I spent a year in Wyoming I was ready to move on. I wanted to see Colorado so I headed that way with no real plan. About an hour before the Colorado state line my truck broke down and I was stranded. The engine had blown.

After sitting there for an hour a truck heading north stopped to change a flat tire. They yelled over to me asking if I needed a ride. I wasn't too happy to be heading back the way I just came from but it was better than sitting on the side of the road. I helped them change the flat. It took forever bc they were driving a 2 ton Ford fully loaded with welding equipment.

We chatted while changing the tire and once they heard I was drifting with no job they said I could work with them and they'd even teach me how to weld. It sounded like an alright job and these guys were set up pretty good and seemed to have some money. It's not like I had anything else to do.

I grabbed what I could out of my truck and the 4 of us pile in the crew cab and that's where it all started. Without saying a word the man in the back seat with me (his name was Craig) pulls out a box and starts preparing needles and he hands one to me. I ask him what it is and he says its meth. I'd never seen meth or a needle before but I figured I'd give it a try. I watched how they were shooting and gave it a go. I had no idea what I was doing and missed the vein. It hurt like hell, they had a good laugh at that! Craig fixed me up another needle and showed me how to do it.

Pretty much that's how the next 4 years went. We travelled all over the country working and shooting up dope. It was a real adventure and we all became very close. Depending on the job, we were each making $2000-$4000/week and spent it as fast as we could. Within a year they had me trained up and I was burning rods and welding pipe as good as them. I'm still welding to this day.

I was in my early 20s and these three guys were in there 40s and 50s. We really looked after each other and were always together. I grew up without a father and these three helped fill that void.

Some jobs only needed 2 of us but we would pool our money and share it. I was the best with money and when we had some extra I would put it aside and bank it for our 'vacation time'. Once or twice a year we would take a month off and party, usually in the winter. We needed about $20,000 for that. We would head back to Wyoming and get high for a month straight. When the money ran out we would go back to work.

It wasn't a bad life. Looking back, my main regret was not contacting my brother during that time. He had no idea if I was alive or dead. I still feel a lot of guilt for that.

It took a lot of dope to get us right and our biggest fear was running out. We would buy ounces at a time. If we could get the material we would also cook it up ourselves. I can't remember running out but I do remember the first time we ran out of points. I asked the boys 'what are we gonna do now?' Craig looked at me like I was a complete idiot and he said 'smoke the shit'. That's how naive I was: full meth addict and had no idea you could smoke it.

4 years flew by like nothing.....then it all fell apart. We were working in Grand Junction Colorado. Me and one of the boys headed to Walmart to get a few things. We shot up in the truck before we went in. That was our routine....we couldn't do ANYTHING without shooting up first.

Anyhow, a cop spots us and we end up in cuffs. He searches the truck and finds an ounce of dope and, long story short, did 8 months in county. I heard from the boys regularly and they were eager for me to join them again. I didn't have the heart to tell them I decided it was time for me to start over.

I got in touch with my brother just before I was let out. That was the hardest thing I've ever done. I was ashamed for being away so long, it had been more than 5 years. I walked out of prison and my brother was waiting there for me. I cried like a baby.

I try not to, but I think about them all the time. It's been about 6 years and I have no idea where they ended up or if they're still alive. I tried contacting one of their daughters on Facebook. He talked about her a lot and I always made sure he sent her child support check every month. She won't respond to my messages.