The Tragedy of Felix and Jake

by J. Daniels

I was eighteen when I fell in love with cocaine.

I was almost nineteen when my brother (and roommate) convinced me to go to my first meeting, and I walked out within five minutes because I wasn’t like any of them. I wasn’t an addict.

I was nineteen and a half when I overdosed and saw my father cry for the first time. It broke me in two. I stayed for an entire meeting after that.

I was twenty when I found CJ’s air rifle in his closet, and he found me, holding it against my chest while I cried on the floor because I remembered that day and how he had looked at me like he was proud, and he hadn’t looked at me the same since.

I was twenty-eight when I found out that I’ll never beat it. My name is Jake Tully, and I’m an addict.