“I’ve
heard lots of crap from you before AJ, but this takes the cake!” Brian was
outraged. Even more so than Howie had been when AJ had first told
him what he had thought. He actually charged at AJ and tried to hit him.
Kevin grabbed his arms and held them behind his back. Brian fought
and screamed till he was red in the face and shaking with rage. Kevin had
to force him down to the floor, “Calm down, Brian.”
“He
accused my best friend of… of being a crack head!” Brian yelled, “A junkie!
I’ll kill him when you let me go!”
“Brian,
we have to face facts,” Howie was saying slowly, “Nick exhibits so many symptoms
of drug abuse it’s not funny!”
Brian
relaxed in Kevin’s grip, “God, if it’s true I’ll never forgive myself.
Stupid me, I thought he was starving himself!”
Kevin
rubbed his shoulders and helped him to stand, “Cuz, you can’t blame yourself
for what Nick does to himself.”
“No,
you’re right cuz. I don’t just blame myself, I blame you guys too!” Brian
wiped his face with his shirt.
AJ’s
mouth fell open, and Howie and Kevin stared. Strangely enough no one argued
with Brian’s assessment. They simply stood staring at one another.
“Where’s
Nick at?” AJ asked gruffly. He rubbed his temples and searched his
pockets for his carton of cigarettes.
“In
his room,” Brian said soberly, “Said he was tired.”
“You
believed that?” AJ asked incredulously.
“What’s
that supposed to mean?” Brian asked defensively.
“How
much you wanna bet he’s not in there,” AJ said brusquely pushing past the
others and making his way to the door. He got to Nick’s door in a flash
and knocked once. No answer.
“Maybe
he’s asleep,” Brian said sounding nervous, “Lets not bother him.”
Kevin
gave Brian a look, then jogged back to his room. He returned a minute
later with a card key that he inserted in the door. He pushed the door
open and went inside followed closely by the others, “Nick?”
The
room was dark, and empty. Howie flipped the light switch. “His
bed’s never been touched.”
“He
must have snuck out right after he told me he was gonna go to sleep,” Brian
flopped down hard on the bed.
“Where
would he be?” Kevin asked aloud to Howie and AJ who now seemed to hold all the
answers. He looked tired, and helpless.
Howie
looked at AJ, “He’s probably out at a club or something wiggin’.”
“Wiggin’?”
Kevin questioned.
“Doing
acid, snorting up, lighting up… Lord knows what he’s doing now. I know
for sure he uses some type of amphetamine, or coke, but I don’t know what
else.”
“How
would you know?” Kevin looked over to AJ.
“I’ve
had friends, and girlfriends who’ve experimented with the stuff. He’s
overly hyper, he talks over a mile per minute, and hey, I think he could
fit into my pants now if he wanted to,” AJ was relaying as he shooed Brian off
the bed and began lifting the mattress.
“What
are you doing AJ?” Kevin asked as AJ threw the mattress to the floor.
“If
the kid’s on drugs then he’s gotta have a stash somewhere right? Lets
find it,” AJ stripped the mattress of its dressings, “That way when he comes
back and tries to deny anything, we’ll have something to throw in his face.”
Howie
and Kevin nodded, and went to different sides of the room to strip search the
perimeter. Only Brian hesitated.
“B?”
Brian
finally nodded and got off the bed. He went into the closet and began
searching Nick’s clothing.
“Nothing,” Howie said with an exhausted
groan, “this room is clean.”
Brian
and AJ sat on the bed also, slightly defeated but not over all disappointed.
Maybe they had been wrong and Nick was not on drugs.
“Hey,”
came Kevin’s voice. Uh-oh, it sounded like he had found something,
“Hello… What are these?”
Kevin
tossed about 6 bottles of prescription medication on the bed.
Howie
grabbed for one, Brian and AJ took the others.
“He
said it was migraine stuff,” Brian whispered softly as he read the label,
“Prozac…”
“Valium,”
AJ read, “Librium…”
“These
are tranquilizers, and antidepressants,” Howie said shaking the bottles then popping
their tops to look inside.
“Does
anybody remember anything about Nick seeing a psychiatrist?” Kevin asked taking
one of the bottles.
Everyone
shook their heads, “We wouldn’t have noticed if he had told us with the way we
all were acting!” Brian muttered, “Dr. Sears. Think we should call him up
to see if he wrote these prescriptions because Nick needed them, or…”
“Brian
check your watch,” AJ said, “What doctor’s office would be open at this time?”
Brian’s
head drooped, “So maybe it’s not drugs. Maybe he’s just taking this
stuff…”
“Brian,
drugs are drugs, whether they be prescription or not!” Kevin stood up, “He’s
endangering himself, and we have to do something about it.”
“I
wonder if anyone else has noticed his behavior but us,” Howie looked curious,
“Like his parents, maybe they know he’s been acting strangely, or his friends…
I know he doesn’t have many outside of us, but still.”
Kevin
was nodding, “We should give his parents a call.”
Brian
nodded. He moved to the hotel phone and tried to recall the number.
He dialed slowly, “What do I say guys?”
“I’ll
talk,” Kevin volunteered reaching for the phone. Brian’s face looked
relieved, then troubled. He hung up the phone.
“What?”
“According
to the operator the Carter’s don’t live there anymore. It says the line’s
been disconnected.”