My younger sister Sandy and I had always been close. When she was 18 she ended a relationship with her high school sweetheart and fell straight into the arms of Joe, a 31-year-old man. At first she seemed really happy, but then I noticed her changing for the worse. She told me she had started trying amphetamines that Joe had been supplying her with.
It turned out Joe was dealing these drugs and despite my sister’s insistence she would never get hooked, she was taking them several times a week. My parents and I witnessed her change from a happy, carefree person into someone who was moody, self-centred and not at all interested in our previously close family.
It hit me how much she had changed when she refused to attend our father’s 50th birthday because she wanted to go to an all-night dance party with Joe. Our father had been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness that he’d beaten several years ago and 50 was a milestone we never dreamed he would reach. Sandy and I got in a heated argument about it and she ended up attending the party but leaving before the speeches, which upset my parents terribly.
As her behaviour continued to worsen, my parents were beside themselves and continually fought with Sandy. I felt there was no way I could tell them about her drug use; they would have been absolutely heart-broken. They were scared she would want them out of her life if the fighting continued, so I took the drastic step of making an anonymous phone call to the police to inform them of Joe’s drug dealing.
Several days later the police raided Joe’s place and seized large amounts of amphetamines. My sister was devastated, as were my parents about her having been in a relationship with this man. Sandy kept asking how it could have happened and I said maybe it was someone Joe had previously wronged.
Joe’s arrest turned out to be the wake-up call my sister needed; while I provided her with a shoulder to cry on, she started rebuilding her life. She ended up travelling overseas for a number of years, where she began a successful career as a fitness instructor. Joe, on the other hand, spent several years in prison and we haven’t heard from him since. Despite my guilt at having lied to my sister and causing her much heartbreak, I don’t regret what I did — today our family is stronger than ever.
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