#1
Posted: 11/23/05 at 12:01am
Enjoy!
BEST FRIENDS by Jeremy Moran
Shaun and I have been best friends for years. We have been through so much together; the good times and the bad. We walk together, we eat together, and we feel together. We are inseparable. Our paths have been intertwined for so long that nothing could even begin to untangle them. That is not to say, however, that our relationship has always been easy. There are days when he throws tantrums, the days when he cries, the days when I make his life a living hell, the days he wants to kill me and the days when he wants to kill himself. Yet, for lack of a better term, we are stuck with one another. The only thing that can ever slash us apart would be the sharpest end of our mortal coil.
I met Shaun at a party when he was 19. With overliquored, oversexed individuals awash in a sea of drugs, it was a sordidly perfect good time. Each room of the house offered its own surprise. Walk into the kitchen and you could find Cheryl snorting cocaine off of the breakfast table. Creep into the upstairs bedroom and you could find Nate and Rachel going at it under the covers. Knock on the downstairs bathroom door and you could find me.
I was there with Dex, a tall, angular man who would be considered handsome if it were not for the rather noticeable infected holes and splotches all over his body. That didn’t seem to deter him from shooting up with some of the most saliva caked, blood stained, dirt residing, disease infested, and just plain grossest looking needles I’ve ever seen in my life. Yet they seemed to entertain him and I was powerless to do anything. After all, I was also stuck with this man.
Shaun had been on a bit of a bender by the time he had walked in on the two of us. This scholarship-owning football star had already had his mind bent by pills, tablets, coke, acid and enough alcohol to tranquilize a horse. Yet, being the robust, muscular specimen that he was, he knew he was not down for the count yet. He had heard rumors that somewhere in the house lurked heroin, a drug he had heard worked wonders for the mind and body. Stumbling into the bathroom to find his buddy Dex and I in the bathtub preparing to shoot up, he had found the jackpot.
That’s when he met me.
At first, I knew more about him than Shaun did about me. He paid me absolutely no mind in those days that followed the party. Sure, he had a fever, but he just attributed that to the seasonal change. Sure, he felt tired and worn out all day, but he just attributed that to the night sweats. It was just a case of the flu, brought about by summer’s change to autumn, he steadfastly believed. He would get better soon.
All of that was just a hazy memory by the time the scorching days of summer came. With high school graduation behind him and college looming ahead, he was on the pathway to a bright future. He didn’t have time to worry about the flu he had a few weeks ago. He didn’t have time to worry about me.
It was around this time when he started getting pretty serious with his girlfriend, Suzy. She was a strikingly attractive woman, with a personality that could bring light into even the darkest corner. They would go to movies together, they would go to museums together, they would go to the park together, they would eat together, and they would laugh together. There was never a moment where their thoughts were far from each other. Each day spent with her fired Shaun’s passion further. He was absolutely convinced that they were made for each other. This relatively sped up the process of a typical date between them progressing from dinner and a movie to wild nights of passionate sex.
The dreaded day of finally shipping off to different colleges was creeping nearer and nearer. Neither could fathom a week without each other, much less an entire semester. Sure they would be able to talk to each other by phone but it would not be the same. Nevertheless, it was just something they would have to get used to. They solemnly went about their preparations. Shaun packed up all of his belongings. Suzy tore down the posters on her wall. Shaun said goodbye to friends. Suzy cut her hair. Shaun researched his professors. Suzy threw a going away party. Shaun cut his hair. Suzy packed up her belongings. All that was left for Shaun was to get a physical, in accordance with the rules of the university’s football team.
All it took were a few boils for Shaun to be immediately sent to a rapid testing facility. All it took was 20 minutes for the doctors to utter those life-changing words. All it took was a little lightheadedness that grew into a full-blown panic attack to knock Shaun out.
Hello Shaun, nice to meet you.
BEST FRIENDS by Jeremy Moran
Shaun and I have been best friends for years. We have been through so much together; the good times and the bad. We walk together, we eat together, and we feel together. We are inseparable. Our paths have been intertwined for so long that nothing could even begin to untangle them. That is not to say, however, that our relationship has always been easy. There are days when he throws tantrums, the days when he cries, the days when I make his life a living hell, the days he wants to kill me and the days when he wants to kill himself. Yet, for lack of a better term, we are stuck with one another. The only thing that can ever slash us apart would be the sharpest end of our mortal coil.
I met Shaun at a party when he was 19. With overliquored, oversexed individuals awash in a sea of drugs, it was a sordidly perfect good time. Each room of the house offered its own surprise. Walk into the kitchen and you could find Cheryl snorting cocaine off of the breakfast table. Creep into the upstairs bedroom and you could find Nate and Rachel going at it under the covers. Knock on the downstairs bathroom door and you could find me.
I was there with Dex, a tall, angular man who would be considered handsome if it were not for the rather noticeable infected holes and splotches all over his body. That didn’t seem to deter him from shooting up with some of the most saliva caked, blood stained, dirt residing, disease infested, and just plain grossest looking needles I’ve ever seen in my life. Yet they seemed to entertain him and I was powerless to do anything. After all, I was also stuck with this man.
Shaun had been on a bit of a bender by the time he had walked in on the two of us. This scholarship-owning football star had already had his mind bent by pills, tablets, coke, acid and enough alcohol to tranquilize a horse. Yet, being the robust, muscular specimen that he was, he knew he was not down for the count yet. He had heard rumors that somewhere in the house lurked heroin, a drug he had heard worked wonders for the mind and body. Stumbling into the bathroom to find his buddy Dex and I in the bathtub preparing to shoot up, he had found the jackpot.
That’s when he met me.
At first, I knew more about him than Shaun did about me. He paid me absolutely no mind in those days that followed the party. Sure, he had a fever, but he just attributed that to the seasonal change. Sure, he felt tired and worn out all day, but he just attributed that to the night sweats. It was just a case of the flu, brought about by summer’s change to autumn, he steadfastly believed. He would get better soon.
All of that was just a hazy memory by the time the scorching days of summer came. With high school graduation behind him and college looming ahead, he was on the pathway to a bright future. He didn’t have time to worry about the flu he had a few weeks ago. He didn’t have time to worry about me.
It was around this time when he started getting pretty serious with his girlfriend, Suzy. She was a strikingly attractive woman, with a personality that could bring light into even the darkest corner. They would go to movies together, they would go to museums together, they would go to the park together, they would eat together, and they would laugh together. There was never a moment where their thoughts were far from each other. Each day spent with her fired Shaun’s passion further. He was absolutely convinced that they were made for each other. This relatively sped up the process of a typical date between them progressing from dinner and a movie to wild nights of passionate sex.
The dreaded day of finally shipping off to different colleges was creeping nearer and nearer. Neither could fathom a week without each other, much less an entire semester. Sure they would be able to talk to each other by phone but it would not be the same. Nevertheless, it was just something they would have to get used to. They solemnly went about their preparations. Shaun packed up all of his belongings. Suzy tore down the posters on her wall. Shaun said goodbye to friends. Suzy cut her hair. Shaun researched his professors. Suzy threw a going away party. Shaun cut his hair. Suzy packed up her belongings. All that was left for Shaun was to get a physical, in accordance with the rules of the university’s football team.
All it took were a few boils for Shaun to be immediately sent to a rapid testing facility. All it took was 20 minutes for the doctors to utter those life-changing words. All it took was a little lightheadedness that grew into a full-blown panic attack to knock Shaun out.
Hello Shaun, nice to meet you.
