Cheesman Chronicles

Harriet didn’t realise how bad the drug problem was until she stopped taking. So as soon as she got off the bus and saw twenty people injecting themselves, she froze. How could they just be doing this? How could they so easily destroy their lives for a quick rush?

The answer, of course, was obvious. She’d also been addicted to drugs. She knew how dangerous it could be: How it followed you around, how it made itself feel so important. After all, everyone was using it. And not only were they using it, it was encouraged. Meals wouldn’t be served unless you could prove you had your syringe. Payment required a long individual code, something the drugs could help you remember. Kids would ask if they could take a quick hit.

Yet she managed to escape from it. It was possible. Have some ID, write down the code, tell them to go away. All easy things they used to do before. Why couldn’t they do it now?

She sighed and continued on. She had things to do, after all. She had a movie night with some friends. Something fun. Something social.

Ascending the escalator and making her way to the cinema, she held out a paper copy of her tickets. The box office didn’t exist anymore, and the establishment encouraged you to use your drugs to show you’ve paid for the ticket. Her tickets, thankfully, did the job.

Her friends waved from one corner of the cinema, a couple topping off just before greeting her. Harriet smiled, sauntering her way over to hug them.

“It’s been so long!” Paul said. “You’ve fallen off the grid.”

“I know,” Harriet sighed. “Just trying to recover from the drugs is all.”

“Good on you!” Frankie smiled. “I wish I could stop mine. But it’s just required for my job, you know? Besides, I couldn’t live without them at this point.”

“It’s actually surprisingly easy,” Harriet started. “It’s just–”

“Yeah, yeah, so you keep saying,” Steve grumbled. “Oh, look at me. Aren’t I so amazing for quitting? You should all just bow down and worship me.”

“That’s not… whatever. Let’s just go watch the movie, alright?”

The others nodded, still giving her strange looks. They passed the empty ticket booth and into their assigned seating. Music wafted through the speakers, setting a calming mood as they prepared for the upcoming feature. A couple people were here already, some injecting themselves.

Harriet shook her head and sat down next to her friends, Steve and Paul already topping themselves off again.

“So!” Frankie excitedly whispered. “What’re you most excited for? I heard the action is super cool. Lots of explosions and car chases.”

“I don’t know,” Harriet shrugged. “I kinda just want to hang out with you.”

“Aww! We really should hang out more. Hey, why don’t we grab a bite after this one’s over? There’s a nice burger place just across the hall.”

“Sure,” Harriet smiled. “That sounds fun.”

The adverts started. Cheap local commercials. A strangely high number of insurance ads. Though there were some cool trailers which piqued her interest. She took out a notebook and copied the names down.

“What are you doing?” Paul whispered.

“The movie looked fun,” she replied. “I want to keep an eye on it.”

“Oh, right,” he nodded. “Because you’re not topping up on the memory pills. Makes sense. But… what happens if you lose that notebook?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Guess I’ll lose it.”

“It’s a bit risky, right? I mean, you lose that, and everything’s gone.”

“People used to manage.”

“I guess. Still, it’s hard to remember that time, right?”

“Paul, we used to live like that.”

He nodded thoughtfully, injecting himself one more time.

“Dude, the movies just starting. You don’t have to top off again, right?”

“Just want to keep the buzz going. Besides, there’s a lot going on in my life I need to keep in check. This helps. We can’t all be off drugs like you, you know.”

Harriet shook her head, not wanting to argue, and settled herself back into the smelly yet comfortable chair.

The movie was great. Maybe not the best she’d seen this year, but certainly top five. The lead was fun, and the villain was scary yet oddly sympathetic. She wasn’t a huge fan of all the action but hey it wasn’t her movie. At least from a technical level she thought it was cool. One of the car crashes made her seriously wonder if it was CGI or practical.

They were getting really good at these.

Yet her mind wandered around as the audience continued to top up. She frowned. Even at the worst of her addiction, she could take some time off to watch a movie. Well, in a cinema at least. Home was another story.

Her final straw was when Frankie pulled it out during the climatic showdown. Harriet put her hand on hers, staring in her face.

“What are you doing?”

“Just topping off,” Frankie frowned. “Why, is that a problem?”

“The movies nearly over, can’t you pay attention for a bit longer?”

“Oh my god, girl, it’s fine. We can’t all be like you and off drugs all the time.”

“For two hours?”

“I’ve had a really stressful year, Harriet. Besides, if this movie wasn’t so boring at times then it’s not my fault I lose focus. I have a thing, you know.”

“It’s the climatic showdown!”

“But why are they showing down? They hardly explained any of it. I’m so lost.”

Harriet sat back, stunned. The villain killed the main protagonists son. How could she miss that? It was basically all they said throughout the story. It couldn’t have been more obvious.

The movie came to a close, the lights rose, and they departed. Harriet thought the ending was great, but couldn’t get over how much Frankie completely missed the point. Based on the discussions Steve and Paul were having, they were similarly confused. It was only after they got to the burger joint and they topped themselves up that they started to get it. Even then, Harriet had to explain in excruciating detail.

They didn’t want to hear her analysis. For an action film with surprising depth, they could hardly tread its waters. They just waved her off as a Luddite and continued to complain about the things that didn’t make sense a child could have picked up.

Harriet ate her burger with no joy. You were supposed to inject it for flavour. She had to get one of her friends to order as her card wasn’t accepted anymore, only taking memory codes. Sighing, she got up.

“Where are you going?” Frankie asked.

“Just a walk. I need to clear my head. Actually, I’ll probably just head home. I’ll find a way to pay you back. Should come through in the next two days.”

“Did you like the movie?” Paul asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Yeah, I think I did.”

“Didn’t like how much they injected themselves?” Steve grinned. “Couldn’t handle such moral deviation?”

“Oh shut up, Steve. They did that once or twice. It’s like smoking, they just have to do it.”

He laughed and injected himself again, isolating the discussion in one quick jab. Harriet, defeated, walked home.

Maybe she could do with a hit again.

Just a small one.

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