NEEDLES
As Needles sits on his bike on the hill side he stares out into the open fields. Remembering how his childhood was compared to what it is now. You see at a young age he was always the quiet one. The skiny awkward boy with no friends, and hardly any family. His father abandoned him and his mom when he was a baby. And his mom always worked odd jobs to try and keep a roof over their had and food in their stomachs.
He practically raised himself.
Somehow when people started to get curious about who was taking care of him, his mom showed up and acted as the loving parent. But when those eyes turned away, she would always say it was his fault.
He knew that it wasn't, not in the least. Her resentment was towards his bastard father. And reason being, his dad actually cheated. No his mom was not the wife. In fact she was the mistress. Something his mother didn't know until after he was born.
Then as he got older he started hanging out with the wrong crowd. First it was the occasional days of skipping school. That led to him petty disturbances, to public nuances, and so on. Then it led him to juvenile detention for robbery. Not to mention breaking and entering.
Then as a young adult, he dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade. And started using drugs. First weed, to pills, coke, and meth. Then it was on to heroin. The needles.
See that is how he got his road name. King found him on the side of a building on faithful night in October with a needle in his arm. And if it wasn't for King, well Needles wouldn't be here today.
Some asked how he got his name, well CoralAnne to be exact, he just told her it was a reminder. Never to go into full detail. He didn't know how or wanted pity for it. He knows that CoralAnne would never, but to this day he is embarrassed by it.
His thoughts are interrupted by the ringing of his phone. The screen flashes the name of his savior.
*King.*
*Where are you?*
*Hilltop*
*Boy* Needles is no boy but at the age of 25.
*Relax, King. I'm not doing anything like that. What is it you need?*
*Need you to check the on the Miller's. Seems that their daughter needs help.*
*King, seriously? Stop trying to push females on me.*
* Fuck you you idiot. Not that help. She needs your help. *
*How old?*
*16*
*On it.*
Needles hung up from King and put his phone away. He takes one look around and then kicks his bike to start. Once it fires up, to that beautiful rumble he now loves, he rides to the Miller's.
Lacey Miller is 16 and she herself started hanging with the wrong crowd. And now starting to use. But had her own brush with death just very recently.
Please give me the strength and patience to help this girl.
He pulls up and parks his bike away from the house so he can't be heard. He walked up to the Miller's front door to see both her parents waiting outside. Tom and Sherry Miller.
"We can't thank you enough for being here." Sherry greats him as he comes up to the porch.
"Thank young man, we didn't know what else to do." Tom says as he shakes Needles' hand.
"I can only do my best. But I will try like hell. But what I want you both to do is to not interfere in any way. Despite what you may here or see. I may get harsh and mean. And sound like a complete asshole, but don't interfere."
"How about if we leave the house? That way there is no temptation." Tom asked.
"That sounds good. Come back in 3 hours."
"Ok. Do you think we should tell her we are leaving so she thinks she has the house to herself?" Sherry asks.
"Sounds good. Lead the way Mrs Miller."
Sherry lead the way in while Tom went to go get his keys. Needles waited in the kitchen, out of sight. Though he had a visual of Lacey's door.
"Honey, your dad and I are stepping out for a while." Sherry says after she knocked on the door.
Girl probably has her bedroom door locked.
Sherry turned and walked to meet up with her husband and gave Needles a silent nod. The two of them left and he sat down and waited for Lacey to come out.
Sure as shit not even 5 minutes later she strolls out looking like death. Her eyes are sunk in, skin completion is dull and she's skinny as a rail.
She walked into the kitchen completely unaware that he was sitting there. He watched every move she made. Flashbacks of his younger self came to his mind as she searched for something.
"Find what you're looking for Lacey?"
Needles said in a deep voice that was ment to frighten her.
She let out a squeal as she turned around. "Who are you? How did you get in here? What do you want?" Her voice was rapidly spilling out words and her breathing started to become erratic.
"For starters, name's Needles. And what I want is for you to get a fucking clue." He said as he got up and towered over her.
"You don't know shit about me."
"Really Lacey. 16 years old. Already had a brush with death from heroin. You got the track marks to prove it though you hide it from your parents. Grades are slipping. Mood swings. Shakes. Want me to go on?" He said in a low deathly sound.
He set pictures on the counter. Pictures that would make even the toughest man fall to their knees. It was pictures of him. Ones he carries as a constant reminder.
Lacey took a look, not like she had a choice. And turned around refusing to look any further. But that wasn't good enough for him.
He grabbed her and spun her back around. He held the back of her head and forced each picture into her face.
"Please stop! Just stop!" She cried out, trying her hardest to escape his grasp.
"No way. You wanna go down this path, you wanna stick shit in your fucking system. Then you need to see the full effect."
Lacey started to heave, he knew what was coming so he moved her to the trash bin along with one of the photos as Lacey wretched up everything that was in her system. And when she thought she was done he held the picture to her face and she wretched up some more.
He let her go once he was certain she couldn't take anymore. Then moved her to the bathroom, turned the cold water on in the shower and forced her under it.
This was the same treatment King gave him. Yeah sure it might sound a little unorthodox but it worked for Needles. He just hoped it will work for her.
"It's cold!!!" She screamed out.
"Good that means your not numb to anything. You can still feel."
"I'm gonna get sick. I'm still dressed, my clothes are soaked. My parents are gonna kill you for this."
"You're parents called me to do this. They want you back healthy, Lacey. And sticking in drugs and shit in your system isn't healthy. Its killing you."
He tells her. "You have full scholarships to any major Ivy league school and you're wasting that away."
"Good. Then maybe the pressure will stop." She screams at him as tears finally fall from her eyes.
He did it. He broke the wall down. He never realized that he could do it that fast. Needles shut the water off and helped Lacey out. She was crying and shivering from her wet clothes and her admission. He wrapped a towel around her and held her close.
Lacey gripped his back of his clothes hard and cried. She started falling which easily he took her weight with his and sunk onto the floor.
He just let her cry. When they finally turned to sniffles. She softly said, "I don't want to die. I just can't handle the pressure anymore."
He rocked her in his arms. Finally after a few minutes he said to her, "Let's get you changed out of these wet clothes and talk."
She nodded her head and they stood up. He went with her into her room. But before he allowed her to change he emptied everything put of the drawers of her bedroom.
"What are you doing? That's my stuff." She cried out both in shock and anger.
When he found all of her stash he took it with him. "These are mine. Now get dressed. "
"Not with you standing there."
He rolled his eyes and turned around. Still refusing to move out of the room. Lacey huffed but finally changed after standing there in wet clothes for a couple of minutes.
After she admitted to being dressed, Lacey sat down on the bed and Needles sat on the floor next to her. He put her drugs in front of both of them. He never had an a wanting need seeing that shit in front of him. Not one moment.
"These pictures, are of me Lacey." She looked in horror at his confession. "I was where you are but in much worse shape and in different circumstances." Needles went on to share his story with her. At times they both cried and at times she was so silent you could hear the house around them creak.
But as their time came to an end and her parents showed up, Lacey threw herself in their arms.
Needles knew it was time for them to talk. Her parents mouthed thank you and he started towalk out. But a call of his name made him turn around.
"Needles."
Lacey came walking out to him with her phone.
"Can... um.. if ...."
He chuckled at her stumbling of words knowing full well what she wanted to ask.
"Lacey hand me your phone." As he typed his number in and called himself, he handed it back to her. "If you ever need to talk now you can. Regardless of day or time."
"Thank you."
He kissed her on her forehead and walked away.