Second Chance Read Free Page A

his jeans. His clothes could do with a wash.
He
could do with a wash. He was stinking. But he couldn’t care less. He had given up worrying about such things long ago. He used to care about the way he dressed. He’d had a good job in a finance company. But the pressure to bring in more clients was intense.
    He’d started taking E at parties. Thefirst time Dave did it, he felt dead guilty. Thinking of his parents and younger brothers in Sligo. Just as well they couldn’t see him. They’d be horrified to think that Dave, the pride of the Cummins family, was taking drugs. Gradually the guilt wore away. He started going home less and less at weekends. He was too busy, he told his family. It was important that he socialise and network and make new connections. His family were very impressed and very proud of him.
    A friend of his had introduced him to acid and speed. Then … cocaine. Before long he’d been snorting lines of the fine white powder like there was no tomorrow. It made him feel good, in control. He felt he could do anything. He moved with a fast set, in the fast lane. He was working all hours. And partying until dawn. He needed thecoke to keep going. Only after a while Dave needed more and more of the drug to get his highs. His supplier had offered him heroin. High-grade stuff from Colombia. Dave refused vehemently. No way was he getting involved in heroin. That was a mug’s game. You took heroin, you got addicted. You got addicted, you ended up on the streets with nothing. That wasn’t going to happen to Hot Shot Cummins.
    He’d resisted the pressure for months. But the coke wasn’t doing it for him any more.
    He’d been at a party that New Year’s Eve in some posh penthouse in Killiney. Drugs and booze flowed freely. He snorted a few lines of coke and waited for it to hit. The rush didn’t come the way it used to. He lowered a couple of vodkas and smoked a joint.Stoned, he went into one of the bedrooms and collapsed onto the bed. Only then did he see a pale, thin black-haired girl sitting at the dressing-table. She was injecting herself.
    â€œHi,” she mumbled. Dave watched as she sat tense and agitated and then the drug hit her. Her body relaxed. A smile of pleasure crossed her face. All the tension left her. Her lovely face became serene.
    â€œIt’s the best,” she murmured. “The best.”
    She got up from the chair and weaved her way out of the room.
    â€œWhatever turns you on,” Dave muttered and fell asleep.
    He often thought of that girl and the expression of ecstasy on her face after she had injected herself. The pressure at work was intense. He felt stressed out trying to make his monthly returnstarget. He was called in by his boss and told he wasn’t trying hard enough. His sales performance was considered unsatisfactory. He’d have to try harder. He missed a few payments on his car loan and was threatened with repossession. His girlfriend kept hassling him about getting married. Dave just wanted to forget about the whole damn lot.
    He went to a party and got pissed out of his skull. Jeff, his supplier, was there. “Do you want to go on the ultimate trip, Dave?” he invited. “Just do it the once. Believe me, nothing else compares.”
    What the hell, thought Dave groggily. Once couldn’t do much harm. And boy was he stressed out. The memory of a pale face with its smile of ecstasy came to him.
    That night, Dave took his first hit ofheroin. It blew his mind. Jeff was right. It was the ultimate trip. He had never felt such peace and contentment. All his worries evaporated. Life was better than it had ever been.
    Six months later, he was jobless, carless, had no girlfriend and was living in a grotty bedsitter on the North Circular Road. But none of that was important. All that mattered was heroin.
    Shivering, Dave pulled on his anorak. He was always cold these days. Still, he’d be all right once