Day 39 of 100

“I can’t believe I allowed it.”

When I first started to get heavy into my addiction I had a friend that was a running mate. We were close friends, some would say as close as brothers. As I sunk into my addiction, I always thought he had sunk right along side me.

What I didn’t realize was how fast he was going. When it started he was divorcing his wife and told a tale of how she had frozen all of his accounts. I had no reason to disbelieve him, so when he needed money I was free with mine.

At first it was small amounts, and then it got to be larger. Over time I believe the total surpassed $50,000 and I finally cut him off.

“No more. You need to pay some back.”

He wasn’t broke, worked a job with a New York salary in Denver, and certainly seemed to always have money.

“I got a new job in California,” he said. “I’m getting a signing bonus of $25,000. Come with me and I will give it to you.”

So I went. We got to an empty apartment (which I later learned he had paid for with checks from my company that he stole) and proceeded to do what addicts do.

After a few days, the money hadn’t come through and I was pretty sure he was lying. I told him I would buy myself a ticket back to Denver, and that night we visited some bars. When I got home and went to buy the tickets, my credit card was missing. I figured I left it in the bar, and he offered to buy the plane tickets for me.

At the airport, I opened up my laptop to cancel the credit card and saw the charge for the plane tickets. I was crushed. Here was a friend, who was like a brother, who I allowed to steal from me.

After getting back to Denver, I realized a flood of things. Someone was breaking into my house and stealing small electronics and drugs. It was him. Someone was stealing blank checks from my company. It was him. It went on and on.

And as a good drug addict does, I spun down into a hole. I binged hard for a week until I finally made a decision that would change my life.