Welcome players to Brenda's Do or Die. In this game you will be playing the role of Brenda, a 40 year old white white woman who has suffered on and off from various drug addictions. On her road to recovery, Brenda is faced with many obstacles and challenges. Navigate her way through everyday life while she resides in Milwaukee in order to keep her alive and well. Will you choose correctly and keep Brenda on the straight and narrow? Or will you lead her back down a destructive path? The choice is yours.
[[Start ]]
It's a frigid evening in early March, and you can feel the cold setting in your bones. You have just been evicted from your parent's house. Your parents have had enough of your constant excuses for missing your DAA (Drug Addicts Anonymous) meetings. As you sit out on the front stoop, you suddenly remember an offer from Ricardo, your former heroin dealer, that you are welcome to stay the night at his place whenever need be. As you reach into your coat pocket for a cigarette, you instead grab a crumpled piece of paper that you received at the last DAA meeting, providing the direct telephone number of the local shelter.
[[Stay at Ricardo's]]
[[Stay at The Shelter]]You fork out just enough change for a one way bus trip to the North side. Ricardo's, a two-story, bug infested hot bed, smells of mold and rotting wood. Ricardo answers the door and states "I knew you would be back". He leads you to your mattress on the living room floor, which is stained with what might be blood or vomit. He asks what your posion will be for the night.
[[Start Over ]]
[[What's your poison?]]
You decide to give The Shelter a call. You failed to pay your last cell phone bill, and your service has been terminated. You plead to use your parent's phone. Your mother allows you 5 minutes in the house, no more. The Shelter answers, and informs you that there is only one bed left. You go to catch the next bus. You fork out just enough change. All of this change and stress, occuring in such a short amount of time, has started to take a toll. You have the urge to shoot up. This bus line goes right past the local pub, which also acts as a hotbed for cheap drug deals.
[[Stop at the pub]]
[[Fight the Urge]]
You enter The Pub. The lights are dim, the usual drunks are in their barstools. You head towards the women's restroom. You approach a woman, grayed, droopy eyed, and a head shoreter than you. "It's been too long, honey." You ask her for the usual, and she hands you a questionable needle. You slip her a $20, and make your way into a bathroom. You're ready for a high. Before you can bring the needle to your veins, you begin to have thoughts about your parents, siblings, and friends. You think of all the heartache you have caused.
[[Get high]]
[[Start Over ]] You are buzzed in to The Shelter and allow the front desk staff member to search your purse, smelling your multitude of perfume bottles for any trace of alcohol.You are to place your bag of clothes on the ground and label a piece of paper with your name so that the clothes can be ran through the dryer, ridding any bed bugs. You are made aware of your rights, as well as rules. You are allotted a 90 day stay, and must find employment and rehabilitation. You wait in the lobby for a manager to start your intake. An hour has passed and you have yet to be seen by your assigned case manager. You grow impatient. You contemplate heading to Ricardo's where you know you have a bed to stay in.
[[Stay]]
[[Leave]]Your intake is complete. You meet with your case manager to devise a plan. You make your way to the lobby, walking past the other 30 beds. Your case manager makes you aware that your stay will not be easy. You are here to better and clean yourself, and to never return. You tell about your abusive husband who stole your assets and belongings. You were terminated from your nursing position at the local hospital for steaing a vile of morphine in hopes of numbing the pain. You were left with an increasing drug addiction. You turned to your parents. They allow you to stay at their house under one condition: you must attend DAA meetings. You live at their house for months. While putting your clean laundry in your room, mother stumbles upon a new needle still in its packaging. She tells you that you are to leave. After making your stay complete with a few more signatures, you are on your way to recovery.
[[Day 3]]You storm out The Shelter doors. You begin the hour walk to the North side. You reach what used to be a second home to you. A two-story, bug infested hot bed, smells of mold and rotting wood. Ricardo answers with a surprised look on his face. He states "I knew you would be back". He lleads you to your mattress on the living room floor, which is stained with what might be blood or vomit. Ricardo asks you what your posion will be for the night.
[[What's your poison?]]
[[Start Over ]] It's been 3 days since you turned to emergency shelter. You are ready to better yourself and find a job. You head out of the shelter promptly at 7 am on a job hunt, but not before withdrawal symptoms hit you. Your case manager has set up an interview at Metro Market, the local grocery store, for a cashier positon. You figure a pit stop to The Pub wouldn't hurt anyone, and it would take the edge off and maybe even make the interview easier. You always seem to be more outgoing when you're high, and isn't that what employers look for in potential hires?
[[Stop at the pub]]
[[Metro Market]]According to stopyouraddiction.com, using a speedball, even once can lead to a painful death even if the proper precautions are taken before taking this drug. The chances of living are generally higher for one time users, but you, Brenda, had already exposed your body to a great deal of heroin throughout the months following up to your death. Your body was unable to withstand the dramatic effects of both the cocaine and heroine, and you have fatally succumbed to your addiction.
http://www.stopyouraddiction.com/drug-information/speedball/
You insert the poisonous needle into your veins. You begin to experience the euphoria, but this is a high that is not familiar to you. Without any control, you slump over. The effects of this drug, which once brought you a numbing happiness, have decided to take a turn on your body. This will be the heroin dose that you succumb to.
[[What went wrong?]]According to the National Institue on Drug Abuse, additives in street heroin may include substances that do not dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause infection or even death. It is quite possible that the heroin you were provided was laced, and said additive, along with your chronic heroin use, caused fatality.
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin
You ask for a Speedball-a dealdly mix of cocaine and heroin. Ricardo asks if you're sure. He knows that you've only been messing around with heroin, and wants to ensure that you're aware of the consequences of this mixture. You wave off his warnings, and ask him what his price is. He'll cut you a deal and provide you the shot for $25. You reach into your purse, pull out your last $30. Ricardo hands you a fresh needle, and the deed is done. You feel the high, a sensation that releases a euphoria. When your head hits the pillow, you are out for the rest of the night. This will be your very first and last Speedball, as well as your last day alive.
[[Game Over]] You have fought the urges, and made it to the interview. The supervisor, considering your people skills and recent job history, hires you on the spot. You are now Metro Market's newest employee. However, you are sternly informed that if you are late, come in under the influence, or dissatisfy any customer, you will be terminated. The threatening tone taken with you is unsettling. Authority figures are a trigger for your use. You have the urge to shoot up. You also happen to pass The Pub on your way back to The Shelter. How convenient.
[[Stop at the pub]]
[[Day 4]]You have made it to Day 4 at The Shelter, and you have made the most progress in the fastest time that the case managers have ever seen. You are employed, and most importantly, you haven't used. You called your best friend to tell her the news, and she wants to celebrate. A new club has opened downtown, and she's treating. Oh, your best friend has also been known to dip her nose in a pile of cocaine more often than not. You know The Shelter policy, and you have work bright and early tomorrow.
[[Party on]]
[[Day 5]]You have decided that you deserve a night out on the town with your friends, especially after your recent hiring. Your best friend picks you up, and she's already high. You get to the club, and it's what you imagined it would be-drugs galore. You grow tense and nervous, for you know this is the exact environment you should be avoiding. You feel the urge coming, for it's difficult to fight when you see others feeling so loose and free and for as long as the high lasts, reality does not exist.
[[Start Over ]]
[[Get high]]
The night before at the club, you had the urge to use. However, you came to realize just how much improvement you've made in the past few days. You are beginning to feel like yourself again. You hugged your best friend goodbye, and headed back to The Shelter. It has been an entire week since your eviction, but it seems like a year. You are officially 1 full week clean, and that deserves a congratulations. However, the road does not end here. Addiction is a disease that is very rarely overcome. You will have to continue to fight the urges to use, peer pressure, triggers, and you will have to prove yourself to those that you have hurt. You have made it this far, dodging obstacles every day, and you are alive. Best of luck as you continue on your road to recovery, Brenda.
[[You Win]]Hello player,
Congratulations on successfully completing a week in the life of Brenda. So far, you have kept her on the straight and narrow, and most importantly, you have kept her alive. It is simple to look past the trials and turmoils of addiction, for it is easy to assume that it is simply the users choice. That is not the case. Addiction is a disease, and it takes the lives of countless people that once claimed they would never involve themselves in drug use. Narcotic use and abuse is very real, and just about every person knows of someone who abuses. If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction, or you are concerned that someone you know might, please do not hesitate to reach out to your local law enforcement and rehab facilties. You continued to watch The Pub pass, for you knew stopping there would lead to no good. You begin to sweat even though it's close to freezing outside. Your itches start up, and you want so badly to shoot up. However, you think about what has lead you to this very moment-heroin itself is the culprit. You can't believe how it has taken over your life, for you never thought you would sink this low. You might not realize it, but by passing up The Pub, you have started the road to recovery.
[[Start Over ]]