Drugstore Cowboy Page #5

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and he's sick with the mumps.

I'm afraid to move him. I mean,

what if they should spread?

The doc said all we need is another day.

He can travel in another day. Come on.

Come on.

Lock him up.

He did it. Lock him up!

Guilty! Guilty!

It's gonna be one heck of a time

getting her out of that crawlspace.

Don't know if I'm ever gonna

get my nails done now.

Nadine really got to you, didn't she, Bob?

Yeah, well, I'll tell you what's wrong.

I'm afraid some big fat cop's gonna come

rumbling through this door any minute.

He'll say "Get outta this room.

This is my room."

Dianne.

Yeah?

I love you.

I love you, too.

- Hey, Dianne?

- Hm?

We have that blue garment bag?

The big one.

Dianne?

Don't worry, Bob. We'll make it.

We always do, don't we?

Honey? Let's go, dear.

We're gonna miss our flight.

Hi.

Wow.

What a busy day.

What do you say we go up to the attic,

divide the stuff up with Rick

and give him the big end?

Don't count him short.

What's going on, Bob?

What are you thinking about?

Nothin'.

I'm thinking about, uh...

headin' back home.

Gettin' in the 21-day

methadone programme.

- Cleaning up my act.

- Are you kidding?

No, I'm not.

Dianne,

I can't do it any more.

I'm not goin' on

no withdrawal programme.

So what's gonna happen to me?

Why don't you come with me?

No, thanks, buster. Not a f***ing word

do you mention about all this.

Right out of the clear blue sky you say

you're gonna clean up your hand.

And you know I can't.

Look, Dianne, do what you want.

Take whatever we got. I only

need enough to get me home.

Get the shovel. I'll take care of her.

Go back to the truck.

Go.

Have you ever been on

a withdrawal programme before?

No.

I see. How long have

you been on drugs altogether?

All my life.

Then this isn't

your first time withdrawing?

No. This is my first time

withdrawing on methadone.

How old are you now?

26.

- Are you married?

- Uh, yeah.

Where is your wife?

I don't know.

Do you have children?

No.

Um...

Do you have a job?

No.

Do you have a Social Security number?

No.

Have you ever been

convicted of a felony?

- Yeah, a few times.

- What were they?

What felonies were you convicted of?

What do you want? My life story?

Look, lady.

I'm a junkie. I like drugs. I like the whole lifestyle.

But it just didn't pay off.

You know, you don't see

my kind of people.

Cos my kind of people, they don't

come down here and beg dope.

They go out and get it, and

if they miss, they go to jail

and they kick alone with nothing

in some holding tank.

I'm sorry, Bob.

I don't mean to hassle you.

All this is required. I'm sorry

if you think it's unnecessary.

Have you ever considered

becoming a counsellor

and helping other addicts

with their problems?

No.

Why not?

Well, to begin with,

nobody - and I mean nobody -

can talk a junkie out of using.

You can talk to them for years, but sooner

or later they'll get ahold of something.

Maybe it's not dope. Maybe it's booze.

Maybe it's glue. Maybe it's gasoline.

Maybe it's a gunshot in the head.

But something.

Something to relieve the pressures

of their everyday life,

like... having to tie their shoes.

Tom, you got some mail here.

- Bless you.

- You're welcome.

Father Murphy.

Hey, Tom.

Well, well.

Bad Bobby Hughes.

Imagine seeing you here

after all these years.

You live here too?

I have nowhere else to go.

There is no demand in the priesthood

for elderly drug addicts.

An indiscretion in 1970-

you were inside, I believe...

resulted in my descent to this sorry state.

As a matter of fact,

I'm feeling a bit sick right now.

Are you holding?

Nope.

They got me on this

21-day thing. Methadone.

What about yourself?

Oh, sure.

I'm on the programme.

But sometimes I get a little bit ahead

of my schedule. You understand?

And sometimes I think some junkie nurse

may be stepping on my medication.

But I can't be sure.

How about it? You wanna score?

Nah.

But I'll keep you company.

This here is an art work.

A work of art. So is that.

More art work.

Look at the bole on that tree there.

That reminds me. I used

to know an old croaker.

I think it was on that street.

Maybe it was the next street over.

Ah... he'd write like a major.

Tom knew his way

around the old neighbourhoods.

I'd known Tom since I

was an altar boy.

Benevolent Father Murphy, the most

notorious dope fiend on the Coast.

When he was holding he'd always share with

those who weren't. He was very kind.

Tom was king then. He had it all.

His ass was covered in this life and the next.

I bet he shot a million

bucks in his arm.

OK. This is what you call

a radial-arm drill press.

Get the drill you want,

putting it in the holder.

Make sure you've got a good grip on it.

That brings your drill down to

your work. Position it over the hole.

That's your clutch.

This is your power feed.

This is the clutch that

engages the power feed.

Put that in and just let it drill.

You go to work loaded, it'll show.

Being loaded's like being drunk.

You drink or get high in the morning,

your boss is gonna see it.

You'll get fired, then

you're not making money.

Then you're gonna have

to do something else.

You're gonna have to rob,

steal, sell. You know?

Um...

Somewhere in that robbing you might

end up killing your best buddy over a fix.

You'll go down the tubes.

There's no other way around it.

The more you use, the longer

you use, the further down you go.

Then you're gonna find

you're on the bottom.

Catching up on your reading?

You didn't stay gone long,

Bob. What happened?

Nothing happened.

I hear you're on a methadone programme.

You don't think that'll keep Trousinski

from jumping your ass, do you?

To tell you the truth,

I haven't given it much thought.

You know, for once

I'm not here to hassle you.

Trousinski lost his gold badge over

that little incident. He's working traffic.

He's made so many goddamn threats,

he's almost gonna have to hurt you.

And I don't wanna see that happen.

Man, look. What can I say?

I got a job, you know?

What happened out there in the sticks,

Bob? Where's Dianne?

You know how whimsical women are.

She found some other dude to chase after

and off she went, chasin' after him.

I find that a little hard to believe.

You and Dianne have been running

around together since you were little kids.

I hope you make out on that job of yours.

And I sincerely hope that

you straighten up a little bit.

Take care of yourself, Bob.

My old lady's still

out there right now.

Yeah. I can't do nothing with her. I tried.

I told her to come. She won't come

cos she's doing her own thing.

What I was doin', I was

goin' right to the source.

Right to the source. Where do they

make drugs? In the drugstores.

If you want some money

you go to the bank, huh?

"Yeah, honey, I gotta stop by the bank and

the drugstore. I'll be home after a while."

What are you crying for? You want

to do the drugs, you gotta pay for 'em.

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