Raleigh took pause then, brows knit and he sat back against the edge of his bed and he supposed he never did ask why. Never really had the chance to. There had just been worry and anger and he didn’t honestly think there would be any decent explanation to do something like that to your body. But Henry wasn’t stupid, Raleigh knew that, he wasn’t stupid enough to do it just for the high. There had to be a reason and when he heard it in the quivering tone over the phone his heart dropped.
“Hey, hey,” The pet names had to be swallowed down and he took a deep breath to make sure they were gone before he spoke up again. “It’s okay to be scared, Henry. Ya can be scared. It doesn’t feel good but it makes you human. Everyone gets scared.” He was pushing his feet into his shoes and reaching for his keys, shoving them into his pockets. “You just need to look somewhere beyond the fear, Henry. Focus on something good, somethin’ that makes you happy and—” That was what the drugs had been doing. “Think of good things in your life. Of things that make you happy. Henry, ‘m comin’ t’get you. Where are you?”
“I don’t have anything good in my life,” he sobbed, because it was all gone. He’d thrown it away that day Raleigh had found him, had thrown it away with those three little words that he’d never be able to take back. And his dad and brother were so disappointed in him, still, he could see it in their eyes every time they looked at him. “I don’t wanna do it anymore, Ral. I don’t wanna get sent back there, but I can’t--” He glanced up at the street signs. “’m at the corner of Second and Riverside. It’s where he was supposed to meet his dealer. “Hurry, Ral. Please.”
