Randy's Thoughts Chapter 30
Randy's POV
And the amitriptyline thief is...Mom?
'What are you doing in here?' I whisper, pushing the shower curtain back a little further so mom can see me.
'When I was putting away your tooth paste the other day, I noticed that you only had a few amitriptyline left in the bottle, and I knew that it hadn't been that long since you got a new prescription, so I decided to sneak in here and see who has been taking them' mom explains herself. Thank God she isn't the one stealing the pills.
'What are you doing in here?' mom asks me.
'Same thing as you. I noticed that the pills had been moved and that some were missing this morning. Come on, get in the shower with me' I say. She gives me a look, then figures out what I mean by the last sentence.
We stand there in the shower, waiting for something, anything, to happen. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the door creaks open again.
The person walks over to the medicine cabinet, and opens it up. I still haven't looked to see who the person is though. When I do look, I see Brad standing at the medicine cabinet. Mom starts to make a move from the shower when I stop her. Brad is just using my nail clippers on his fingernails. Note to self: Rinse off nail clippers. And...eww...now Brad is using them on his toes. Ugh. Note to self: Throw out nail clippers. He finishes up, and leaves, carefully placing the nail clippers back where he found them. One more note to self: Disinfect medicine cabinet.
Then about forty minutes later, the door creaks open for a third time. I never thought I'd be so glad to have an unlubricated door.
'Just be sure to put the bottle back in the right place' Mark says to his friend Ronny. I exchange looks with mom. My look asks "Is Ronny supposed to be here?" and mom's look says "No!".
I begin to step out of the bathtub and bust Ronny, but mom stops me. Then I see Ronny is simply using my bottle of liquid soap. It's then that my hopes and spirits fall. It looks like we won't be catching the amitriptyline thief tonight. Ronny finishes washing his hands, and leaves the bathroom.
After Mark and Ronny leave, I turn around and just gaze out the window for a few minutes. Then I hear someone coming back up the stairs. I don't even bother to turn around.
All of a sudden, mom taps on my shoulder, and motions for me to turn around. I do so.
The someone who came up the stairs opens the door. I never knew my bathroom saw this much traffic. Maybe I should put in a tollbooth and start charging a dollar for everybody other than me and mom who comes in here.
I peer outside, hoping, praying that the person standing in the bathroom isn't Mark. What I see standing there, looking inside my open medicine cabinet, is Jerry Garcia. I toss a questioning look to mom, who mouths "Brad". I wasn't aware that he was going to a costume party. Well, I guess it's appropriate that Mr. Junkie is going to a party as Jerry Garcia.
Mom and I both push back either end of the shower curtain and step out of the bathtub at the same time. Brad/Jerry turns around and looks at mom and I.
'What's going on here?' mom asks Brad sharply.
'Well apparently the Grateful Dead were wrong. Casey Jones was driving that train high on amitriptyline, instead of cocaine' I joke, walking over in front of the bathroom door so Brad can't try to leave until our little intervention is over.
'How long have you been taking your brother's medicine Brad?' mom asks before Brad gets a chance to answer her first question.
'I think I could take a crack at that one, mom. It's been at least a couple of months. That's when I noticed just one or two pills missing. I didn't say or do anything then, because I just figured it was me going insane. But then this morning I noticed that eight of the pills were missing, and I decided that it couldn't have been me losing my sanity' I answer.
'This is it Brad. I'm getting you help. You have a serious problem with drugs apparently. And you can just forget about your parties and the school ski trip two weeks from now. For now, just go to your room and take off all the Jerry Garcia stuff' mom says.
'Well mom, I'm going to go downstairs and read for a while now' I tell mom.
I do, however, decide to make two detours. One, I stop by Brad's room. I knock on the door. He slightly opens it, and I force my way in.
'I just want to know one thing Brad. Why did you take the amitriptyline?' I ask.
'Because I'm just hooked on drugs, that's why' Brad says.
'Brad, I know that can't be true. Now tell me, what in the hell is going on?' I ask, starting to get frustrated.
'You'd never believe me. Hell, I don't even believe what's really going on' he mumbles.
'How will you ever be one hundred percent sure that I won't believe the truth if you don't tell me?' I reason.
'Because, it sounds fucking ridiculous! So just fuck off! I don't need your help, and I don't need mom's help either' Brad shouts.
A/N: So now Brad's on drugs, but why? You'll just have to stay tuned and R&R to find out.
The reason I chose for Brad's costume (and I have no idea why he's going to a costume party in January) to be Jerry Garcia is because that's just who I happen to be reading about right now. For a couple of minutes I did toy with the thought of making him Marilyn Monroe, but decided not to stick him in drag yet.
Thanks for reading.
-Yours truly, Randy Taylor
