Back a few years ago, I met Sarah, a drug addicted screw-up. She was a cute blonde and around 30 years old. She was best friends with Randi, a good friend of mine, who was even more messed up. What can I say!? Back then I was a sucker for pretty women who needed fixing. I thought I detected a kernel of goodness in Sarah, along with a wicked sense of humor. But she was addicted to heroin, meth, and any other drugs that she could get her hands on. We went out a few times and I often gave her rides, since she didn’t drive. Sometimes, she would call at inconvenient times, when I was on a date or asleep, and wanted a ride somewhere. We slept together a few times, but she would either be bouncing off the walls or comatose. Neither of those conditions are a turn on for me. So I never hooked up with her.
One time, she called me at 3 in the morning and said she was in trouble. Sarah had went to a house-party in Portland and someone gave her a type of drug that she had never tried before. She said it was making her feel really weird and she just wanted to go home. After getting the address, I made the hour-long trip to get her. I called her when I got there and told her that I was waiting at the curb. She said she would be right out. I waited 5-10 minutes and then went to look for her. She was facedown in the driveway, unconscious. I rolled her over and saw blood all over her face. She halfway woke up and I assisted her to my van. I had some baby wipes and cleaned her face, hands, and clothes, as best I could. She could barely keep her head up. Then I put her in my bed that’s in the van, put the covers over her, and drove to her mom’s apartment in Keizer. Her mom wasn’t home (or not answering the phone or door), so I was in a quandary on what to do with Sarah. I couldn’t wake her, but she was breathing fine and even snoring a little. I decided to let her sleep it off. I parked the van at a nearby Fred Meyer’s and waited for Sarah to wake up. I sat in the driver’s seat and read a book, checking on Sarah often.
She finally woke up at 2 pm and asked where she was. I told her that she was in my van and what time it was. She couldn’t even remember me picking her up. I explained that her mom didn’t seem to be home and I didn’t want to be digging through her purse to find the apartment keys. She told me that her mom was gone somewhere and that she had lost her apartment keys recently. Then she thanked me for not raping her! I asked why she said that and she told me that had happened to her a few times when she was passed out.
I often hung out with Sarah at the apartment that she shared with her mom, Johanna. Her mom was obese, a chain-smoker, watched TV all day, and drank beer all day long. To be frank, she was hideous and not a nice person. The only attention she paid to me, was when she ran out of cigarettes or alcohol, and wanted me to go fetch more. Sometimes her or Sarah had the money to buy those, but often they tried to get me to pay for them. Basically, they told me I kinda owed them because I was sleeping in the apartment with Sarah occasionally. To keep the peace, I often gave in and bought the damn things. Sarah also played the “My mom is dying of emphysema, so I just want her happy before she dies” card. Johanna did look and sound like she could die any minute.
Sarah wanted to go to the coast one day because of the heat. So I took her and her little Italian greyhound dog, and we spent the day wandering the beach and Lincoln City. Her dog chased the seagulls and almost caught a few. Fastest dog I’ve ever seen! I took them home the night and both were really wiped out. The next day, Sarah called me up, crying. The neighbor’s pitbull had attacked her greyhound and killed it. I had seen the pitbull several times and had a bad feeling about it. The neighbors let it run loose, saying it was an absolute angel and would never hurt anyone or anything.
A few weeks later, I took Sarah back to the beach, so she could reminisce about the good time that her dog had there. We decided to spend the night at a motel there and I actually thought maybe that would be the night we finally hooked up. Sarah was being very sweet and affectionate towards me. We got ready for bed and Sarah said she just needed to use the bathroom quick before making love. I waited and waited. I asked her a couple times if she was okay and she said that she was just having some stomach cramps. Then she stopped answering. I picked the lock and found her asleep, laying on top of the vanity. There was a needle and some blood on the counter. She had shot herself up with heroin and passed out. I carried her to the bed and tucked her in. I have to admit, I was a little pissed off. She chose drugs over me, or needed the drugs because of the prospect of sleeping with me. Either way, I wasn’t happy. But no way was I going to have sex with an unconscious woman. She was apologetic the next morning, but I was done with her. I rarely saw her after that. Our friend Randi told me that Sarah was doing prostitution, but often got beaten up because of asking for the money up front and then trying to make an escape without doing the deed. Not smart!
She got knocked up by a druggie that was six years younger than her and decided to keep the baby. But her doctor told her that she had to stop doing drugs, or her baby could have severe issues or die. She went to rehab and then was prescribed daily methadone treatments. Her baby was born healthy. Sarah decided to move to North Carolina to get away from bad influences, for the sake of her daughter. Her relatives there are pretty religious and were opinionated about how Sarah had messed up/was continuing to screw up her life. After a couple months of that, she wanted to come back to Oregon. They particularly disapproved of her taking methadone, saying it was just substituting one drug for another. It took a couple more months before some former sugar daddy paid for airplane tickets back home. No, not me, though she asked. I wonder how she repaid the guy?
About three years later, Sarah tried to renew our friendship and I made an effort to forget the past. Her daughter’s name was Charlotte and she took to me quickly. They were living with Sarah’s dad, a religious zealot who had no spiritual issues with sleeping around. Eventually he moved in with some woman, and left Sarah and Charlotte with the apartment. Sarah got permanent disability payments for anxiety and subsidized housing, plus food stamps and child assistance. But sometimes that wasn’t enough, so I helped them out from time to time with minor expenses and giving rides. Charlotte got to meet the Chuck E Cheese mascot when I took them there.
Then Sarah decided to let Charlotte’s dad move in with them. She complained that he was young and dumb, and couldn’t manage to hold a job for long. I don’t know if he was off drugs or not. She soon ended up pregnant again. Sarah tried working as a personal assistant for a local car dealer for extra money. I suspect it was under the table and under the covers type of work. One day she asked for a loan for a couple days until she got paid from the car dealer. $250. I had a real bad feeling, but she had never screwed me over (except flaking out on sex). I loaned it to her and never heard from her again. She wouldn’t answer any of my messages. That was about four years ago.
Neither of us deleted each other on Facebook, so I still know some of what is going on in her life. She had another kid and is now pregnant again. Still taking methadone for her addictions. With the same guy who is apparently working now. They qualified for a housing loan of $215,000 but couldn’t find anything that met her standards for that price. And they had zero money saved for a down payment anyway. So much for that idea. Her face is starting to look bad. She has always painted on ridiculous eyebrows, but her pretty face overcame that. She never lost her pregnancy weight after the last kid and her smoking, drinking, and drug use is catching up with her. I think she is around 37, but looks older. And is starting to look like her mom. Speaking of whom…
Her mom Johanna had moved back to North Carolina to be with a sister about 6 years ago. I guess the new environment agreed with her, because she lived years beyond what the doctor predicted. But she finally croaked a couple weeks ago. I’m guessing she was about 70 years old. Sarah did several posts about her mother, calling her the most beautiful and awesome mom that one could have. Maybe Johanna was that, years ago. But that’s not how I remember her! Her face reminded me of the actress Anne Ramsey from “Throw Momma From The Train”, but much uglier and with no personality or redeeming qualities. I know it’s not nice to speak ill of the dead, but I’ve rarely met someone more worthless. And her daughter is heading down the same pathway. Maybe even more worthless than her mom, if possible. I shudder to think how Charlotte and her siblings will turn out. My kindness was wasted on that family.
iggyvandweller 