I got news yesterday that a good friend of mine passed away because of Heroin. It really fucked with me. I have been to like 9 rehabs and I met this guy in.....I think....the 7th rehab. It was in Egypt, TX outside Houston. Great Oaks is the name of the place if I remember correctly. I got on a plane in Lubbock and flew straight to Houston. I hadn't eaten in 3 days. I was sweating profusely waiting in the terminal. There was this young good looking couple that sat next to me on the plane and I knew they thought I was mentally ill as I was drenched in sweat and shaking. The boyfriend leaned in and said "Are you okay" I replied "I am going to rehab". He gave me a look of "Cool, I got you". His smoke show girlfriend thought I was scared of flying and she told me to order a drink. The boyfriend being my new sponsor shot that shit down quickly.
I get off the plane, head to Hard Rock Café and down two double and 7s while some dude is supposed to be picking me up outside. I finally stagger outside, he has a sign and he drives me to bum fuck Egypt, TX. I get there and it looks like an old plantation. I just want to see the nurse and get some Librium immediately. They go through my things and say you're bunking with a guy named Micah in Room 9. Cool. When the Nurse Tech said that "I was bunking with Micah" everyone laughed. All the sober people who had been there for one or two weeks laughed and high fived. "Micah is a axe murder" "Micah is a homosexual" "Micah should be in a faciality that deals with mental illness".
I'm like whatever. I get my things together and Micah shows up. He says hi and asks he if can carry my bags for me. It was a 5 minute walk. Micah is going on and on about how shitty the place was and how the nurses watch you when you take your nightly meds, shit I don't care about. Finally we get to our room and Micah says something like "Hey I'm a homosexual, I just want to put that out there". I said "I don't care, I just want to take a shower". He gave me a towel and a fresh bar of Irish Spring. BEST SHOWER EVER. After I got out he shortly came back to the room and said that "Hey the Rockets are on and everyone was watching the game". I said something like I need to sleep and I mentioned about not getting any Copenhagen before I left. He gave me two cans and told me to sleep well.
In group sessions Micah could recite the Book forwards and backwards. He was always listening and helping. I stayed in contact with him. I had dinner with him and his SO in 2019 at some place in Austin. Such a sweet soul.
They found him yesterday morning with a needle in his arm. 24 years old.
Fuck this disease.