He was a good man once, a man who was highly regarded as having a bright future ahead. He was widely known for how well he had turned out despite his family life- his mother left him long ago and his father was a stumbling drunk who was often not home, leaving Kyle to learn to grow up fast. At school he was known as the nice kid who was a bit shy but the leadership role quickly came out in him when the need be. He was very good at sports, especially football, and excelled in all school-sponsored sports events.
Kyle and my brother, Jeremy, have been friends since before I can remember. According to Jeremy they met in Kindergarten, on the first day, because they were seated next to each other. They started talking and played some tether-ball at recess together and later this simple game evolved into a myriad of inventive games, usually involving a point system and dinosaurs. Their young minds were exceptionally creative and they amused themselves for hours. They spent lots of time at each others' house and were both involved in the Broad Ranch Elementary School football and basketball programs.
By the time I was old enough to be a part of their activities, they had been friends for many years. They seemed at times inseparable and despite all the increasing trouble at home Kyle appeared determined not to fall into the same broken fate as his parents and other extended family. In his carefree youth it was not hard to ignore everything falling apart around him but as he got older and was aware of more things he felt more pressured to stay perfect. As Kyle aged through elementary school and began changing from a small innocent child into the unpredictable and rapid-changing life of an adolescent, his countenance changed. He went from a carefree and popular boy to one who felt extremely anxious and slowly became a perfectionist.
By late middle school, Kyle and Jeremy had begun to draw somewhat apart. He didn't come over as often and spent most of his time either training for football practice, floating between cliques, or trying to discover his identity. He was at the age of rejecting advice in the attempt to do things his way and experience life through his own eyes. Jeremy and Kyle still did things together, but now the innocent talk of inventing games was replaced with his fantasies of becoming a star quarterback or which girl he was after this week. Jeremy was not very into football and preferred basketball anyway, and certainly was more focused on school than capturing the attention of cute girls, so they had less and less to talk about. They shared less and less classes in school as they pursued different electives and had more options on their required classes.
Then, in the brand new school year of 2002, when they were in the very beginnings of 8th grade, Kyle shared many classes with a guy named Rico. Rico was everything that Jeremy wasn't and they became friends. Jeremy was not particularly happy with this, for Rico was known for being a bad boy who had pretty strong connections with the SDFA, Vetonia's most notorious underground drug gang. He had been expelled from school after school and was now here, at Burgiss Foster Middle School. Kyle just shrugged off Jeremy's concerns stating that he felt more accepted with Rico and Chad and that he wouldn't do anything bad with them, just hang out after school. Jeremy knew that this would not end well at all but was powerless against it and resigned to try and be there for him as needed.
Over the course of that year, Kyle changed drastically. He was no longer known for being smart and had given up many opportunities at higher level classes. Where he was once helpful and friendly to all, he now spent most of his time in "Rico's Circle" and hardly had a clue what was going on around him outside of that group. He rarely came over to our house anymore and Jeremy had flat out refused to go to his. Little by little, Kyle broke more and more rules that he had set himself as the things that Rico did seemed more fun and risky. Before long, the trips they took to the mall in their black band shirts and torn jeans turned to lengthy trips away for home. He began to skip school and on one occasion skipped a good 3 days. Only later did we find out he had actually gotten a ride over to the SDFA HQ, a nasty, rundown old park full of crime and every drug imaginable. It was here, in the middle of his 9th grade year, that he was given his first smoke and his first drink.
The year ended and Kyle passed, barely. Jeremy did not know what to do but felt like he shouldn't abandon Kyle completely. They still occasionally did things together but Kyle was often hardly present, being so tired from the previous night's antics. He was becoming pulled deeper and deeper into the grasps of addiction, something he vowed never to do. As they entered high school, Kyle's previous status of a good kid was long-forgotten and he was now known as a stoner. He began to skip class all the time to run off and get high and was fully a smoker. He had begun to drink as he tried to drown his guilt when he would realize what he had done to himself. The lack of punishment and parental figures at his house further encouraged his bad and reckless behaviors.
Throughout his 4 years of high school Kyle went from bad to worse. By 15 he was going to parties regularly and would often miss the next few days of class. At the age of 16 he had sex for the first time with his 15-year-old "girlfriend" Lynsea while at a party with Rico's gang. By now he was well into trying all of the various drugs that SDFA had do offer and had been arrested a couple times for stealing. He never did learn how to drive; he depended on his other friends for that. Since Jeremy had a car Kyle was a lot nicer to him and would bum rides off him all the time. As Kyle became more sure of his identity he and Jeremy became better friends again. They did some things together in high school like sport events but for the most part Kyle was a completely different person and could hardly relate to Jeremy at all.
By this time, I was old enough to understand things. I was just shy of 13 years old when they graduated from Jacob Traiborn High School. Jeremy graduated with honors and several scholarships to Kalta University whereas Kyle barely graduated, only because he had several friends who were able to help him cheat on tests or forge his signature to count his attendance. Finally he was an adult and was able to live on his own. He had a job at a fast food place; most of his money went to his drug habit but he was responsible enough to tone things down a little and actually moved into the house next to my family's house, which my father owns, along with Jeremy and two of Jeremy's friends- Arturo and Boyd.
With the start of college for them, Kyle was suddenly free to do whatever he wished with his life. He was especially delighted and tempted with the realization that he was free to go to class or skip and attendance wasn't mandatory. He chose the easiest major he could find and began to stay up extremely late and party. More often than not, he would stumble home at 2-4am and have to get someone to let him in, for he often forgot his keys and wallet in cars or houses of those he partied with. Thankfully he was quite nice when home so the others were tolerant of him, but occasionally he would slip and do things that annoyed others.
I will never forget that day, the day when I first cared for him. After watching Kyle literally throw his life away with one small choice after another and go from a smart boy with a bright future to someone so irresponsible and blind to anything but life's easy and short-lived pleasures, I did not think too fondly of him. In fact, I would have left him there in the grass that night and gave him a good kick in the side and yelled some angry words at him if it weren't for that voice. Being one of 26 Men of Osai, I was gifted with Osai's powers of 3. I have the ability to stay up for days on end with no sleep, carry the heaviest objects with ease, walk with utter silence, see clearly in total darkness, heal in 1/3 the time, and, my favorite, receive guidance and revelation from Osai himself on the things that were best for me, to help myself and others.
That night almost one year ago, Kyle came home from a particularly bad night. The number of drugs in his body were so great that he was probably carrying half of SDFAHQ with him. He was outrageously drunk and his consciousness was going in and out. I myself had gone to a party that night too, but it was one of pure fun, games, laughter, and conversation. His was likely a trip to Rico's house with all their buddies listening to shows and getting completely wasted while watching some meaningless videos designed to look interesting while high. I had arrived home hours before he had and was quite worried. So was Jeremy, and together we waited. Finally, at an hour when most of the city is long asleep, that awful white car, unmistakably Rico's, sped down the street, screeching in front of our house as if a child was at the wheel. The music was so loud I'm sure it woke up the entire cul-de-sac. The back door opened and Kyle sort of melted out, hanging halfway down by his seatbelt that I was shocked he remembered to wear.
I remember staring at this pathetic mess of a man, wanting nothing more to do at that moment but turn around and walk to the woods at the end of our land. It was then that the loud and unmistakable voice of Osai filled my head. "You must take care of Kyle. Put aside your frustrations, young Jeffrey, and put your heart into making him comfortable." There was no denying that and although I had my frustrations I immediately let them go and let my Osai-born compassion take over. There was a reason why I was caring for him, something I could not yet see. I knew, based off previous encounters, that he would likely just get up and do it all again, but I clung onto those words from Osai.
He almost made it to the house. He was so close, but just as he was about to the door he collapsed onto the lawn. After exchanging a look with Jeremy I walked over and picked him up. With his semi-lifeless body in my arms I carried him through the open door and all the way to his room. It felt very odd- I was a 15 year old boy and here he was, almost 21 years old, a few inches taller and lots heavier than I. With my Gift of Osai it was no problem to lift him up and carry him like a baby to his bed where I gently placed him down. He was wearing extremely tight and ill-fitting pants so I went to his dresser, got out some sweatpants, and then carefully removed his jeans. He was totally out and therefore could not help me do this, so I had to lift up his legs and slowly pull them off. With the tight jeans off I carefully took the sweatpants and put his legs through and pulled them up. This too felt odd as I realized I was dressing a 20-year-old man who could not do so himself. After that I sat him up and removed his shirt, putting on a clean one that was not dirtied by a night of partying.
Suddenly I had a strong flash of insight. Before I realized what I was doing, Jeremy was bringing me a large bucket. Evidently I had told him to get one but I don't remember saying anything. By the time I opened my eyes Kyle was sitting up and I was supporting him as he threw up and amazing amount of what seemed to be pure drink. He then woke up briefly mumbling that he had to go to the bathroom so Jeremy and I supported his arms and helped him to the bathroom. Thankfully he was aware enough to only need help sitting up (he was too drunk to stand) and managed to avoid a mess as he went. When he was done we helped him walk back to his room. He made it about three steps before he was out again so we awkwardly dragged him the rest of the way back.
With Kyle back in bed, I heard Osai telling me not to leave him alone. Within minutes, Kyle started sweating- sheets of water were literally pouring from his face, hands, arms, everywhere. He started to breathe very fast and heavy and started mumbling incoherently. His eyes opened and were almost white, lacking any sparkle of life. His body thrashed around wildly, obviously uncomfortable by how hard his heart was beating. I realized that he was coming off of his high and suddenly knew exactly just what drug he had taken. It was one only available in the SDFAHQ and therefore had been supplied by Rico. It is well-known for its impressive high but is even more known for its notoriously hard crash. I knew this was going to be an extremely hard crash and yelled at Jeremy to stand by.
Kyle tried to get up several times, but each time we managed to hold him down. He screamed and cried out as his body went through the layers of high and it was almost unbearable to watch. As I watched him and fought with his body my mind flashed back to the days now so long ago when Kyle was still an innocent boy. I felt a sting of sadness and felt sorry for Kyle and was beginning to wonder how life would be different if he hadn't met Rico but was thrust back to reality by Kyle's body, now out of control, kicking and screaming. With wide eyes I held onto his side and firmly kept him there. After what felt like hours the crash was almost over and Kyle finally settled down and suddenly went dead still. It was over. Osai whispered to me that it was over now so I told Jeremy to go to bed and then left, returning to my house, leaving Kyle to sleep, not knowing that he had been clothed, aided while he threw up, assisted in using the bathroom, and then held down as his body reacted to the metabolism of the deadly drug which had overtook him by a 15-year-old boy and his 20-year-old brother.
Many times since that day I have been there to aid Kyle. I have gone to these awful parties to drag him home to work, driven him to countless places like court and school, and have had to avoid his fists as I restrained him from his drugged state. I do not know if he even realizes what I do for him, but I do it for Osai, for my own good which I do not realize at this time but one day will come to know. Because of him I have a vast knowledge of the effects of SDFA drugs and this knowledge combined with my love for helping others has led me to pursue a career in medicine. I became a Junior EMS when I turned 16 this past June and now ride in an ambulance, assisting the EMS in aiding all those who need it. I have seen a lot in my short teenage years, but it is the foundation of a lifetime of knowledge and service. That is what I am all about, and I thank Kyle for giving me the knowledge and skill I use now.
From the journals of Jeffrey Peak
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