Phillip is a gentleman. He folds up his limbs with poise and wears wool pants with an impeccable crease. He's prone to diatribes against misogyny. He's a "voracious reader," and has a sixth sense for "figuring people out." He has a gentle, not entirely trusting way of regarding a person. He can talk a mile, but also listens; not simply to your words, but the words between them. He radiates a wavelength that's easy to tune into.
He's 47 years old, and he's spent 21 of those years in prison....
...Phillip is still using. Over the course of the interview at the Cambridge Needle Exchange, he verged from tangential diatribes, to holding his eyelids open with his fingers, to scratching his arms, looking around the corner.
He says he'd like to get clean and counsel other junkies. But it's not so easy.
"It's a mess of a life," he says. "You're defeated without hope. But I have hope."
(emphasis mine)
Dear Phillip,
ReplyDeleteYes, get clean, but please avoid other junkies and stop with the junkie talk.