Saying Goodbye to My Evil Twin

By Nicole Hayes

This book is about my journey as I struggled with addiction and recovery. Opioid abuse is a horrible epidemic. In Philadelphia, deaths among addicts spiked after the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Opioid deaths increased 350 percent during the first nine months of 2020. I am trying to deliver a message of hope and faith. As long as you are still breathing, you can always rewrite your story. Never give up. Never stop fighting. Remember, relapse is a part of recovery. There is help available when and if you choose it. You can lose everything you have very quickly, but if you work hard, you can eventually get everything back and then some.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665546782

Nicole Hayes

Nicole Hayes’s debut release, The Whole of My World (2013), is a Young Adult novel and the first “footy novel” to feature a teenage girl. It was longlisted for the 2014 Gold Inky and shortlisted for the 2014 YABBAs. Her second novel, One True Thing (2015), was awarded the 2015 Children’s Peace Literature Award. She bleeds Brown and Gold, which you’d know if you followed her on Twitter: @nichmelbourne.

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© 2022 Nicole Hayes. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  12/04/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4679-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4678-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021924845

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

links contained in this book may have changed since publication and

may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1     My Childhood

Chapter 2     My Early Teens

Chapter 3     The Weed Era

Chapter 4     Escape from Abuse

Chapter 5     Someone I Thought I Knew

Chapter 6     Homeless

Chapter 7     Journey with Heroin

Chapter 8     Supporting Our Habit

Chapter 9     Copping Our Drugs

Chapter 10   Kensington Experience

Chapter 11   Trying To Get Clean

Chapter 12   First Relapse

Chapter 13   Hospital Stay

Chapter 14   Second Relapse

Chapter 15   Recovery House (Third Relapse)

Chapter 16   Sober House

Chapter 17   Hotel Room

Chapter 18   Back Home

Chapter 19   Getting Arrested

Chapter 20   Surviving Jail

Chapter 21   Inpatient Rehab Begins

Chapter 22   Outpatient Rehab Begins

Chapter 23   Life After Outpatient

Chapter 24   Recovery

Glossary

Chapter 1

MY CHILDHOOD

S o, let me just begin. As far back as I can remember, my childhood was pretty normal. I lived with my mom, dad, and brother. Growing up, my father was an alcoholic. Actually, my father’s side of the family were all alcoholics. I tried alcohol for the first time when I was fifteen years old. I used to put liquor