Sidewalks are never a comfortable place to sit for long amounts of time. But at four in the morning, you feel the pinches of pain ten times more. The stiff concrete beneath me and the brick wall I was leaning against didn’t make for a very comfortable combination. Streetlights in front of me shined brighter than the sun. I had to keep my eyes on the ground so I didn’t feel like acid had been dropped into my sockets. I felt like my being had left my body, and I looked white as a ghost. There were a few people that walked by, and when they did, I felt my being shoot back into myself and I couldn’t see straight, because the force of being stuffed into your own body is unlike anything you can imagine. Especially at four in the morning.
I had been sitting on that street for probably two hours by the time Andres finally came jogging around the corner. He had a certain bounce in his step; one that could only mean he had managed to obtain the best of the best, which meant bad news for me. I didn’t have the cash to pay for what he was about to give me. I slowly stood up to face him, and prepared for the worst.

As the space between us closed, I could faintly make out his grim smile just poking out of the black stubble that lined his cheeks and jaw. When he was standing right in front of me, he started speaking in way that I could tell was excitement, but I couldn’t catch what was actually being said. I hadn’t had anything to eat all day or slept in roughly 30 hours. I was on the verge of hallucinations, and Andres’ voice just melted into the ground before it could reach my ears. After a few minutes of trying to grab my attention, he felt he had no other choice, and he threw a punch, and I don’t blame him. It hit me in the throat, and I stumbled backwards and fell against the brick wall of the bar we were standing behind. I don’t think I’ve ever been jolted back to consciousness that quickly before that moment.

I raised my fist to hit him back, but hesitated. I remembered then that he is my only way of getting my fix, and I needed it bad. So, I lowered my fist and rubbed my neck where I had been struck. A few moments passed before either of us spoke, and then I decided to pipe up.

“So, what were you able to get?” I asked, not realizing speaking would bring me pain.

“Only the best. I had to go through five different people just to get it,” Andres replied.

“How much do you want for it? I’ve only got so much…” I was hesitant to tell him that I only had a twenty on me.

“I don’t usually sell this stuff, man. I tend to keep it for myself. But, you seem to need it more than I do, so I’m asking sixty-five, and that’s being generous,” he said as he handed me the baggy of beautiful white powder.

My heart dropped into my stomach, and I took the bag and stuffed it in my pocket. Pulling the twenty out of my wallet, I could see the anger building up in Andres’ eyes. His fists balling up at his sides, and his jaw clenching, I knew I was in trouble. But then, I thought about something I swore I never would.

“Now, before you get pissed, take the twenty, and I have something else to make up for the rest of money,” my voice was shaky and I handed him the money.

“What could you possibly have that’s worth the other forty-five?” he asked as he ripped the bill out of my hand. “You’re merely a street rat.”

I let out a heavy sigh, and pulled out my grandfather’s pocket watch that I always carried with me. His eyes widened and jaw dropped.

“Where the hell did you get that? You can’t afford food off the dollar menu at McDonald’s, yet you have that beauty just hanging around in your coat pocket?” his smile grew and he marveled at the golden finish on the back of the watch.

“It was my grandfather’s. He left it to me when he passed away. I always told myself that I would hang on to it until the day I died. But, here. Take it,” I handed over the watch, and started slowly walking away, realizing what I had just done. I have never been so ashamed in myself, but that’s what drugs do to a person. They turn you into something different, something that makes you want to cry every time you look in the mirror.

And that’s when we heard the sirens. We couldn’t tell where they were coming from, or where they were going, but we weren’t going to take any chances. I sprinted off to the south and Andres to the north. I knew I had a warrant out for my arrest, and I knew that if I were spotted by the cops, I was done for. So I tried staying in the alleys and in the shadows, but it was no good. I walked right into the glare of headlights as I turned the corner onto Locust, and I was bombarded with police. I tried to run, but they tackled me to the ground. I was searched, cuffed, and thrown into the back of a cruiser. I glanced out of the window just in time to see Andres looking back at me, bearing the watch proudly in his hand, and grin in the most horrifying way, and that’s when I knew it was a set up.