A Family’s Struggle with Addiction

Some details in this story have been changed for the anonymity of the subject. Some topics in this story include drug use, overdose, relapse, gang violence, death, and suicide.

By GISELLE VÁZQUEZ
EL NUEVO SOL

HARBOR CITY, CA – Gunshots and police sirens were a normal occurrence. Life in Harbor City can be difficult, especially for Ruth, a 20-year-old woman, currently in rehab for her drug addiction. Growing up surrounded by gang violence has not been easy for her, but adding the stress of her family life led her drug use.

Ever since she was young, her family has been involved with the gang in her neighborhood. She witnessed drive by’s, shootings, fights, and many other types of gang violence. Her father and other members of her family were involved in this type of activity and for Ruth, it was nothing but normal.

“My mom wouldn’t let me go outside because it was so dangerous, but I would be a bad little kid and go out anyway, and that’s how I would see a lot of the violence” she says.

Ruth is the oldest of five children, with one younger sister, and three younger brothers. Home life was difficult, as two of her siblings were diagnosed with autism at a young age. She explained that it was difficult being the oldest child, as her parents had to work unusual hours in order to support themselves. She considers them as a very low income family, so she had to step up as an older sister and take care of her siblings, while her parents were at work.

She says, “my parents were gardeners, so they worked whenever they could, wherever they could. They also worked at different factories and since we only had one car they tried getting jobs together so they could both go”.

This left Ruth as the primary caretaker of her siblings by 11-years-old. Her younger brother, Angel, is mildly autisic. Still, he had his moments when he would have violent flare ups.

“He doesn’t know how to control his anger and emotions, so he would act out violently” she says.

When Angel was nine, he attempted suicide for the first time. Ruth found him and as she screamed for her parents, she held her little brother in her arms, afraid that she was too late to save him. She was only 12 at the time. Angel was hospitalized, but attempted suicide two more times, once in middle school and another in high school.

For Ruth, seeing her little brother hurt himself and feeling like she was unable to help him caused her so much pain and trauma. By middle school, she had already tried marijuana to help ease her stress.

She says, “It was easy for me because all the people around me were older than me and they were smoking weed all the time. It was normal for me to be around, so I felt like I needed to do it too. Once I tried it and I noticed that it made me feel good, I just didn’t ever stop”.

By the time Ruth was 14-years-old, she was already involving herself with gang members. She was dating an active gang member and found herself surrounded by more drugs. While she was not actively a gang member herself, she fought with rival members in her high school and was constantly getting into gang related trouble.

By 15-years-old, her 17-year-old boyfriend was introducing her to crystal meth. This is when her addiction began. She was being supplied the drugs in exchange for trying to find more young women to buy it from her boyfriend.

“I was doing it all the time and my parents finally realized it was because of my boyfriend. THey tried to make me stop seeing him, but I was young and dumb so I just did what I wanted and I would leave home for weeks at a time” she explains.

To her family, she became unrecognizable. By 17-years-old she was a thin, pale, wide eyed junkie, according to her younger brother Jesus. He describes seeing her come home late at night to grab clean clothes and leave dirty, old ones. She would sneak in and out while no one was home, taking things she could sell, or taking money she could find.

“I was only 15, but I went out, I found her, and I brought her home” Jesus says.

Her family sent her to rehab for the first time at age 17. She spent 16 weeks at the facility. It was a church-based rehab, for low income families dealing with drug addiction. At this time, she couldn’t see her family often, and she felt herself becoming depressed. She got her G.E.D and turned 18 during her time in rehab. She left the facility 6 weeks before her program ended.

When she got back home, she promised her family and herself that she would get a job and end all friendships that could lead to her relapse. She got a job as a waitress at IHOP and became friends with one of her coworkers, a nice girl attending the nearby university.

It had been a few months since Ruth had left the rehab facility and everything seemed to be going well until Jesus woke up one night. He walked into the bathroom in their home and found Ruth laying on the floor, with a needle by her side. Ruth had overdosed. Jesus tried carrying his sister into the shower to spray her with water. Their parents were at work at the time, so Jesus called 911, and his parents arrived shortly after the ambulance.

Ruth woke up in the hospital with her mother sitting in the chair next to her. When she realized what had happened, she felt horrible. Her little brother found her life less in their bathroom, the same way she had found Angel when she was younger. She had been hanging out with old friends and decided the only way to get away from temptation was to move away.

Ruth moved with her Godmother to Arizona. There she went to a 6-week rehab program, completed it, and started working at a grocery store. She would attend N.A meetings weekly and went to church with her Godmother. She spent a year and a half there, but after spending a fairly lonely 20th birthday, she decided to move back home to California.

At first it was difficult for Ruth to find a job, she worked at a local Mexican restaurant, but her family was really struggling after her father lost his job. Jesus and Angel were working at a warehouse and decided to help her get a job there too. Ruth was never hired as she failed the required drug test.

After finding this out, Jesus was furious and Ruth ran away from home once again. This time, her family had no idea where she was. Her family looked for her all around the neighborhood, even asking her old friends if they had heard from her. It had been two weeks with no word from Ruth. The police were alerted, but didn’t seem to have any urgency in finding her.

One Tuesday afternoon, at 2 p.m., Jesus got a call from Ruth. She had checked herself into rehab once again, the same rehab program she had first went to. She told him she was determined to stay the full 16 weeks.

“I reflected on the fact that I let down my little brothers and they’re supposed to look up to me, and they can’t even do that. I didn’t want my family to see me as a junkie anymore, I want to be there to help them,” she says.

Ruth is currently on week 13 of her 16-week program. She has developed health habits, such as working out and reading. Her family can visit her every Friday afternoon and she is allowed to use the phone for 30 minutes a day. She has no connection to social media or other outside influences.

“I feel so much better after being here for 3 months and I really feel like this is going to be it. I’m so young, I don’t want to give my life up to the streets like I saw so many other people do,” she says.

The Robles family is currently saving money to move into a nice area. Jesus and Angel are working at the warehouse part-time to contribute to their family’s savings. Ruth will be working at the rehab center as a junior wellness instructor, teaching fitness classes while she finishes getting her instructors certification. She hopes her family can move within the year.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, feel free to contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration at 1(800)662-HELP.