The Beginning of the End, Part 18

As Kevin shut the door behind us, I stood staring at the person I didn’t know. He had medium-length blonde hair and dancing blue eyes. He was attractive in a way, he resembled Alex Winter in his role as a vampire in “The Lost Boys.” He smiled at me, and let go of the strap on his arm.

“I’m Marc, I work with Kevin and Matt,” he said, extending his right hand. I took it warily.

“Dasi,” I replied.

He held on to my hand a little longer than I felt comfortable with, and then went back to adjusting the strap on his arm.

“What are you doing?” I asked him.

He looked up at me, almost with surprise. “Slamming. You ever done it?” He reached for a syringe that was lying on the dresser next to him.

I recoiled. “No, and I don’t plan to.” My voice raised a notch. “And I don’t want anyone else to in here, either.”

Marc looked over at Matt, who shrugged. He turned his gaze to Kevin, who looked over at me. “No! I don’t like needles and I don’t want anyone shooting up in here.”

“How about if he does it in the bathroom?” Kevin asked.

“I’ve got a rock here for you, if you say yes…” Marc sang, giving me a wink.

It wasn’t that I NEEDED to get high, but I had to admit, it did sound good. The drug-free night Kevin and I had planned was all but forgotten. I relented. “Ok, but in the bathroom. I don’t want to see that needle at all!”

Marc bounced up from his seat and walked the three steps to the bathroom.

“Wait!” I said, “My rock?” I held out my hand and Marc chuckled.

He reached in his pocket and drew out a triangle of paper. “It’s not cooked yet,” he said. “But it should actually be enough for a couple.” He tossed me the paper and shut the bathroom door behind him.

“Here, babe, I’ll do it,” Kevin said. “Get me the tube.”

I obligingly opened the top drawer retrieved the necessities: a pyrex test tube and a wire stick.

“And that glass of water over there.”

Done. I watched as Kevin began his ritual of cooking up the drugs. I could feel my heart beating in anticipation, and almost jumped out of my skin when the bathroom door suddenly flew open and Marc came strutting out like a man on a mission. He had a wild look in his eyes, and his jaw was moving back and forth like it was coming unhinged.

“Be back,” he muttered, as he opened the front door and disappeared into the night, slamming the door shut behind him.

Matt shook his head. “Man, I hate when he does that!”

I looked at him in amazement. “You mean, he always gets like that?”

Matt nodded. “Dude, I would never slam this shit. Every time he does, he totally freaks and has to go out and walk around for like a half hour. Then he comes back, ready for the next one.”

“So what, he slams and goes out, and slams and goes out?” I asked.

“Well, sometimes he’ll only slam once, then just come back and smoke. He’s a lot mellower then.”

I heard the subtle sound of a cooked rock hitting the table, and turned to see Kevin smiling with pride. “Look at that, babe. Pretty nice sized rock, huh? We should probably get like two hits each, at least.” He laughed. “Marc probably doesn’t even realize he gave you this much.”

I smiled back, and reached for a pipe. But as I was getting ready to do my hit, I found myself wondering about Marc. The images I held in my mind of people who “shot up” were nothing like what I saw in Marc. They were supposed to be skeletal people, with hollows for eyes and the shakes. Marc, although not heavy, was far from skeletal, and his eyes actually seemed to sparkle. He wasn’t even shaky when he stormed out, although he did go by so fast, it was hard to tell. Actually, he reminded me more of a surfer dude, with his longer blonde hair and his “everybody’s pal” attitude. And when he shook my hand, it almost seemed as though he was flirting a little… but that couldn’t be. After all, he knew Kevin and knew I was his girlfriend…

“Hey, are you going to do that or what?” Kevin asked.

I blinked my eyes and realized I was still holding the loaded pipe and lighter. “Sorry,” I mumbled as I took my hit.

The rush came over me like an old friend, starting in my head and flowing all the way down to my toes. I closed my eyes and exhaled. My whole body was tingling, and it felt so good. I passed the pipe to Kevin, and he took it greedily.

I started rifling through the dresser drawers, not looking for anything in particular, just doing something to do something. I could still feel the grip of the drug in my gut. My head spun and I took a deep breath. This was definitely good stuff.

I heard a knock at the door, and almost jumped out of my skin. “It’s me,” a voice whispered loudly from the other side.

“It’s Marc,” Matt said, setting down his pipe and going to open the door.

Marc walked in, and all signs of the paranoia that had accompanied him on his way out seemed to be gone. He was calm and relaxed, and sat by me and smiled. “So, did you get a good hit?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, thanks. In fact, I think there’s still more, if you want a hit…”

He shook his head. “No, thanks. That was enough for me.” His blue eyes searched mine. “I’m glad you feel how you do about slamming,” he said. “Don’t ever try it.”

I had to laugh. “Oh, listen to you! ‘Do as I say, not as I do?’ Is that it?”

He sucked his teeth and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t tried it. The rush is incredible. But it’s almost impossible to quit.”

“You’ve tried?”

“No, but I’ve heard.” He stood up. “Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Dasi. Kevin’s a lucky guy.”

I felt my face flush under his stare.

“See you at work tomorrow, guys,” he called, as he once again left the room, this time for the night.

Kevin and Matt both waved, and Kevin handed me back the pipe. The rest of the night was like all the rest, partying, coming down, sleeping. But that night’s sleep was haunted by images of Marc. For some reason, he made me feel both uncomfortable and intrigued. And even though I tried to stop, I kept hearing his laugh and seeing his eyes. I had a feeling we would be seeing a lot more of Marc, and I wasn’t sure that was going to be a good thing.