
 
That
was hilarious. Imagine armed officers arguing about fashion! No comedian could beat that. I laughed so hard I cried. Stephen explained that that’s how things went in a gathering of smokers.
 
One of the guys made it his duty to keep me burning up. There were more than a dozen guys there, and each had a lighter of his own. Apparently, that was among the long rules of smoking.
 
At some point, it felt like the world was spinning.
I was on a roller coaster.
I was flying.
I was dreaming. My heard was playing different tricks on me all at once, but I didn’t care. How I managed to maintain my composure is something I still can’t fathom.
 
We got to that bunk by 3:30pm and we were there till dark. Burning bush and emptying cans of beer. All the while we were there, I wasn’t without a roll of weed between my fingers.
 
I and Stephen together with the other guys got up to leave, but they all made me promise to come back and chill with them whenever I had the chance. You bet I will! What had I to lose?
 
After all I wasn’t hurting anybody, so what the hell?
 
I got to Stephen’s place that night a very happy girl. I dunno when or how, but I know somewhere into the journey I thanked him for coming into my life. He laughed and simply said; “babe, we’re just getting started. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
 
What more was there to show me, I thought. Leave it to Stephen to come up with another surprise.
 
Trust me, it wasn’t a long time in coming.
 
Things aren’t always going to be fair in the real world that’s just the way it is. But for the most part, you get what you give. The rest of our life is being shaped right now. With the dreams we chase, the choices we make and the person we decide to be.
 
The rest of our life is a long time…and the rest of our lives starts right now.
 
 

0 thoughts on “Diary of a junkie 4: Cocktail of Codeine and Marijuana with the high and mighty

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