Mayhem's Beginning (Everybody Changes)

Chapter 21: Ten Days Sober

The flickering television lit up the darkness as Dahlia and I sat on her couch. In one hand was Dahlia's palm against mine, our fingers entwined like vines in the Amazon. In the other was a plastic remote, Dahlia giving me the privilege of choosing what was being shown on the screen. “What do you want to watch?” I looked over at her as she kind of shrugged. “Anything, just choose.”

“I don't know.” She said.

“Well there has to be some-”

“Damn it Andrew, I said I don't know!” She yelled, snatching her hand away and folding her arms across her chest. I opened my mouth, but I didn't let any words escape. I had to be really sensitive around Dahlia for a while. Using drugs, especially one as hardcore as meth, really messes with someone physically and mentally. She is going to be having crazy mood swings for a really long time and it's my job to make sure I don't flip out and do something I will regret. I bit down on my lip and turned my head back towards the television.

Dahlia and I sat in silence for a few minutes because I was a little afraid to speak again. Getting yelled at was one of those things I just could not handle, especially if it was from someone I cared about. I could easily flip out and raise my voice myself, but that's not what Dahlia needed right now. Even the most slight thing could send her into relapse.

Speaking of relapse, I have been keeping count of how long Dahlia has went without using narcotics. It's been exactly nine days, and in about ten minutes or so the clock will strike twelve and she will be reaching the double digits. I have to say, I have never been more proud of anybody in my life.

The minutes ticked by and my tolerance for silence quickly faded.

“So just a few more minutes and then it'll be ten days.” I sounded like a proud father.

“Hmph.” She held her arm out and ran her fingers over her skin. Her favorite areas to touch were the places where she had numerous pick-mark scars and injection sites. Bad habit number one. “I guess I hadn't noticed.” She looked up at me and gave a soft smile. It was not genuine.

“Dahlia, don't cut yourself short. You should be proud of yourself. You have no idea how proud I am of you.” I stared into her eyes the whole time as I blinked sparingly.

“You mean that?” She began chewing the inside of her cheek. Bad habit number two.

“Totally.” We simultaneously grinned at each other, like if it were some sort of psychic command.

“Thank you.”

“Don't mention it.”

“No seriously, thank you.” She swallowed. “For everything. Going through this, it's hard. And you know what made it even harder?” I knew exactly what she was going to say before she said it. “The fact that I had no one. All of my friends left me when they found out. They thought I was some kind of creep or something.”

“What about Jackson? He's your friend, isn't he?”

“Not even close.”

“But I saw him over here just the other day. When I came to bring your make-up back actually. Why was he over here if he's not your friend?”

“Andrew...” her voice became quiet, a hint of lament present. “...I was really hoping you didn't ask. Well... he knew how desperate I was for my next fix, and well...he took advantage of it.” Thanks to the light coming from the television, I could see a liquid running down Dahlia's face. She had soft sobs in her next words. “I'm sorry, Andrew. I know how ashamed you must be, and how much it must hurt you.” She wasn't looking at me anymore, but yet putting her head in her hands as I could tell she was trying to resist crying.