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THE SPIDER WEB AND ME

Darcel Harris

From the gutter rat lurking in the rubble of a drug-filled life,
I searched through the heap of human waste for someone to
release me from the maze I was trapped in. Somehow I had
gotten lost, and I couldn't get out. An unseen hand of what I
believe is a higher power removed the walls, and I emerged.
That higher power came in the form of a human by the name?f
Brenda Holmes, who died of colon cancer. The scary thing IS,
she was younger than I. Now as I remember her phone call, I
realize that it changed my life for the better. That call caused
humility to infiltrate my very being and started me on the road
to recovering some belongings I had lost and to gain things I
had only dreamed of reaching. It's crazy, but it's all about a
spider, a web, and me.

I was a practicing alcoholic and drug addict. I was tired of
living that type of life. It seemed that I was trapped in a cycle
of institutions, jails, and ultimately death. I tried reha~s,
therapy groups, and religion, but there seemed to be no relIef
from this disease. So, I tried running from this leech that was
draining me of every good and decent value I had.

I decided the only way out of this death maze was to pack up
and leave DC and not look back. I came to Carroll County a few
years ago, leaving behind my friend Brenda whom I had
known for 15 years. It's funny how we met at a traffic light on
Suitland Parkway in SE DC. We both had Mustangs, she
revved her engine, and I mine; but When the light changed, she
let me take off like a fool. So, I turned around and we pulled into
an apartment complex parking lot and exchanged laughter at
the fool I made of myself. She was neither a beautiful woman,
nor was she an eyesore, light skin with wool-like hair. She was
a little on the heavy side and always has a good joke that could
make Mona Lisa crack a smile, a very kind and jolly person.
Somehow Brenda and I remained friends. Living in an addic-
tive life-style usually leaves a person without a friend. Yet, we

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