Chapter 28

It was approaching eight-o clock. It had been a long and tiresome day. Cliff had received a lab report on the heroin found in Joanne’s apartment. The bag had contained some very high-grade heroin, it was eighty five percent pure, uncut, and lethal even in the smallest portion. He’d ordered an autopsy. Now as he waited, he was busying himself sorting through some files. The phone rang as he was swallowing the dregs of yet another coffee. He reached over and picked it up.

After listening for a couple of minutes he had the answer he wanted. Joanne had shot up a year’s supply of heroin in one go. The needle was the same, the portion the same, but this was the highest grade, uncut heroin that is possible. Enough, when cut to keep hundreds of junkies happy. Uncut heroin never makes it to the street. It is not financially viable.

The heroin that Joanne injected would have come straight from the refinery. Whoever secured it was heavily connected and had either money to burn, or a few favours to be called in. No one spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to kill a junkie. Well no one except some person who had elaborate ways of killing. On any other day it may have gone undetected. But not today. Not with so much at stake. It was a positive lead, and to the people he was chasing it was easy.

Cliff had the fingerprints run through the computers and one set came up as Joanne, the other set came up without a match. This wasn’t unusual. The holder of the prints didn’t have an arrest record. He wanted to know who supplied the heroin and why Joanne accepted it.

Cliff knew that the streets of the Cross were notorious for having new heroin supplies constantly flowing into them. He knew also, that most heroin addicts stayed with the one dealer. He had found out, by spending a little time at Kings Cross police station early in his career that, even though heroin addicts were looked down upon, a lot of them could be loyal to suppliers. Some sex workers accept drugs as fair payment for services but only foolish ones. Heroin was a commodity after all. Some took it, but most refused, opting for their regular supplier. Why would Joanne accept it?

Cliff wondered if Joanne was the type to take heroin from a client, or a total stranger. He realised that he needed to know more about Joanne. Christine had mentioned that Sharon was her close friend. He’d have to talk to Sharon. He made a phone call to Christine’s house.

"Hello Christine, sorry to bother you. I need to talk to Sharon. It seems that Joanne was deliberately poisoned. I need to ask Sharon some questions about it."

"Do you think it’s related to the other murders? "Christine asked, motioning with her lips to Nathaniel that it was Cliff.

"I’m not sure. But I don’t want to ignore any lead. Joanne was too close to Tony, through Sharon. Tony has already been a target. It’s not too much of a jump, to say his support system was a target also. It’s all very suspicious."

"Well as I told you, Sharon is coming around here to stay for awhile. She’s going to try and give up both the heroin and the prostitution. She’ll be going through withdrawal cold turkey, so I don’t think she’d be up to answering questions for about a week. I’m sorry. You’d be welcome to come around and see her on, say, the third day just to check. Yet I can’t promise that she’d want to talk, let alone be capable of it."

"I thought you were on holidays? " Cliff asked, a little concerned.

"I am on holidays. But I’m a qualified counsellor, and I’m a Christian, and those two hats don’t recognise holidays."

"Can I send someone over to help, maybe a female officer?" I’ve heard withdrawal can be very tough on the people who’re helping."

"Thanks, Cliff, I’ll keep it in mind if things get too much for us. A friend of mine, Dave, is going to give me a hand, and Nathaniel’s just taken a few weeks off."

"Okay." Cliff said. "Keep me informed, though, and hold your head up girl."

Christine smiled into the phone. Not many people could call her girl, yet Cliff was like a father. " I’ll look after myself Cliff, thanks for your concern."

The phone call ended shortly after. Cliff had caught up on how Nathaniel’s business was going, and how the kids were. Cliff had always been close, ever since the Academy days when he had taken a special liking to Christine as a student. Many years had passed since then with many coffees and lunches shared between laughs. He’d been one of the people at her graduation, and also at the party afterwards at her parent’s home. Christine loved Cliff, just as Cliff loved her, and she knew he’d always be the support she could rely on when things got tough.

*******

David’s ute pulled up outside Mike’s place. Sharon and Dave where in the front, Tony sat in the back, his hair blown in all directions with the wind. As they pulled up Tony jumped out whilst it was still rolling. He ran up to Mike’s door and rang the bell. He heard approaching feet, and was physically surprised when Loran opened the door. She was stunning.

"You must be Tony." She said shaking his hand. "I’m Loran, Mike’s girlfriend."

Tony drew in a breath and mumbled. " Yeah I’m Tony "

"Come on all of you, let’s go inside."

They walked into the spacious hallway of the old Manly home. Sharon appreciated the fine carpentry and dedication that had made this old home shine with its former beauty. From the latticed panelling to the older style ceiling design, it showed that someone, with a flair for restoration, had done the job. They passed the loungeroom on their way in, and she noticed that the furniture was modern, although the pastel colouring fitted the era of times gone by.

When they entered the kitchen she thought she’d entered heaven. Inside she shrieked with glee. It was all timber, a red mahogany from the look of it, in such a good condition it looked brand new. The kitchen was large and had a centre bench for food preparation right in the middle. This kitchen was right out of a dream. It was modern, set back in the past, bringing together all that was useful today and presenting it in a traditional turn of the century design. It was divine. Joanne would have loved it.

"Welcome to my palace. Take a seat, I’ll be with you in a minute." As Mike said it he was getting some cups out of a cupboard. The guests took seats in the dining room. Dave got up from his chair, went into the kitchen and talked softly to Mike. As Sharon, Tony and Loran began to talk to each other, Sharon looked over to watch David. Mike was putting the boiling water into the teapot, and moving it from side to side, to draw the tea, all the while he was listening, and occasionally nodding as Dave filled him in with all the latest happenings. After a couple of minutes, which was punctuated by Mike asking, "Who wants sugar and milk?" Sharon saw Dave hug Mike in an embrace of thanks. When the tea was ready and some fancy biscuits lay out on a plate, Dave and Mike brought it all to the dining table.

"Fancy that, hey Sharon. Two men waiting on us."

"It’s good isn’t it. They look pretty efficient too!" she said with a smile. Although Sharon smiled, it was more from courtesy than anything else. Inside she was going crazy, her blood was screaming for heroin like an itch that wouldn’t go away. It nagged her, pushed her to do something about it, yet she knew she shouldn’t. She sat there listening to the conversation, all the while screaming inside. Her nose began to run, as if she had a bad cold, and she sniffed. Her whole body began to shake and, as she lifted her teacup to her mouth, she spilt a little on a fine linen tablecloth. She put the cup down, embarrassed. " I’m sorry," she said, getting up to go into the kitchen to get a cloth. As she said it though, Loran tried to dissuade her by putting her hand on her arm. It was too late. Sharon was on her feet and on the way to the kitchen. As she walked she looked a little groggy and appeared to stagger. Then she fell.

Dave was first to her side, helping her up and checking to see if she’d injured herself. Mike, who as a carpenter, was more experienced in handling accidents. He assisted her by laying her back down in a recovery position. He felt her skin which was moist and her arm was shaking as if she had a fever. Mike caught himself worrying for Sharon, and wished he could help her further. After a few minutes, when Sharon had recovered a little, Dave carried her out to the car and left Tony in Mike and Loran’s capable hands. It had been a long day for Tony. Dave was distressed and worried for Sharon as he wove his way through the traffic towards Christine’s place. He started to pray as he drove along and within seconds a smile came to his face. He knew she would be all right.

After Dave and Sharon had left, Mike asked Tony if he’d like to watch the rest of a movie with them. When he agreed Loran filled him in on what had happened during the first forty minutes. She even offered to start the movie again yet Tony had said, "No it’ll be okay." The movie started and Loran passed around some popcorn that she’d reheated.

As the movie began, they all sat and crunched on the popcorn. Tony tried to watch the screen. , But his mind was somewhere else. A lot had happened in the last week, far too much. In some ways it appeared unreal. How could so much have happened?

In the past week Tracy had become an under age prostitute, and had taken him to be her boyfriend. She moved off the streets with him, bought clothes for him and made love to him. He shared his life’s hurts with her, and she opened up her wounds to him.

Tracy screwed for money whilst he’d been screwed by a killer. Slater, who was constantly being molested and sodomised had died whilst trying to save others from the beast. Colin had been raped, taken a fit, and been put down by a surgeon like a dog is put down by a vet. Tracy jumped off a bridge; Slater blew the side of his face out with a cops gun, and Joanne died on the needle from Kings Cross’s most treasured commodity.

Things move fast in Kings Cross. There had been no time to mourn and no time to rejoice. This morning had started fabulously as he’d given his life to Jesus and then, things had almost gone completely wrong. It was as though someone was trying to destroy his happiness and someone else was saving it just in time. He was happy Sharon was alive now, yet it left a bittersweet taste in his mouth. He knew it would take time to really understand the events. Slater had died, Sharon had lived. Joanne had died and so had Tracy.

He wondered why they had to die. He wondered why it wasn’t him. He couldn’t understand why God would save him and not the others. He wondered about a lot of things as he watched cowboys killing each other on the 48-inch television screen in front of him. He wondered if God knew what he was doing, and yet dismissed the thought nearly as quickly as it came. Overriding all of his emotional feelings was one of well being. He was so happy that he was safe, and Sharon was alive.

During the breaks in the movie, when the ads played, plenty of discussion erupted. Loran was anxious to introduce herself and get to know Tony. She loved children and saw that Tony’s life hadn’t been like hers. With a mother and father who adored her and a supportive family, she felt for the less fortunate. She couldn’t comprehend how it would feel not to have anyone who cared for you. Although she knew she couldn’t relate to Tony’s pain over the loss of his friends, she knew she had ears, and could be there to listen. Maybe just being there for Tony, while Sharon recovered from her addiction, would be enough. From the look she saw on Tony’s face, she knew that loving support was the best thing she could give him.

It isn’t often one has the opportunity to genuinely be there for someone who needs you as desperately as Tony did, Loran thought. She wondered how she could help him. She did have a start at least, because she’d grown up with brothers and Tony knew and liked Dave and Mike. Surely they’d have lots to talk about.

As the movie proceeded, both Tony and Mike become involved in taking sides with the brothers in the movie. The wives in the movie were complaining about their husbands. Whenever they did Tony and Mike would cheer on the brothers and say "Good on ya, you tell em." Loran stayed silent for a little while, yet when the other two became a little more boisterous she chimed in and sided with the woman.

The argument on television left the screen to enter the loungeroom, as the three rose their voices in jest. As they all emotionally and vocally lived through the story on the screen, Loran, Mike and Tony bonded with each other. It was funny to see each of them responding on the side of their own sex, proving that the acting was good and the screenplay true to life.

The movie had achieved more in this loungeroom than the producers would have envisaged. A movie of hardship, standing up for what is right and the good old American way, touched the three of them in a very special way. It was a survivor’s story and was timely for Tony. He wanted so desperately just to get through the night. The room’s atmosphere had lightened considerably. The ice had been broken.

Dave had rung Christine from his car as he drove through the late evening traffic to her house. When he arrived, Nathaniel moved quickly to assist Sharon. They put her arms around their shoulders and slowly walked her shivering and semi-conscious, into the house, upstairs and into the spare bedroom. A bed had been prepared and as they lay Sharon down onto it she looked up at her friends and said, "Thank you."

It was nearly twenty-three hours now since she’d had a shot; longer than she had ever lasted in the past six years. Her body was clammy, and it shook involuntarily. There were tears in her eyes as she lay on the bed. Christine could see that she was in pain. Whilst she was waiting for Sharon to arrive she had rung a friend who ran a Christian Drug rehabilitation farm. She’d asked him for the signs Sharon would show, during her withdrawal. He’d told her it would take anything up to ten days to get through it and that everyone withdrew differently, some violently while others just developed a runny nose and were a bit weak. He’d said not to worry too much about her lack of appetite and to keep the fluids up to her. He warned her of the agony Sharon was to go through. It was real pain, and it was shocking. He knew it would be traumatic but he knew Christine was capable.

He’d gone into some pretty interesting psychology over the phone. He’d said it was important to keep her mind busy, because as she gained strength, her mind would become active. The physical craving would switch after the first week into a mental one.

He’d shared compassionately the dilemma the addicts find themselves in. He warned that even after the agony of the withdrawal, they still have an intense mindset to return to the drug. It’s what makes them feel normal. Once off the drug they feel as if they are living inside someone else’s body. This is shocking. It makes them feel very uncomfortable. The haze will disappear and the colours and sounds of reality will scare her. She’ll be very convincing as she begs to return to her doped state.

Then he went on to explain the sub-conscious withdrawal. He used an analogy. He compared it to when you take a clock off the wall; you keep on looking up to the wall only to find it gone. You say to yourself "Yes that’s right, it’s getting fixed." Then you consciously tell yourself "I must remember that the clock isn’t there any more." Yet your sub conscious mind doesn’t hear that. Your sub conscious mind is used to the clock being there. It reacts from habit or instinct. So you look up at that certain wall whenever you want to know the time. Even though you have made a conscious decision not to look at the wall, it takes time for the sub conscious mind to stop doing it. So it is with heroin withdrawal. Living without it in your bloodstream takes time, for the body to adjust to its absence. Even living without injecting oneself is hard. Some junkies even inject water, just out of habit, and also to feed the habitual love of the needle in their arm.

The analogy was good for Christine to hear. The friend said to her, that even though Sharon says she wants the drug back, it’s not really her saying it. It’s only habit speaking. She’s was on her way to your house in a state of physical withdrawal, and still wants to withdraw. Believe her, and have the strength to say no to her requests for more heroin.

The do-gooders would say it’s barbaric. They’d say she needs Valium or other drugs. But that’s not the answer. No drugs. Purity is the answer. Not pharmaceutical companies. Sure treat the symptoms of headache and pain. In a couple of weeks her subconscious will have got used to not having heroin. It will still be shaky though because it will be in a learning stage, trying to learn how to react without it.

He’d told her to bear in mind the emotional side of Sharon too. Her hurts of the past and the emotional scars they’d left caused her to seek solace in the heroin. She needed to know there are less destructive ways of getting that solace. You and I know full well that Jesus Christ can fill that void in her life. Yet his presence and help is hard for her to feel, or even comprehend, at this time. We were fortunate enough to have a family that loved us and took care of us. We respected people in authority in our lives, because our main authority figures, up until we left home, loved us and didn’t let us down. Hers did. When we look at God therefore, we see him like a human parent who cares for us. His discipline is in love, his commands are what’re best for us. We trust him. We have learnt to trust because we had people that loved us that didn’t abuse that trust. Yet Sharon’s father, from what you say, sexually molested her. She doesn’t relate to trusting a father, or a mother for that matter because her mother let it happen, whether by accident or with full knowledge. The fact is Sharon has been let down. Therefore it will take time for her to understand Christ’s love. She will need friends whom she loves and trusts, faithful reliable people, before she can ever trust a God she can’t see.

The physical withdrawal will take up to ten days, the subconscious will take up to a month, and her emotional dependency on the drug could take more than a year to disappear. Remember that giving her life to Christ this afternoon was only the start. She needs people to prove his love to her by giving, by listening and encouraging. Christ’s power will be there to help heal her emotional scars, and yet she has to be encouraged to want to heal herself. She has to feel loveable. She has secured respect in other ways up till now. A lot of that has come from using her body. Now she has to use her mind and her natural gifts. First of all, she has to find a love for herself. You know how she can achieve that. Help her. She has to begin to let go of the hurts of the past that keep her in bondage to her current behaviour and become another Sharon. She has to discover who she is, which is who she would have been if things had not gone wrong for her. That, my dear Christine, will take a bigger commitment from you than from her. I say bigger, because you haven’t got as much to lose if she doesn’t succeed. Yet her very life is at stake, and Satan is only too happy to snatch at it.

Christine, Dave and Nathaniel discussed Sharon. They agreed that they would fight this beast called heroin, and made a pact to see Sharon through the whole recovery. Dave shared with them the promise he had made to Sharon, and they had a coffee and a lamington each in celebration.

There would be no drugs. There would be no social workers. There would be no human psychology texts needed. Only Jesus Christ, His blood Sacrifice, His love, and His power would be enough to heal Sharon, enough to help her forgive, and His power and peace would give her a more powerful high then heroin.