KILLING THE SOUL: THE BETRAYAL OF FRIENDS

In the world of drug addiction, trust me when I say that there are no real friends. Only people who use people for their interests. You are only important when you have drugs, money for drugs or whatever it is that will benefit another addict. Betrayal is just a breath away. Such is the cycle of life in the drug world. Users of drugs and users of people.

I had one of these so-called “friends” who would freely come to my house. He would sleep over for days, eat and take drugs for free. Struggling, he had a paranoid wife with 9 kids then and supported them through small time drug dealings. Out of pity, I introduced him to a straight dealing supplier, vouched for him and when he rose from the ranks I never saw nor heard from him again for years. I thought he must have been arrested or killed.

Fast forward to many years later. The tables were turned. Homeless, I was sleeping in parked jeepneys and at the side of some churches. Shoplifting was my means so I could eat. Rummaging through trash bins to look for fastfood packs that may contain some untouched food.

I then heard from another junkie that my “friend” was still pushing. This was a blessing for me (or so I thought). I went to his upgraded home. He and 3 other pushers were in his mancave along with a few free-loaders and playing “tong-its”.

Thousand peso bills stacked, shabu was everywhere. He wasn’t too excited to see me, as I was to see him. Meekly I went to him and asked him if he could spare some cash so I could eat at the “talipapa” nearby. He ignored me twice as I waited for more than an hour as they continued playing and sniffing meth. For a hungry person that was like eternity.

Finally, for the 3rd time I told him “brother, all I am asking is P20.00 lang” to buy a small can of sardines (P5.00 then) and 2 cups of rice . What happened next defined and helped fuel my motivation to fight my addiction when I was finally in rehab.

He looked at me clearly irritated. Grabbed a P20.00 bill, crumpled it in his hand and threw it to my face shouting “Put___ng ina ka…istorbo! Alis ka nga sa pamamahay ko, bwiset tong bwak_nang inang to!” Embarrassing and degrading as it was, it was not the first time I was treated like this by “friends” who once took advantage of my popularity as an actor and my generosity. But in the end, this became a blessing because of the priceless lesson learned.

Now, I smiling as I write this. GOD, You are indeed and incredible teacher! Almost everywhere in this greedy dog-eat-dog world, pretenders abound. Real friends are truly rare and are as precious as water in the scorching desert. Treasure them because not everyone holds your best welfare in their hearts. Many are just looking for “friends with benefits” and don’t really care about you. Some are just too happy to stab you in the back or eager to see you fail.

We live in a world full of hypocrites who disguise themselves as your “BFF” and the moment they can no longer squeeze anything from you, they suddenly develop selective “amnesia”. But it never will be as treacherous as “friends” in the world of drugs. Without a hint of guilt or remorse, these leeches will set you up with the cops in exchange for money, drugs or their own freedom (Palit-ulo). Thank you Jesus for my salvation. For those in recovery, you know this story. For those who have addicts in the family, share this with them. This may save their life. From an ex-model, ex-actor, ex-addict.

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