Parasitic Psychosis

This is a tale of two brothers, Leon who is 18 who tries to make a living being a cop and Sydd who is 21 and a hardcore junkie who is unemployed living under his brother and brother’s girlfriend’s roof, both brothers each having a different type of mental disorder. Each of them has a girlfriend: Leon has Charlotte who is eight months younger than him and carries a dark depression that leads her to habitually slice her wrists open in times of heavy stress due to her former home life. Sydd has Janis who is 3 months younger and who is haunted by her past. Troubled youth, Sydd has been in and out of Juvenile Hall, rehab, and jail. When Sydd was a teenager he was arrested for arson, vandalism, and grand theft auto, robbery, and of course, drugs. Sydd was fourteen when he started his drug use. At this point in time, Leon and Charlotte have been dating for three years and Sydd and Janis, two. Everybody is hiding a deeper, darker secret…

Leon and Charlotte are at the airport with their friend Gabriella. “I gotta go pay for my ticket you guys!” Gabriella says, a tall, tan, girl with long straight black hair. She heads to the back of the line.

“I don’t know why you talk to her, Leon, I don’t trust her.” Charlotte, a short, skinny, light skinned girl with straight, long brown hair tells him.

“I swear, we’re just friends.” Leon, a slightly dark guy who is about the same height as Charlotte who has short, black curly hair, and a muscular build, responds.

“Yeah, well, I don’t care, I don’t like her.”

“Oh, come on, babe, we’ve been hanging out together for years, and I know she was alright with us dating, she said so herself, ‘I don’t care’. Besides, since we started going out together, we’ve seen less and less of her and I feel bad, and now that she’s moving, we can give her a proper goodbye.”

“Hey guys, my plane is boarding soon, so I gotta go. Hugs!” and she gives Charlotte a hug and Leon an extra-long hug, while Charlotte puts on a sneer and takes the chance to delete Gabriella’s number from Leon’s phone. After the hug, Gabriella leaves to go board the plane. They get into the car and drive home.

“Ok babe, I gotta go to work so I’ll just drop you off, and change, ok?” After that, Leon goes to work at a desk for eight hours. Leon is sitting at the police station, at the dispatcher’s station, bored as usual, because all of the slots for patrol officer and traffic officer were filled upon his large graduating class from the previous summer, already May of the next year. The sergeant walks up to Leon. “Call in 1216, their shift is over.” Leon sighs an “ok”.

“Car # 1216, report back to the station, car 1216.” He then hears a crackle over the radio: “This is car 1216, be there in 20, over”.

“Copy that”. Just then, Charlotte comes into the precinct, and approaches Leon.

“Hey, you done your shift yet?”

Leon checks his watch, “Oh shit, yeah”.

“C’mon, let’s go home”. So Leon and Charlotte get into the car, and Leon starts driving.

Leon gives a huge sigh and says, “I’m so sick of just working at a desk all day, I need more action.”

“Well, why don’t you go to get your detective’s license or ask to be on patrol?

“Apparently, there are no spots left”

“Bullshit. That just means they want you to prove yourself, you’re exceptional Leon, show it.” Charlotte says.

“Alright, I’ll give it a shot” Leon says with a small smile. He then pulls into the driveway and walks in on Sydd high in the living room with a small bag of cocaine in one hand and a pipe in the other still lit and he’s drifting in and out of consciousness with music blasting on the TV. Sydd then mumbles something unintelligible. “DUDE! WHAT THE FUCK? I SAID NOT TO DO THIS SHIT IN THE FUCKING HOUSE! I’M A FUCKING COP NOW!” The sudden outburst jolts Sydd awake.

“Pfft. You have a fucking desk job, ya loser.” Sydd, a tall, unnaturally skinny guy with the same skin complexion as Leon, but with straight, black hair retorts.

”FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!” Leon snaps back.

“Go fuck yourself; the janitor has more authority than you.”

”Get the fuck out of my house and don’t come back until you sober up!”

“At least give me a little-“

“And I ain’t giving you no more money!”

“Pfft. Whatever, I’ll just pawn some more stuff.”

“Pawn your own shit, and stay the fuck out of my room!”

“Sorry man, I’m running out of stuff.” Sydd says and gives a shrug.

“I DON’T CARE, STOP STEALING AND PAWNING MY SHIT!”

“SO HOW ELSE AM I GONNA GET MONEY?”

“GO TO REHAB AND GET A FUCKING JOB YOU MORON!” Just then, Sydd stops where he was standing and stares off into space, mouth slightly open, drooling a little. “Hello?” Leon waves his hand in front of Sydd’s face and snaps his fingers a few times with no reaction from Sydd. “Good I hope he overdosed again and hasn’t realized it yet.”

“I’m gonna be late, I’m working till midnight tonight, did you remember your meds?” Charlotte asks Leon.

“Um, no.”

“You didn’t take it?” Charlotte asks.

”No, I actually missed yesterday and today’s doses.”

Charlotte gasps. “Go! Go! Take it before you lose your mind!” Charlotte yells.

“WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN? WHAT? YOU THINK I’M CRAZY? HUH? SHOULD I BE IN A PADDED ROOM? HUH?? HUH????? IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK!?? LOOK, I’M CRAZY!” And Leon starts throwing things and yelling randomly. Charlotte stands there horrified and speechless crying and trying to shield herself from the oncoming objects. Leon just suddenly bursts out, laughing hysterically. “I’m just fucking with you!”

Suddenly Charlotte just screams, “TAKE YOUR FUCKING PILLS ASSHOLE!” Leon walks into the bathroom still chuckling to himself and that’s when the lack of meds hit him. He starts to see purple spots and hears a voice.

“Huh? What? What did you say?” he calls out, no response. He hears something again. “C’mon, this isn’t funny!” No response. He hears a loud screaming and everything turns white and he blacks out. Charlotte hears the fall and looks into the bathroom and sees Leon on the bathroom floor holding his head as if he were hearing things and the pills are still in the bottle on the sink untaken.

“Oh my gosh! Are you ok?”

“Pills” Leon manages to utter weakly, and Charlotte hands him the bottle. “Give me a few please; I can’t open them right now.” So she opens the bottle, takes two out and hands them to him and he takes them and manages to sit up.

“Maybe I should call off tonight.”

“No, go ahead, I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I think I’ll go to bed, I’ll just sleep it off.”

“Ok, but if you need me, just call and I’ll come help you.”

“…alright, sure. I love you.”

“I love you too” and she gives him a small smile and a kiss on the lips. She leaves Leon to his own devices, assured he’ll be ok and gets ready for work. After she goes upstairs, there’s a knock on the door and Sydd answers it. When he opens the door, he sees Carmella, the girlfriend of one of his junkie best friends, Rob, who is sitting in the car outside. Sydd just stares blankly at her like he doesn’t recognize her.

“Yo Sydd, c’mon, let’s go!” Carmella, a Hispanic girl with long, black hair in dirty clothes exclaims.

“Yeah, my buddy gave me some new shit that you just gotta try!” Rob, an average height light skinned male with short, black hair and dirty clothes, calls from the car.

“Huh?” Sydd asks, still bewildered and high as a kite.

”Let’s go!” Carmella exclaims, as she grabs him by the arm and pulls him over to the car.

“Can we pick up Jenny?”

”Janis?” she asks.

Sydd snaps his fingers, “That’s her- yeah the- yeah, her.” Charlotte steps outside and watches Sydd leave, and walks back into the house to check on Leon who is leaving the bathroom and making his way towards the staircase.

“How are you holding up, hon?”

“I’m fine, you ready for work?”

“Yeah” and she gives him a kiss and heads out the door while Leon heads upstairs to bed. Meanwhile, back at Rob and Carmella’s, house, Sydd is getting ready to try the new drug, already high. Janis, who was picked up on the way, sits next to him with a disapproving look on her face.

“What is this stuff?” Sydd asks Rob.

“What do you care?” replies Rob.

“I wanna know if I’m getting good drugs” Sydd says with a crazy looking smile on his face.

“They’re ecstasy infused with heroin rolled in coke stuffed into a mushroom with a layer of acid.”

“I wish you wouldn’t do this shit” Janis, a light skinned, short girl with long, curly blonde hair and rectangular glasses, remarks to Sydd.

“And yet, you’re still with me” Sydd retorts back. Rob starts to look impatient, and starts drumming his fingers on the end table.

“C’mon, what do you think? Are you gonna try it?” Rob asks with irritation.

“Wow, sounds like it’ll kill me. Eh, I’ll try anything once!” and he shoves the whole thing in his mouth, breaking it apart and even chewing the pill. He swallows and it immediately hits. “WOOOOO! I CAN START TO FEEL IT ALREADY!” He starts to laugh maniacally.

“How ya feeeelin man?” Rob asks Sydd. Sydd continues to giggle like a little girl until his mood changes into rage.

“Oh my God! Sydd! What’s the matter?” Janis yells at Sydd, looking upset.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT, BITCH? SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

“Sydd! Calm the fuck down!”

“I’MMA GONNA KILL YOU ONE DAY BITCH! YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD!”

”Sydd! You don’t know what you’re saying, calm the hell down!” Just then, Sydd smacks her hard across the face and knocks her to the floor. He then proceeds to thrash about on the floor, arms and legs swinging wildly, hitting anything in his way.

“Holy shit he’s freaking out! Ha! Good thing we had him test it before we took it ourselves.” Rob says to Carmella.

“I didn’t think he’d eat the whole thing at once.” Carmella says back.

“He’s fucking nuts. He already overdosed twice.” Rob says.

“AND YOU GAVE IT TO HIM ANYWAY, KNOWING THIS. SOME FRIENDS YOU TWO ARE!” Janis yells. Rob walks over to Sydd who’s still thrashing around, resembling a seizure.

“You ok dude?” Sydd punches Rob in the face, so he jumps on top of him and restrains him. He uses one hand to pin him to the ground, and uses his free hand to speed dial Leon on Sydd’s cell phone. “Yo Leon, come get your brother, he’s flipping the fuck out, and he’s pissing me off.”

“LET GO OF ME YOU COCKSUCKING SONS OF BITCHES!!!!” Sydd screams. Rob punches him in the back of the head and it knocks him out. Meanwhile, Leon leaves the house and gets in the car and starts talking to himself.

“This is getting out of control, he has to do something, and I really wish he’d go back to rehab, it’s getting way too out of control. I still can’t believe they found a new drug for him to take, I thought he’s done them all already.” He pulls up in front and parks, and knocks on the door. He hears Sydd screaming from inside the house.

“OUCH! AHHHHHHHHHHHH! MY HEAD FEELS LIKE IT WAS HIT WITH A FUCKING BRICK!”

“NEXT TIME I’LL KNOCK YOU OUT FOR AN HOUR INSTEAD OF TEN MINUTES, ASSHOLE!” Rob yells back.

“You can’t fucking know how long you’re gonna knock a person out for!” Sydd retorts back.

“Course I can, I’m like a fucking superman, I have super strength at will, the only reason I didn’t use it all was cause you owe me money!” Rob yells back. Leon knocks on the door again. Rob opens up the door, “Here, take ’em” and he throws Sydd and Janis out at the same time and slams the door in their faces.

”BASTARDS! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES! DICKS!” Sydd yells as he flips off the house as hard as he can, thinking it’ll have an effect.

“Calm down bro, it’s a’ight.” Sydd actually does calm down, but it was just a coincidental mood shift. “C’mon, Charlotte’s probably done her shift, you go lay down, you don’t look so good, and I’ll go and pick her up” Leon says.

“C’mon, let’s go, I’ll lay down with you, so you’re not alone.” Janis says. She smiles at Sydd, Sydd smiles back at her, and then looks at Leon.

“Ok bro, but I don’t think I’ll be able to, I’m so fucking wired and pissed off right now.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help.” Janis says suggestively.

“I like the sound of that” Sydd says with a grin on his face.

“Look, just try, you need to come down, you’re on too much right now.”

“Can we at least have a ride?” Sydd asks.

“Sure, get in the back then.” Leon drives down the block to where Charlotte works and walks over to where she’s working. “Hey baby!”

“Oh hey, you’re early; I still have a little bit of time left.”

“Well, then that’s even more time I get to spend with you.”

She lets out a little giggle, “Do you feel any better?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Yeah? That’s good.” She checks the clock, “Ooh, 5 minutes left! Ok, so where is your brother? Still at Carmella and Rob’s?”

“No, they kicked him out cause he flipped his lid again.”

“Oh, no, I thought he was getting better with that.”

“Apparently not.”

“Oh, damn.”

“Yeah well, the drugs didn’t help either… just so you know; he and Janis are in the back seat. So what do you want to do tonight?”

“Well, I was thinking maybe a movie or something.”

“Sounds good babe.”

“Yes! Quitting time! See you tomorrow, Mr. Delson.” Her boss gives an affirmative grunt. She leaves work and get in the car. “So, did you get any rest at all?”

“I got a couple of hours, until I get a call that shithead back there is freaking out because he took more drugs on top of whatever he was on before, but I’m still a little edgy.”

“Well, hopefully, you’ll be calm during the movie.”

“Totally planning on it babe” and he gives her a big smile. They get to the house and Sydd and Janis go up to Sydd’s room and Leon heats up dinner in the microwave.

“So Leon, what do you want to watch?”

“I dunno, got any ideas?”

“Well, it’s between Insanity, Phoenix, or… Bumblephucks. I’m leaning towards Bumblefucks because I’m in the mood for funny.”

“Phoenix sounds good actually, an action drama might actually be better for me, watching people fuck shit up in pure rage, it’s an ego thing.”

“Yeah, but work sucked, so I really wanna relax and watch something funny.”

“I’m tellin’ ya, I’m feeling Phoenix.”

“No, I’m not in the mood” she whines.

“I’M GOING TO FUCKING WATCH THIS WHETHER YOU WILL OR NOT, I DON’T GIVE A SHIT!”

“WHAT THE HELL?”

“I DON’T WANT ANY FUCKING ATTITUDE!”

“WHOA! Calm the fuck down!”

“I CAN’T! DOES IT LOOK LIKE I CAN?”

“Did you take your next dose?”

“I’M FUCKING OUT!”

“Stop yelling at me! So refill it!”

“I FUCKING CAN’T, MY MEDICAL IS OUT, AND I HAVE TO SHELL OUT 500 BUCKS FOR IT, AND I’M NOT GONNA DO THAT!”

“It’s for your health!”

“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT! LIVING IS MORE IMPORTANT!”

“What if I pay for half? Will you get it then?”

“NO, I DON’T WANT NO FUCKING HELP FROM ANYBODY!”

“I’m only trying to help!”

“I DON’T NEED YOUR FUCKING HELP!”

“Well then guess what, asshole? You’re sleeping on the couch and we ain’t doing shit tonight! I’m going straight to bed!”

Leon lets out a yell of frustration and then yells, “WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A BITCH???”

“STOP YELLING AT ME! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO STARTED AN ARGUMENT OVER SOMETHING SO STUPID!”

“I’M NOT ON MY FUCKING MEDS RIGHT NOW! DOES THAT EVEN MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU OR DO YOU NOT GIVE A SHIT?”

“WHAT THE FUCK EVER!” and she storms upstairs and slams the door and locks it.

Leon mutters under his breath, “Fucking bitch.” Leon only gets a total of 2 hours of sleep that night while Charlotte sleeps through the night. At 6:30 the next morning, both wake up to Sydd and Janis fighting, so Leon gives up trying to get a couple more hours of sleep for work and gets up instead and heads into the shower. All the while, hearing the two argue.

“…AND ANOTHER THING, THE APPLES IN THE CABINET ARE MINE, KEEP YOUR WHORE HANDS OFF OF THEM!”

“I took one, and you said it was ok, I don’t know why the fuck you’re yelling at me! I was asleep on the bed and you woke me up by bitch slapping me and then yelled that I deprived you of food!”

“AND YOU’RE A WHORE!”

“You’re not making any sense, Sydd!”

“I DON’T HAVE TO, WHORE!”

“Know what, I’m fucking leaving, come get me when you’re not being stupid, you piece of shit asshole!” Janis heads downstairs into the living room, dials her phone, and slams the front door. Sydd calms down after she leaves and notices outside his door and looking into Leon’s and Charlotte’s room, Charlotte is sitting on the bed crying. Sydd walks in and notices she has a small knife pressed up against her wrist.

“What do you think you’re doing? I thought you cut that shit out.”

“What are you doing up so early?” she asks, trying to change the subject.

“I’m up still, starting to crash. Now, what are you doing?”

So she answers through rapid sobs, “I-I- I can’t deal with your brother like this, my- my stress level is so high it’s unbelievable. “

“Cutting yourself never solved anything”.

“I wouldn’t be talking, druggo.”

“Look, fuck you. If Leon sees you cutting yourself again, he’s gonna be pissed, that’s all I know. And he’s pissed enough already. I’m tired, and going to bed.” He takes the knife from her, walks across the hall into his room, and passes out. Twenty minutes later, he wakes up to the sound of Leon and Charlotte arguing.

“…You’re being a fucking bitch! I don’t know why you always have to fucking act like you’re perfect and I’m shit! You have problems too, but I never bring them up! You know why? Because I know I have my own problems to deal with, maybe you should fix you before you decide to try to fix me!” he hears Leon say.

“Fuck you, asshole, I was only trying to help!” she says back to him.

He gets up, and bursts into their room during the argument. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU GUYS THINK YOU’RE DOING?”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP SYDD! WE DIDN’T INTERRUPT YOU AND YOUR OLD LADY FIGHTING!” Leon says.

“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT, OURS WAS MORE IMPORTANT!”

“What was it about?” Leon asks. No response. ”Don’t remember?”

“FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE!”

“Don’t make me beat your drug addicted ass.”

“Ooh, mister scary cop, please don’t arrest me!” he says sarcastically.

“Fine, get the hell out of my house until you get your head outta your ass!”

“FINE, FUCK YOU; I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP ANYWAY!” Then he just ups and leaves. He lets out a sigh, “This sucks, I’m jonesing and I’m broke.” He sees a bicycle sitting in someone’s garage, “Yes!” with no one around, he jumps on it and rides off with it. Meanwhile, back at Leon’s, Charlotte leaves their room and into the hallway and confronts a very upset Leon, who is feeling bad about the fight he just had with her.

“Wow, look at that. You kicked your own brother out of the house. Good job. It must suck to lose your brother and your girlfriend in one day. I’m goin’ back to my dad’s house.”

“WHAT? NO!” And she heads downstairs, he follows her. ”Please stay, I feel so bad about the fight, please don’t leave!” he begs.

“We’ll see.” And she takes her bag and leaves. Leon lets out a yell that can be heard from inside the house.

Meanwhile, Sydd makes a visit to Rob’s house and knocks on the door. Rob answers the door. “What do you want?”

“Can I stay with you guys?”

“You’re joking.”

“What’d I do?”

“Holy shit, you don’t remember whacking me in the face and cursing me out?”

“Nope.”

“Hey, it causes memory loss or some shit!” he turns back and tells Carmella. He turns back to Sydd and says flatly to him, “No.” and he slams the door in his face.

“Shit. I hope it’s not supposed to rain tonight.”

The next day, Leon gets off of work that afternoon, and goes and hangs out with his best friends Aaron and John. “Hey guys, what’s up?”

“Well, I’m expecting a lady friend if ya know what I mean” Aaron, a light skinned guy with short brown hair, and muscular build, says.

“I uh, me too” says John, a ‘redneck’ type guy says in his southern accent.

“Oh? Do you guys want me to leave or something?”

“Nah, that’s ok, she won’t be here for a while” Aaron says.

“Uh, I gotta go” says John.

“What’s up with him?” Leon asks Aaron. “We’ve been friends for years and now all of a sudden he’s got shit to do? He’s never like this”

“I don’t know, it’s pretty odd”

“I’m surprised you can live with him, seeing all these Confederate flags around the living room”

“Oh yeah, his ‘Redneck pride’ or some shit, it’s pretty annoying, but hey, the three of us have always been tight, which is why I’m wondering where he’s going lately, he doesn’t tell me anything anymore and- oh, hey, you wanna smoke a bowl?”

“I really shouldn’t, being a cop and all-“Leon gives Aaron a look, “But me and Charlotte got into a heated argument last night and work sucked today, so go ahead.” So, Aaron packs a pipe of weed and takes a hit and passes it to Leon, “Thanks”, and he takes a hit and passes it back.

“So, how’s mega junkie doing?”

“Kicked him the fuck out”

“Really? Damn, that’s cold.”

“Yeah, well he deserves it.”

“Oh hey, check it out, I got a drum kit and a pair of turntables, flex my music muscle”

“Haha, gonna be a one man band?”

“Hah, I was hoping you’d be on the turntables and we could do a gig once in a while”

“Nah, those days are behind me man, I gotta focus on the job I have now, maybe if I need some extra cash, or have some free time, I’ll give ya a call”

“Sounds good man”, and then there is a knock on the door. Aaron gets up and checks through the window and sees a girl standing there. ”Dude, uh, she’s here, if you uh, don’t mind, here’s a joint for later, ya know, just in case.”

“Oh yeah, yeah, sure dude” and Leon cuts out the back door, gets in his car and goes home. He walks into his room and sits on his bed and starts thinking. He lets out a sigh, “Everyone’s gone. I guess it’s all my fault, but I just- I don’t-“and he starts crying. After a little while, he finally regains his composure and decides to visit Charlotte at work. So he walks in, and approaches her. “Hey”.

“What are you doing here?”

”I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.”

She lets out a huff, “It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Get help!” Leon lets out a frustrated grunt and runs out of the building and hops into the car and drives to the park. He parks his car and enters the park, and follows the trail into the woods. He lights up a joint and starts talking to himself.

“Maybe I do need to get help, but I just don’t have the proper funds, I wish she’d understand that.” Sydd sneaks up and taps him on the shoulder. He jumps up startled and flicks the joint into the grass and turns around.

“Doin’?”

“Thinking. You?

“Hiding from the 5-0”

“Pfft. Typical.” Leon leaves and slams Sydd in the shoulder as he walks out and Sydd checks to see if he’s gone, and picks up the joint and continues it. The next day, while Leon is at his desk, the Sergeant comes up to him.

“Xero, we’re a man short for patrol today, you feel up to the job?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, where am I stationed?”

“Between flowers and 3rdif you do a good job today, I might take you off the desk, Jones hasn’t been in in a week, no call no show, he’s gone as far as the force is concerned. Anyway, you’ll be with Juan today, car number… 0393.”

“Thank you sir, I won’t let you down.” As soon as Leon leaves the precinct, he runs into Sydd.

“Can I come home yet bro?”

“That depends, are you over yourself yet?”

“I did nothing wrong.”

“You’ve been sponging off me and haven’t even tried to look for a job, at least I have one.”

“Who the fuck is going to hire me? I got a record a mile long! And the track marks don’t help they practically scream ‘junkie’!

“How much money do you have?”

“Nothing...”

“What? I gave you a hundred 3 days ago! How is it gone already?”

“I-I-I don’t- don’t remem- c’mon, man, lemme back into the house, I need a place to stay.”

“Yeah? What contribution you gonna make?”

“I dunno.”

“Wrong answer.” And Leon starts to walk down the block towards the parking lot.

“HEY, GET BACK HERE! DON’T WALK AWAY FROM ME!”

“Listen, I have work to do, unless you want me to turn you into my friends in there, I suggest you GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!”

“Fine, fuck you too asshole!” and Sydd walks in the other direction. Leon works his patrol, makes a couple of arrests, and his shift ends. He gets into the car, and on his way home, he drives by Charlotte’s workplace. He circles the block before deciding to visit her. He parks and steps out of the car and walks inside and walks right up to her.

“HI.” Leon says.

“Do I need to get a restraining order for you?” she asks.

“Listen, I just wanna say I’m sorry; I’ll let you help any way you want.”

“What are you talking about?”

Leon shakes a medicine bottle. “I uh, went to the pharmacy today…”

“Yay! Good for you! Come give me a hug!”

Leon walks up to her and gives her a hug. “Yeah, I did it because I was hurting the person I love and I didn’t wanna screw up any more than I already have.”

“Maybe.”

“Lemme take you out on a date”

“I get off at ten.” Leon goes home and gets ready for his date when he gets a call from Aaron.

“Hello?”

“Hey bro, listen, it’s half off night at The Fox, I was hoping you’d wanna go”

“Nah, sorry dude, I’m going on a date with Charlotte, why don’t you ask John?”

“He’s been really flaky lately, I don’t like it, I’d rather have someone I can trust.”

“Sorry man, maybe next time.”

“Alright man, enjoy your date.” Leon hangs up and finishes getting ready. He leaves the house and picks up Charlotte.

“Are ya ready hon?”

“Yeah, where are we going?”

“To a nice café with live entertainment”

“Sounds good” As they drive down the street, they see Sydd sitting on the sidewalk.

“Piece of shit scumbag”

“I heard that!” Sydd calls. Leon just ignores him and keeps driving until he hits the stop light. “FINE, LEAVE YOUR BROTHER OUT HERE IN THE COLD, THAT’S COOL.” They finally reach the café and they come in and take a seat. The lights are dim and the atmosphere is warm and friendly. They hear the emcee say “We’ve got a very special guest for you tonight, I’d like to introduce… DJ Hahn!” The crowd cheers and claps.

“This is nice.”

“I wanted to make it up to you.”

“Thanks. Does this mean you won’t flip your shit anymore?”

“Honestly? I can’t promise you anything about that, but I do promise this- I’m gonna try.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“So I’m glad you decided to get back together with me.”

“Ohoho, you’re not off the hook yet, you still need to prove to me you’re serious.”

“I understand.”

“I’ll give you a week. If you can regain your composure without flipping shit and stay on your meds, I’ll come back to you, if not, we’re done.”

“I’ll prove to you I can do it.” The next day, as Leon is driving home from work, he sees Sydd standing on the street looking nuts and shaking uncontrollably. He stops and talks to him. “Bro? Are you ok?”

“Y-y-yeah I-I-I’m o-o-ok-k, I’m just waiting for m-my d-dealer to sh-show up.”

”With what money?”

“I g-got 20 bucks on m-me now, I n-need a f-fix.” Just then, Zakk, Sydd’s dealer, shows up and hands him the baggie. “Ah, g-good” He pays and heads to an alley and Leon follows him.

“Yo, you need to cut this shit out, you need to go back to rehab and stick with it this time.”

“N-n-no, y-you can’t make me!”

“It’s for your own good!”

“No! Don’t you un-underst-stand? I need this!”

“No, you don’t!”

“Yes, I do!”

“You’re gonna end up killing yourself!” Leon pulls out his phone, types something, and puts it back into his pocket.

“SO? NOBODY’LL GIVE A SHIT!”

“I love you bro, you’re girlfriend loves you, just ask her.” Just then, Janis, checking her phone walks down the alley and joins them.

“Please cut this shit out, please for my sake, if not for anyone else.” Janis says.

“Do you want help?” Leon asks.

“No, I can take care of myself.” Sydd replies.

“Please babe, I’m begging you!” Janis says.

“I said… NO!”

“Whatever, leave him to die here then.” Leon gets into the car and goes home, meanwhile Janis leaves and Sydd makes himself comfortable on the cold ground in the alley and lights up another toke.