MILLVIEW , 9TH AUG 2010.
Up at 6am , or up all night , I reckon I got 1 hours sleep max , fuck was I shattered , fell asleep in the bath just wanting to lie there but having important business to take care of today pull myself out of the stupor I was feeling and put the kettle on , roll some cigarettes and put the TV on to see what the weather will be like so I wear suitable attire , sunny with showers , put on some long jeans so nobody can see my tag and a short sleeve shirt , Adidas trainers . I'm always anxious on the first day of rehab never quite knowing what to expect as far as other addicts , they always look so fucking ill and this morning was no exception , we were all clucking like a good addict does when starved of his poison , all I could think was hurry up with the Librium , quick , it's gotta be my turn soon . Danielle who I had met on my last failed attempt calls me into the medical room and hands me the magic pills and I feel relief straight away , soon I'll feel all warm and dopey . Pop to the garden for a smoke and meet my new addict friends and we chat away about " the evils of drink" , one old fella is shaking really badly and I tell him the pills are ready , he's gone in a second , another guy I recognised from acupuncture a few months back , He looks a bit moody but I'll reserve judgement for now .
11 am and the morning session starts , 7 of us in all , good size group , not too many and not too few . An African fellow with glasses is sitting very quietly reading a book , I thought maybe he was a nurse or Doctor , very smartly dressed with brown pointed cowboy boots , we all have 5 Min's to explain what has brought us here today , I go first just to get it out of the way and give the others some idea of what is expected of them . I'm still watching the African with the glasses and notice his head has fallen back and he is asleep , perhaps he worked a night shift or something . Everyone has spoken and Danielle looks and shouts "Kenneth" , no reply , she tries again "Kenneth" and he wakes up from his slumber and asks what the side effects of the medication he took earlier are , I shout out sleepiness and we all have a good laugh , Kenneth's wife and daughter were killed in a car accident , fuck , no wonder he drinks , He's well spoken and intelligent with good English .
Sitting next to me is a very camp looking guy with a sallow complexion and yellow eyes , tells everyone he's a vicar , it revolts me to look at him , rotten teeth and very sick looking , he's got cirrhosis of the liver and it looks like the booze is killing him , he tells the group he loves life and does not want to give up drinking , I don't understand why he is sitting there if he wants to carry on killing himself , I can feel myself getting angry with his cavalier attitude , he won't shut up and keeps making jokes about his homosexuality and inferes he has a sore bottom from last weekends pride . Theres a pretty girl from Sweden , she has 2 kids and has been contacted by the social services about her boozing so shes joined us for the next fortnight , I'll get her phone number before we finish next friday , maybe take her out to the cinema .