Oh Well...

I'll be starting the next month in the hole again.

My neighbor stopped by last night. He brought his bottle of vodka. He wanted to buy a few cans of soda. In Erie we call it POP. Oddly enough the only other place I've heard soda called pop is in St. Paul and Minneapolis, MN.

Anyway, I gave him 4 cans. I wouldn't think of charging him for that soda. The reason is that there may be a need for a few smokes between now and when my check comes in. Also I have more financial resources than he does and he does need a little assistance from time to time. I try to help when possible.

At the moment he is flush with cash. Well he was flush with cash, as he squirreled away $50.00 for a rainy day or something along that line. Apparently he thought it was a rainy day for me.

He was so grateful for my giving him the pop that he asked if I needed to borrow any money. He has that fifty put away but if I want he'll lend it to me until my money comes.

I really gotta' talk to that guy when he's sober. You never ask a crackhead if he needs to borrow a few bucks. We always need a few bucks and it's never for food, gas or rent. It's always for crack.

So, he gives me the fifty as he doesn't have anything smaller. Just a damned fifty dollar bill. So I call my guy to bring by a fifty piece.

After two hours of waiting for that fool to show up, I change tactics and try alternate sources. First it's to a competitor who's shit is garbage, but he says he's not doing anything. Then it's a walk down the street to a known user who I've used to get crack for me in the past.

I ring the guys door bell. The answer I get is that they are asleep. So now I'm scrambling to find out how to get something to smoke.

I have a number for a friend of a friend who has scored for me in the past. It's always a bad experience working with this dude. Invariably he'll chip off almost half for himself before he gets back and then acts like he deserves a hit when he brings the drugs.

So, true to his style he returns with a few measly crumbs for that fifty bucks. To add insult to injury he says it's straight drop, but it's so loaded with cut that it clogs my pipe.

So, now I'm into my neighbor for a total of $90.00 this month. He will be paid in full, as I am very sensitive about owing money. Except when the money is owed to a bank or some shyster finance company.

And now I'll be starting the month in the hole.

Something new for me.

Yeah, right.