I had it all going for me.
I was going to school; I had a decent apartment and an enjoyable job.
Yup, I had it all.
But that's all changed: Since then I've dropped out of school, I'm broke, homeless, and to top it off, now I'm in the backseat of a car with my hands cuffed behind me, sitting between the infamous bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman, and his wife, Beth. His son, Leland, was at the wheel of the large, black SUV that I was currently residing in.
I only had one thing I could thank for all this trouble, a little drug called Ice.
I'd first set foot in Hawaii when I was seven years old, good old family vacation. Needless to say, I fell in love with the laid-back atmosphere, friendly locals and of course the beautiful scenery.
I'd wanted to live there ever since.
So two months after I graduated from high school I packed up all my stuff and moved here. I enrolled in the local community college and got a job at a small café. I was pretty content with my life.
Then I met a guy…and that's pretty much when everything started going downhill.
He introduced me to it all: the drinking, the late night partying, and of course the drugs. It started with Marijuana, then ecstasy, and Methadone. Then we got into the harder stuff: LSD, PSP, and then finally Ice.
Meth. Speed. Crack. Whatever you liked to call it. All I knew was that it was definitely my drug of choice.
It happened a few weeks ago, after a long night of partying, when I got into trouble for trying to steal a car. Beth had bailed me out, but then I made the mistake of missing my court date. When I'd heard that they were out hunting for me, I ran. Needless to say, I didn't get very far. Now here I was– going to jail.
I was trying my hardest not to cry and further embarrass myself while Dog spoke to me, telling me that I needed to quit this shit and straighten up, that I was only 20 and I still had a chance. Just listening to him made me think of my parents and how ashamed they would be of me. I wasn't a bad kid. A junkie. This wasn't who I was! I bit down hard on my lip, but that didn't stop the loud sob that escaped my mouth. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks and my breath was coming out in gasps.
"Shh, it's ok, honey." Beth soothed, stroking my hair.
"I-I don't wanna go to jail." I cried
"I know you don't want to, but you have to. A few days in there will do you some good."
Yea, right.
"You spend some time in there and then I'll get you back out." She told me, "A few days in jail and a month of treatment in a drug rehab facility."
I nodded slowly and didn't say a word for the rest of the ride. Before I knew it we had reached the prison. As we waited outside, Dog and Beth gave me a few encouraging words before telling Leland to take me in. Inside he instructed me to sit down on the bench while he talked to the officer. He came back a few minutes later.
"Alright, you're all set." He said as he closed the large manila folder that was currently containing all of my information, my record, so to speak "Take care of yourself and we'll be seeing you in a few days."
I didn't say anything, just nodded, my eyes not leaving the linoleum floor, where I had fixed them upon our arrival into the building.
"Hey." He said softly as he kneeled down to my level, "Look at me.", I slowly raised my eyes to meet his soft brown ones that were now staring me in the face, "Don't be afraid. We're here to help you. We're gunna fix you."
"Thank you." I said in a quiet voice.
"You're welcome. I'll see you soon, ok?" He asked as he rose to a standing position.
"Ok."
And with that he gave me a small smile and headed for the door. I cringed as I heard the door slam and lock loudly behind him.
These days couldn't go fast enough.