| General Fiction posted July 2, 2024 | Chapters: |
...8 9 -10- 11... 
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Disaster at home
A chapter in the book DUEL with the DEVIL
DUEL with the DEVIL - Chapter 10
by Jim Wile
| Background A brilliant young chemist creates a new opioid with unknown benefits and pitfalls. |
Recap of Chapter 9: Brian tapers off Oxycontin because his doctor wouldn’t prescribe any more, but he is still in considerable pain. He goes to PT, but it doesn’t help much. Fran insists that he begin the early morning exercise routine with her again, doing his PT exercises seriously rather than half-assed as he had been doing them.
One day at his friend Derek’s house, he gets the idea to write an essay for Derek and charge him money for it. He thus begins a bootleg paper-writing business and begins earning good money from many customers. One time he is paid with Oxy pills, and this renews his addiction. He begins buying the pills illegally from a dealer at school. When school ends for the year, his business dries up, so he begins mowing lawns again to earn enough for his habit.
Chapter 10
I worked hard mowing lawns that summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school and made good money. Some of it I saved to buy myself another used car, but the rest went toward the purchase of Oxy and a bit of weed too.
As far as I could tell, Fran knew nothing about the drugs. If she found out, I would have been in big trouble; she was a deputy after all, and the drugs were illegal. Plus, she would have been very disappointed in me.
But she didn’t understand the pain I was in. How could she when she’d never experienced anything like chronic, severe pain? Everyone has acute pain from time to time, but chronic pain is another matter altogether. At the time, I tried to fool myself into thinking that was the whole story, but truth be told, I loved the Oxy high. I was addicted, and unlike the first time, there was no one forcing me to taper off.
When school started up again in the late summer, I continued to mow lawns, primarily on weekends, and resumed my bootleg paper business. I had a number of repeat customers and occasionally a new one. This became fairly time-consuming, and my own grades suffered for it, although I continued getting A’s in math and science. I took advanced placement classes in both. But my grades in other classes went downhill, including my normally strong English grades, as I had little time to read the books anymore.
The money was good, though, and I had no trouble supplying myself with Oxy. The thing about narcotics is that eventually, it takes more and more to get the same effect since your body develops a tolerance for them. I began buying 120s and later even 160s.
Fran never suspected anything, as far as I knew. With the exception of increased acne, there were no other effects on my appearance. But lots of teenagers have acne; she still had some herself. She must have noticed the increase in it, though, because one day I found a tube of Clearasil lying on my bed.
One evening at dinner, she said, “I was looking over your report card that was just sent. You did well in organic chemistry and calculus, but what’s with the C's in your other subjects? You’ve never gotten a C in English class before. What’s the story?”
I thought fast. “Well, I’d already read some of the books assigned to us a few years ago, so I didn’t bother reading them again. I guess my memory of ‘em wasn’t so good because I didn’t do well on a couple of the tests.”
“What about history?”
“I don’t really give a shit about history. Lot of memorization of facts to do well on the tests. C’s in history are good enough for me.
“Look, are you interested in going to college?”
“Yeah, but all we can afford is NC State, and you don’t need the best grades to get in there. I’m sure I’ll do well on the SAT tests. My grades won’t matter that much. Your grades weren’t that great either, you know.”
“Yes, I’m aware, but it wasn’t through lack of effort. Look, Brian, you’re a lot smarter than me. I couldn’t have taken the courses you’re taking, but I worked pretty hard in the ones I took. You’re probably right about getting into NC State, but a little more time spent on homework isn’t going to kill you. Knowledge about stuff is good for its own sake, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” I just agreed with her so she’d shut up about it.
I was relieved she didn’t pursue it any further than that. She didn’t seem to be suspicious of the real reason: With the number of papers I was writing for kids, I simply didn’t have the time to spend on my own studies.
Over time, as my tolerance for Oxy increased, even the 160s I was buying weren’t quite doing the job for my pain. I began crushing the pills, which I’d been told would increase their absorption. Man, did it ever, and the increase in the high I got was beyond belief! But the increased drug use was causing me memory problems. I started forgetting to bring the garbage toter out to the street to be collected on garbage nights, and Fran bawled me out more than once for this.
I would occasionally forget to feed Chloe, but she had never been particularly interested in food and only bugged me about it after I’d missed a couple of meals in a row.
One evening, Fran said, “Have you seen Chloe? I can’t remember seeing her for a while.”
My heart skipped a beat when she said this. I hadn’t even thought about Chloe for a few days. I don’t remember feeding her or cleaning her litter box either. “Uh, yeah, I saw her go out her cat door this morning,” I lied. “She’s probably still outside.”
But another couple of days went by, and there was still no sign of her. I began getting worried. I hadn’t remembered seeing her for four or five days now, either.
It wasn’t until I’d gone upstairs to the attic to retrieve a warming tray we kept up there that I realized why we hadn’t seen her. The door to the walk-up attic, which was normally kept open with the rolled-up towel, was closed. It was a self-closing door that would close on its own unless propped open. I feared the worst. When I opened the door, a smell wafted out, and I knew what had happened to Chloe. She had gotten herself closed in there. Somehow, the towel had become dislodged. Her meows were normally very quiet, and even though she probably meowed as loudly as she could to try to get our attention, it didn’t penetrate through that closed door. She was lying stretched out on her side, stiff as a board, when I found her.
I knew this was my fault. Cats can survive about ten days without food, but without water, it’s more like three or four. She’d been here at least that long. How could I not have noticed her absence or that I hadn’t been feeding her?
While I was thinking about this, I heard Fran coming up the attic stairs.
“Brian, what’s that smell? As soon as you came up to get the tray I asked you for, I smelled it.”
When she saw a lifeless Chloe on the floor, she said, “Oh no!” She just stared at the cat and didn’t say anything for a while. I could see the wheels turning in her head.
“Wait a second. I thought you said you saw her this morning going through her cat door. If she came in later and got trapped up here, she wouldn’t smell like that yet. She’s probably been trapped in here for days. How could this happen? Haven’t you been feeding her regularly? What’s going on here, Brian?”
There was nothing I could come up with to explain it. “I… uh… “
“And you better not lie to me! How could you have neglected your cat for so long?”
“I don’t know, Fran. I guess my mind has been somewhere else.”
“That’s messed up. I can’t believe you’re that irresponsible. What’s gotten into you? You been taking drugs or something?”
“No! I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.”
“Oh, yeah. Like what?”
“I… just forget it.”
“I’m not going to just forget it. That’s definitely abnormal behavior for you. You loved Chloe. How could you have neglected her like that? There’s something going on.”
“Nothing is going on! I just forgot, okay?”
She looked at me warily for a long moment. Then she pointed two fingers to her eyes and then at mine and said, “I’ve got my eyes on you, little brother. Now take your cat out and bury her. And open some windows in here.”
She left me then. I felt awful. What had I done? I had become so self-absorbed that I had neglected my pet. That’s pretty pathetic.
I found an old towel to wrap her in and carried her downstairs. I got a shovel out of the garage and took her to the backyard, where I dug a hole in the corner and buried her behind some bushes. Before I left her for the last time, I said, “I’m sorry, Chloe. You didn’t deserve this. I’ve got a problem, and you were a victim. I’m… sorry,” I finished lamely. My eyes filled with tears then, and I got a lump in my throat as I headed back to the house.
I was miserable, and the pain in my back asserted itself like gangbusters. I crushed one of my Oxy’s and snorted it. As the relief washed over me, I began to feel light as a feather. My troubles were gone for now, as the pain was replaced by pleasure and all sad thoughts were replaced by a feeling of ecstasy. But almost immediately, I got very drowsy and had to lay down on my bed.
 Recognized |
CHARACTERS
Brian Kendrick: The narrator of the story. At the beginning of the story, he is 12 years old and in 6th grade in Kernersville, North Carolina.
Francine (Fran) Kendrick: Brian's older sister. She is 18 at the beginning of the story and goes to junior college, where she studies law enforcement.
Chloe: Brian and Fran's cat.
Sandi MacReady: She is a pretty blond and Brian's crush in high school.
Derek Shafer: Brian's best friend and lawn mowing partner.
Josh Bennett: Sandi's boyfriend. He's the center on the high school basketball team.
Don Robbins: A high school acquaintance of Brian's. He is a rich kid who throws a summer rave party when his parents are away.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Brian Kendrick: The narrator of the story. At the beginning of the story, he is 12 years old and in 6th grade in Kernersville, North Carolina.
Francine (Fran) Kendrick: Brian's older sister. She is 18 at the beginning of the story and goes to junior college, where she studies law enforcement.
Chloe: Brian and Fran's cat.
Sandi MacReady: She is a pretty blond and Brian's crush in high school.
Derek Shafer: Brian's best friend and lawn mowing partner.
Josh Bennett: Sandi's boyfriend. He's the center on the high school basketball team.
Don Robbins: A high school acquaintance of Brian's. He is a rich kid who throws a summer rave party when his parents are away.
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