Man On a Mission
by Melanie Hemry
It was another perfect day in South Florida as 20-year-old Matthew Palant climbed onto his motorcycle and revved the engine. A thought circled his mind, refusing to settle: Your friend just died. Go put on your helmet and jacket.
His friend was dead. The same friend who’d taught Matthew how to ride his motorcycle. He’d died in a motorcycle crash. Matthew had been at the hospital when they pulled the plug on life support. It had been grim…but it had not been Matthew’s first encounter with death.
The truth was, a number of his friends had died—either in car wrecks, motorcycle accidents or from drug overdoses. And given his lifestyle, Matthew might well be next. He’d started smoking pot at 15, and by the time he was 17 it had become a daily habit. He also drank, used cocaine, ecstasy and prescription meds—all in addition to high doses of lithium for bipolar disorder.
A high functioning addict, Matthew still managed to hold down a job as a medical assistant in a doctor’s office and supplemented that income by selling drugs. Having been taken to jail for the third time, his parents had kicked him out of the house. So he slept in his car and sofa surfed at friends’ houses. His dad, a police officer, had gotten him out of the minor troubles he’d had with the law. But now his dad hadn’t spoken to him in months.
Turning off the motorcycle, Matthew went back inside and grabbed his helmet. He didn’t bother with the jacket. He was only going 6 blocks.
Seeing one of his biker friends, Matthew laughed and gave chase. They carved their way through a neighborhood at 60 mph on a road with multiple S curves. Matthew rounded a curve and saw a vehicle in front of him. Hitting the brakes, he threw his bike into a slide, skidding on one side of his face and body.
BVOV : 13
