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We met my Mum just getting off the bus as we came back from school, she looked frozen. Not a good day for travelling with snow on the ground. I asked what was wrong and she said she would explain when we got home and had a cup of tea.

Sheila and Stephen went upstairs to play. Mum took a small box out of her bag, opened it and showed me 6 tablets, she said that for a while now Dennis had been acting strange and going out on Friday nght and not coming home until Sunday night, when my Mum and Dad asked where he had been he said he had been staying with Roy. They accepted this as they had no reason not to.

Later on that week Roy came to their house for Dennis and said he hadn’t seen him since they went to our house. This was 2 months ago. My Mum then realised Dennis had been lying about being at Roy’s . When Dennis came home from work she told him Roy had been and that she knew he hadn’t been there, he said he didn’t say Roy he said someone else but my Mum knew he was lying.

The next morning when Dennis had gone to work my Mum went to his room to see if there was anything there that shouldn’t have been , she didn’t know what but felt it worth a look. In a shoe she found this box that she had just shown me with the pills in it. I said I had no idea but I would go and ask the chemist. It was a long shot but I couldn’t think of anything else.

The chemist looked at the pills and said they were diconal a very powerful drug for pain relief. He said if my brother was abusing these then he must have a very serious drug problem. Of course we didn’t know how he had got them or if he was taking them. My Mum said it did make sense because his behaviour had been strange. She said they would talk to him and see how he reacted and we arranged for her to ring me the next evening and let me know the outcome and take it from there.


My Mum rang me the next night and said Dennis had gone mad , when she told him she had the pills and had brought them to me and we had gone to the chemist. He broke down and said he had a drug problem that he had been taking quite a few drugs and smoking cannabis for a couple of months. He also said he had lost his job through the drugs and had not been to work for a week. She said she didn’t know what to do. We knew nothing about drug abuse. I knew it was out of there, so I said I would make an appointment to see my doctor and ask his advice. He was a really nice Doctor and I was sure he would advise me. In the meantime there wasn’t much that could be done.

Mike had done his first day on the tanker on his own and said he really enjoyed it although it was nerve wracking dipping the tanks and then filling them. He said he felt like he had climbed Mount Everest he was so drained physically and mentally. I then told him about Dennis and the drugs, he knew nothing about them either and agreed with me going to see Dr Jones for advice but doubted he could do anything on my say so.

I made an appointment and told the doctor the story as I knew it. He was really concerned and said he was really in trouble and if he wasn’t working then he must be stealing to buy the drugs. They usually ended up getting caught for shoplifting or stealing cars and ending up in jail. I explained that I was completely ignorant about drugs and didn’t even know what Diconal was. He said he would like to speak about this situation in greater depth as he was just embarking on a new approach to dealing with drug addicts. He asked if he could make a house call and speak to Mike and me further I said that would be fine and we arranged the following evening at 8pm, the kids would then be in bed.

My Mum rang, as we had arranged that night and I told her what had happened she was really pleased but said my Dad had got himself in such a state he had had an epileptic fit, the first for ages. I hoped we could nip this in the bud quickly as I knew my Dad wouldn’t be able to deal with it. She said Dennis had changed so much he was thin and looked haggard. We arranged for my Mum to ring me in a couple of days and I would tell her what Dr Jones had said.

That night Dr Jones came and what he told us about a day in a drug addicts life was horrendous. This couldn’t be the life my brother was entering. Dr Jones kept saying this of course was hypothetical as he couldn’t talk about someone who who he hadn’t even met. He said it was a shame he didn’t live in Hemel as he would have liked to help and he could have also tried out his new theories.

I didn’t really know what I was going to tell my Mum because she wouldn’t be able to cope and I know my Dad wouldn’t. When she rang I told her a few things but said we would come over to see them at the weekend and discuss it further. Then she said she had gone to her purse the next morning to get her tube fare ready and the purse was empty and she said there had been at least £10 in there and some change. She had asked my Dad if he had taken any for anything as sometimes he would for instance pay the milkman but he said no he hadn’t. That left only one person Dennis, she had gone to his room but it was empty he had gone out already which now he had told them about losing his job was unheard of at that time. Of course he had money now. My Mum didn’t want to believe it

Time was flying it was March 1st soon the round of birthdays would start Sheila and Stephens on the 23rd Lesley’s on 24th and Mikes on the 27th at least they would all be over in one go. The weather was also quite warm. This would be the first summer here, the kids would be able to play in the garden, it will be much healthier for them.
The twins will be 3yr old and Lesley 6yrs old this birthday and of course Mike would be 30yrs old.

We had decided we were going to have a joint party for the kids . The twins of course hadn’t made any friends but they would when they started nursery in about 3 months but Lesley said she had loads of friends at school. We estimated there would be about 10 children including our three. I was also going to ask the new people who had just moved into Mia’s house they had a little boy named Dean he was about the same age as the twins. They seemed a nice couple Laura and Ken .

Mike was really enjoying his job he came home tired but in a good mood. He had made quite a few friends at the Buncefield Depot I hadn’t met any as yet. He had at last finished decorating the bedrooms and the bathroom, the next place was the dining room. It was taking a while but at least it was getting done.


The birthday party went really well everyone had a good time and above all everyone we invited turned up. Lesley had loads of prezzies the twins not as many but they didn’t care. They had a brilliant time. My Mum and Dad came as well and would you believe Dennis but there was no chance to talk about anything. We were going to there house next weekend.