Oblivion: Shooting Dope in Santa Cruz, age 22

*This is a short scene from my autobiographical novel, “Running Solo.”

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Oblivion

The heroin.

I’d followed a friend up north to live in Santa Cruz. Just after turning twenty-two. I thought it would be my new start.

But when I moved up there, my busted-up white Saturn with a blown head-gasket, and my few petty possessions, sleeping on a filthy mattress with…