HEROIN IS GOING TO KILL ME

"Everyone calls me Mony, but my real name is Monica," she shared from Denver. "I was born here - been on these streets since I was 16, off and on - I'm 36 now. I estimate I've done heroin for a total of ten years. Lived in Detroit for a while, and Albuquerque. Did a little time in jail. I have a son - he's seventeen. My mother and my aunt help to raise him because of my heroin addiction. I never let my son see me using, and I always try to provide him with food and clothing. The people that don't use drugs - I envy them. I know heroin is going to kill me, but I don't want to go yet."

Mony used the heroin, nodded off, and when she came back around, asked quietly, "Do you have children?"

"Yes," I answered. "Three."

"How old are they?" I told her.

"They're lucky."

"Why?"

"Because I can tell you're a good person."

She nodded off again, and I stayed with her.