The Other Side Of Paradise

XVII

Onika Tanya Maraj

"Lauren I have no idea what the fuck that is." Onika said as she stared at it. The name sounded familar—she didn't know what it was though.

"It's Fentanyl I just fucking said that." Lauren said rolling her eyes. It looked like water to Onika.

"Do I drink it?" Onika asked and Lauren nodded with a grin.

"Yeah! If you wanna fucking die dumbass." Lauren spat and Onika rolled her eyes and sat down next to Lauren.

"Never drink this shit. It's only meant for low doses. Even in hospitals they watch you closely when giving it to you." Lauren stated.

"There's the powder version too. I ain't got that right now though. You caught me at a bad time—but there's always this." She said holding it up.

Onika was itching just looking at it.

"S-So what is it though? Is it the same as morphine?" Onika asked and Lauren shook her head.

"Nah—this is about 100 times stronger than Morphine. And I'm not fucking exaggerating—which is why I need your ass to be smart and not fucking die when I give you this." Lauren said seriously looking at Onika.

Onika felt a sense of rationality kick in.

"We—I—we shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't be doing this." Onika mumbled as she got up and started pacing again.

"We shouldn't be doing drugs Lauren—we're only 21–we have like so much to live for or whatever the fuck those inspirational websites say." Onika said and Lauren shook her head.

"This isn't suicide it's Fentanyl." Lauren said watching Onika pace back in forth.

"Yeah but that shit you got in your hand? I don't know if I should be doing this.." Onika mumbled.

"You want a drug background? Fine. It's a synthetic opioid. Just like the others it makes you feel good—but it's meant to treat severe pain." Lauren said getting up and walking to Onika.

"It's 50 times stronger than fucking heroine." Lauren said looking down at it. Onika gulped.

"I've never had—I've never even had fucking heroine." Onika mumbled as she kept her eyes on the bottle.

"I tried it once." Lauren said shrugging.

What Lauren didn't know about Fentanyl is that it's highly addictive—and is labeled the most potent opioid. And even in low doses—can be fatal.

"Wanna try?" Lauren asked and Onika wasn't sure. "I-I-I don't know about this Lo. I've never done—hard drugs." Onika stammered as her back hit the wall.

"You've done morphine, codeine and xanax. This is way stronger than all 3 combines but it's better. Only a droplet is all you need." Lauren said as she opened it.

She grabbed a syringe and Onika saw that it was barely filled up. "You wanna try? Say no or go because I'll probably pass out asoon as I inject this." Lauren said pointing the needle at her own arm.

"Uh—Y-yeah." Onika said keeping her eyes on the small bottle.

_________________________________

Onika stumbled home shaking side to side. It was 7 am and she knew her sister would be knocking on her door in a few hours.

The girl tried her best not to trip—because in all honesty she was still fucking high. She did Fentanyl along with some other drugs with low doses at Laurens house.

She took a deep breath through her nose before attempting to climb her gutter to get to her window. "Fuck." Onika mumbled as she climbed. She hasn't snuck out like that since highschool.