A Cautionary Tale

[JitterbugPerfume]

It was a quiet night at the State Hospital . Lillian and I sat in the office, discussing trivial things, when it came over the police scanner

There had been a shooting at Western Road.

a woman had been seriously wounded, and was being transported to Memorial Hospital.

A domestic quarrel---

Then the name was announced,

It was Linda.

Lilian said," go to her , I will cover for you"
I called my best friend Janet and told her about Linda ,through a veil of tears.

She said "stay where you are , I will pick you up on the way to the hospital."



Linda had been into some really bad stuff since the last time Janet and I went to her house to check on her. We had sat at her kitchen table and watched her inject 10 mg of valium she had melted down with tap water into her arm vein.
IV Valium can stop your heart,

Just like that.

Immediately she slumped forward in her chair, her face resting on the table

I thought she was dead

Linda slowly raised her head from the table , and with eyes as dead as night she proceeded to tell us how some day soon she would be wealthy, and we would still be like little mice scampering around begging for crumbs .

I noticed a tall privacy fence around a portion of her yard .

When we asked about it , she was evasive and incoherent.

It was the last time Janet and I were to see Linda alive

Time went by . Occasionally we would hear rumors about her erratic life style, but we knew that she was bad news

We avoided her--

Until one night , much to our amazment her picture was on Channel eight news. There had been a Drug raid at ### south seventeenth St and a quantity of opium poppies , and marijuana , ready to harvest, had been confiscated .

There was a trial and Linda went to Womans Prison in Indianapolis.

Her mom has given her the choice---rehab or prison , before she called the authotities and turned her daugter over

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Linda was the youngest of the three of us , and I was the oldest
Her name meant "beautiful" , and she was with her brown eyes That danced and sparkled ,as she cracke one joke after another . She had long brown hair and a tiny , perfect body .

Lnda had everything.




"Someone told Carl that I am still drinking , and he has called me up to his office" she said, as she pulled a half pint of 100 proof vodka from her purse and took two long draws off of it.

We were standing in the parking lot , getting ready to go inside to start our shift.

Then she marched into the building , went up the stairs , and convinced Carl that she had quit drinking.

That was Linda
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AS Janet and I stood before Lindas' casket that rainy late summers day , our minds were filled with memories.

We were tortured with thoughts of what might have been.

We followed our friends casket to a cemetary called Valhalla and watched as she was lowered into the ground ,

on that rainy long ago day.

[oneighty]

1. This is a sad story Jitterbug

Was she one of the 'Girls night out girls?

Drinking and drugs are a terrible combination for sure.

Boy I have seen those two in action.

180

[JitterbugPerfume]

2. yes she was

one of the "girls night out" girls . For several years she was a very important part of my life

I have often wondered if there was something I could have done to save Vicki <sigh>

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. True story?

It is really hard to watch the ones we care about trash everything they have going for them. Addiction is such a powerful thing. My father in law battled alcohol and lost; to this day my husband thinks there is "one more thing" he could have done...only he couldn't. Thanks for sharing that JB. You have a real gift for descriptive narrating.

[JitterbugPerfume]

4. yes , a true story

I changed a few details because she had three daughters , who are adults by now. My friend Jo tells me the oldest looks just like her and fights the same deamons, sigh

thank you

[NMMNG]

5. A haunting story

I work in a program that serves adults who have mental illnesses and comorbid substance abuse problems. Some of them have poly-substance use histories, which have caused dramatic problems in their lives. Master's Degrees, high-powered jobs and the like were no match for the debilitating combination of their mental health problems and alcohol/drug problems.

It's truly heartbreaking to see what it can do to people.

[frogmarch]

6. How moving...

especially since it's based on a true story. You did a great job (especially for such a short piece) of portraying the POV character's emotions and Linda's reckless personality.

[JitterbugPerfume]

7. Thank you Frogmarch

she was indeed a real person, bigger than life and beautiful

[Wetzelbill]

8. I can just feel the torment

nicely done. Addiction is an awful disease to witness. It can be haunting. Watching someone destroy themselves. And, be so oblivious about it. Then if and when they do recognize they are hurting, it's often too late. It takes a brave writer to address something personal such as this. I would like to see more, actually. Flesh it out some. It stands on it's own well, yet I find myself wanting to know more. Why should I care about this person? I am touched by the sadness of the story, of course, but maybe give us more. Let us identify with her. Make her our friend. Our family member. Give us more memories. Let us know Linda. I like that sort of intimacy. Then again, maybe I don't truly want to know? That could be the genius of it. :) Nice job.

[JitterbugPerfume]

9. thank you

she was a dear friend. funny and smart. This was painful to write



she was one of the "Girls Night Out" friends to be found probably on pg 2 ot 3

[Wetzelbill]

10. oh I imagine it was

I have had addictions in my family. I haven't brought myself to seriously write about any of it yet.

I knew a girl, we had a writing class together, her father was an alcoholic and had died of some related complication. She was talented to the point that other talented people were amazed by her work. She wrote this gorgeous story about her father, tinged with sadness. Beautiful work, but it had to be heartwrenching to write. I always admired her for the guts it took to write that. She was so good that I loved her for the twenty minutes or so that it took me to read her essays. Now that is skill! :)

Point being, I admire that you worked through that pain to write this. It's something that I haven't even brought myself to do yet. It's good stuff.

[JitterbugPerfume]

11. Thank you Bill

my youngest daughter fights addiction every day of her life, and she breaks my heart