Inachevé

Eleven - Brother Sniper

The salt water on the stove came to a violent boil, bringing the attention of several teenagers lounged around on beaten sofas. One teenager, with a large bushel of tangled hair, a strong jaw, and shades, kicked his feet up and propelled himself off the sofa. Tugging at his shirt, for it was uncomfortably muggy and dark in the room they all huddled in. He walked in heavy steps as if his body was being pulled in different directions by undistributed weights, and pulled the pot off of the stove.

Taking a deep drag from his cigarette, he turned to his friends and motioned them to the cramped kitchen. While dropping cotton balls into the saltwater solution, he pulled out several packages of syringes from a nearby drawer. He then filtered the rest of the liquid into the sink and placed the now cotton-filled pot onto the stove. He looked at his friends and said emotionlessly, “Dig in, but don’t get that junk all over my carpet.” He grunted and pushed passed the other seven teenagers.

“Why do we use this? Why don’t we go hard,” another member asked through his shortening cigarette. He stared at the larger boy, waiting for a response like an orphan waited for food.

“We ain’t doping up in here, Buddy, the cops will come or something. Besides, we got to use this up anyway.”

Buddy, as he had been nicknamed, shook his head and snorted in disapproval. “I got H4.”

At that blunt and luring information, all eyes in the room turned to Buddy. The larger boy, whose name was Ken, returned to the site and stood aggressively in front of Buddy, “You better not be lying.”

“I lifted it from my cousin. He won’t know its missing. Besides, he can get more. Come on, let’s all take a hit!” With rising excitement, the scrawny faced boy ran passed his posse and dove into his belongings, which he had stored in paper bags. He fished through his clothes and tossed out various trinkets until he came upon his stash. He looked at it lovingly, gave it a long inhalation, and tossed it to Buddy. “Start doling it out!”

As everyone dove in, Buddy struck his foot out, separating them from the drug. Tossing his cigarette to the floor, he bent over so that his arm rested on his bent knee. “Whoa, whoa, steady, friends. Abbi is going to be the first; she ain’t never had this.” He gestured for a syringe, which was slapped into his hands, and, while keeping his eyes on the girl he had mentioned, he fixed her an injection.

Abbi Johansson was nineteen-years-old with innocent brown eyes, delicate red lips, and the sweetest dimples anyone had ever seen. Her auburn hair was swept up and her milky white hands lay folded in front of her. She wore a dark navy skirt and a pink blouse tucked in. She was everything the people around her weren’t. However, the night before, on a rebellious streak from her over-controlling mother, Abbi got mixed up with on her friend girl’s boyfriend, who invited her to the “Underground Heaven.”

“Come on, Abbi-baby, it won’t hurt, it’ll feel like a pinch and then you’re free,” lured her friend girl, Jeanie. Jeanie, who was already high off of the saltwater heroin, came up beside Abbi and slouched on her shoulder. “That’s why you’re here, right?”

Abbi shuddered and took a step forward towards Buddy. She received occasional shoves by her acquaintances, making her reach the destination sooner than she had prepared herself to be. Fingering the ends of her dress, she made eyes with Buddy and smiled softly. Slowly extending her arm, she watched in uncontrollable fear as he rolled up her sleeve. She moistened her lips over and over again, but each time her tongue was absent, her lips cracked from anxiety.

Her heart jumped at the clicking sound of Buddy’s fingers tapping the upright syringe. Once the air was released from the needle, he grabbed her arm and held it still. The needle, long and menacing, yet dripping with anticipation, inserted under her skin. Abbi’s eyes winced at the startling sting, but she once she felt the pressure shoot into her veins, her nerves settled. As the potion took its effect, Buddy grasped her into his arms and made to have her before the sound of shattering glass interrupted everyone’s activities.