1 in the afternoon. I'd slept like a baby for the first time in weeks. Since I had no real habit yet I wasn't sick. And I had drugs still. Not Andy though. When I went down the hall to his room he wad doubled over beside his bed begging his mom to come get us on the phone.
"So I'll see you in ten minutes? K. Yea mom I'm fine. I just have a headache."
He hung up the phone.
"Hey man. Morning." I said
"Hey dude. Can u float me a bag I'm sick. I'll get some cash for food n stuff from my mom and pay you back in like 10 minutes and give you a ride wherever you wanna go." Andy said
"Sure man. You don't have to pay me for it. Consider it payment for the rig and letting me crash." I said and handed Andy a balloon.
"Can I get a white too? It'll help me wake up." Andy asked
I didn't really think at the time as speed balls were new to me but for a speed ball addict this was necessary.
"Sure man. I'm cool sharing whatever as long as we can throw it back n forth. Help each other out. What you gonna do today?" I said
"Try to figure out how to get some more cash so I can pick up" Andy said
"What like panhandle?" I asked
"Yea maybe." Andy said while pulling out his kit to make his quick morning shot.
"Actually I've been thinking of a way to sell these rolls of stamps I have. They're commercial rolls and I could get at least $1,500 for them if I could find a buyer." He said.
"Well who buys them?" I asked
"Mostly businesses that do bulk mailing like for advertising." Andy said
"You don't know anyone that does that?" I asked
"No not really. I don't think a respectable business would but them from some random guy" Andy said
Well that's a lot of money to let sit around." I said
"Yeah man. If you think you can sell them I'll split the money with you. You could just call advertising agency's that promote doing mailers. I'll let you use my phone and the phone book is right over there." Andy said
"Sure ill take a look for sure." I said
I slipped the phone book into my backpack while Andy was cleaning up his rig and spoon. Just then the phone rang.
"My moms outside lets go." Andy said
Andy's mom picked us up out in front of the house and drove us to the In-n-Out.
I would come to understand Andy's mom had little idea how far into his addiction he actually was. Before she left she bought us both lunch and gave Andy $60. It wasn't 60 seconds after she was out of the parking lot and he was calling the dealer."
"Hey it's me. Can you come to the same place I need 4 n 4 (4 black, 4 white)........ 20 minutes? K I'm here" Andy said and hung up the phone.
I sat down to read the phone book and see what I could do about the stamp idea. But my 3rd call I has someone who actually really wanted them. Apparently the rolls went for $1200 retail. I offered him 2 rolls for $1600 cash and we set a place to meet for 10am the following day.
"I got a buyer for your stamps. He will meet us tomorrow at 10am. $1600 cash for both." I said
"NO WAY! Seriously?" Andy exclaimed
"Yea bro. 10am. 2 rolls. $1600 cash on hand." I repeated
"That's awesome. Thanks man!" Andy said
Just then the ford pickup arrived and Andy went for a ride. Upon his return we went to the public bathroom to cook up a little celebration fix.
Shooting up in a public bathroom is easier then you think. Even in multi stall bathrooms it's not that hard if your quick. Andy cooked up a shot for both of us and we split it up into our own respective needles. I hit without much trouble and a split second later I was face down in the toilet.
"You puking?" Andy said
I couldn't say a word just then. I was so high that for a second I thought I'd done too much. Another second and I regained my speech.
"I...I'm... Good. I think" a stuttered
"Don't go dying on me lightweight we got business to attend to tonight" Andy joked
We spent the rest of the rest of the afternoon just hanging out. Chillin on the grass in front of the In-n-Out. Sharing stories of our past lives. Andy was a bass player in a Las Vegas area rock band that had gained moderate success. I told him that I was a promoter back home in Cali. This was the first time I had forgotten about the place in my life I was in. I had made a friend. Someone with similar interests and background.
Walking to Andy moms house took about an hour and we were almost there before we actually started talking about the matter at hand.
"So the stamps that we are picking up aren't actually mine." Andy confessed
"What!?!? Who's are they?" I asked
"My parents own a marketing business that does mailers. They belong to them and the stamps are in their office behind the house. My mom told me I couldn't come buy tonight cause nobody will be home and I know the alarm code so I'll go get them. You stand watch. Here's my cellphone and the phone number to the office phone is right here. If anyone comes home just call this number and I'll figure out what to do." Andy said
I didn't even have enough time to make a decision and Andy was headed down the driveway toward the office behind his parents house and I was crouched down by a bush with his phone.
The property was pretty big. At least a 2 acre lot. The neighborhood was quiet. I remember thinking about the fact that the value of those stamps was enough to land both of us felony charges if we got caught and Andy's parents called the cops or somebody saw us and called it in.
Truthfully, other then feeling like I had been forcibly led into this position I was for the idea. $800 in my pocket seemed like a great idea. I was gonna need money for food, shelter and drugs and I had no interest in panhandling to make ends meet. I decided I would confront Andy later and for the time being I would focus on being the wing man I unknowingly signed up to be.
The heist went off without a hitch and we headed for Andy's pad about 4 blocks away shortly after dark.
After arriving at Andy's we got some free pizza from Andy's roommate that lived in the actual house above Andy's lair. I overheard their conversation from down the stairs.
"I'm moving out tomorrow and heading to Texas. I need everyone gone tomorrow morning. I tried to tell you this morning but you were sleeping. I'm sorry man but the bank is taking the house." Andy's roommate said
"Damn bro that sucks. There's nothing we can do?" Andy said
"Afraid not man. Unless we can come up with the $4,000 I'm behind on this mortgage." Andy's roommate said
"Well, we will be out early tomorrow. Thanks for letting me crash. You've been a life saver." Andy said and closed the door
"That sucks man I'm sorry but I heard you guys talking." I said
"Oh well. At least we can get a place for a few weeks tomorrow. That is if you wanna split the cost of a hotel. You down?" Andy asked
"Hell yea man! As long as this goes smoothly tomorrow I don't have anywhere else to go." I said
"Sweet I know a spot on east Fremont street that's cheep. We will go there and get a weekly after we meet up with the buyer" Andy said
"Sounds good man" I said
We did most of the drugs we had left throughout the night. I'd never thrown up so much in my life. In a way I felt discussing but in a weird way I felt like things were looking up. I had made a friend and tomorrow I was gonna have enough money to relax, take a shower and sleep in a bed. Maybe we could order pizza! The state I was in the "good ideas" were flooding in and I totally forgot to bring up the concept of Andy basically conning me into being an accessory to felony grand larceny. But in the world of addicts. What are friends for?
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