Joey was a street person who lived under the boardwalk. He was tolerated at the Bamboo group house. I guess people felt sorry for him. Some street people are worse off than others, and Joey was pretty badly off. Joey was addicted to poppers. Joey was friendly and played a mean tambourine, when he wasn’t completely fried. His frailties made him less intimidating than some street people, but his personal hygiene wasn't very good. His popper habit had aged him beyond his years. Joey supported his popper habit by buying three-packs of popper bottles for ten dollars. He'd sell two at five dollars a bottle, and would have one to keep for himself.
Poppers is the street name for various brands of inhaled intoxicants. These are sold as "room deodorizers" in an attempt to bypass food and drug regulations. The intoxicant is inhaled by holding the little glass bottles close to the nose, and inhaling the vapors. These little bottles contain any of a certain class of chemicals which, among other qualities, have a low vapor point. The actual chemicals contained in the little bottles are frequently changed to get around laws trying to regulate the use of such chemicals for recreational purposes. Originally the chemical used was amylnitrite, but later was changed to iso-butylnitrite.
The family of chemicals are collectively known as alkylnitrites. Amylnitrate does have a legitimate medical use- it was first used for the treatment of angina pectoris in 1867, and continued to be freely available to the public without a prescription until the 1970s. After laws were passed prohibiting them from being sold without a prescription, they began to be sold as "room deodorizers" in "marital aid" shops under such brand names as 'Rush', 'Hardware', 'Quicksilver', and 'Bolt'. The term "poppers" comes from the sound made when hollow glass capsules containing the chemical were crushed, back when amylnitrate was legally sold to treat angina.
Most people who try "poppers" don't continue to use it. Although it gives the user a brief, dizzying head rush, this is often followed by headache, nausea, fainting and blackout. Besides, they smell terrible. The smell has been compared to the odor of used socks. But it’s a cheap high, and so is used by people who can't afford anything else.
Joey was allowed to hang out at the Bamboo House. He was harmless and wasn't aggressive, unruly, obnoxious or loud. He just needed to shower and do less poppers. Underneath the messy exterior and spaced-out demeanor was an affable fellow. He carried around a beat-up tambourine and sometimes provided a rhythm section when Gary and Lee played music together. Joey's tambourine playing added color to the duo, and he helped draw a crowd. Joey never referred to Lee by name, and Lee wondered if Joey was so fried that he didn't remember Lee from one day to the next.
One Thursday night around seven o'clock, Lee had just come home from work. Robert gnawed a sandwich in the kitchen, and looked worried.
"Shit. He's a friend of yours, isn't he?" Robert asked, pointing to the living room. Over in a corner was Joey, slumped against the wall. There were a couple of small sad empty poppers bottles on the floor beside him.
"Joey!" exclaimed Lee. "What's the matter with him?"
"Hell if I know," answered Robert. "But he doesn't look good. I just came down here saw him. Looks like he's been sniffing that Bolt stuff."
Lee went over to where Joey was bunched up in the corner, and shook him by the shoulders. He then slapped him a couple of times. No response.
"We need to call an ambulance," said Lee, his voice stressed. "This is not good." Joey's skin had a bluish tinge. They couldn't know that he was suffering from methemoglobinemia, a condition in which more than 1% of blood hemoglobin has been oxidized to the ferric form. The principle sign is cyanosis- a slightly bluish or grayish discoloration of the skin due to abnormal amounts of hemoglobin in the blood. It is possible to overdose from inhaling poppers, as Joey's condition attested. What happens is that the blood mistakes the "poppers" chemicals for oxygen.
Robert stood there looking worried. "Hold on a minute. Let's get him outside. The Bamboo House attracts enough attention without this happening."
Lee thought that they should call an ambulance right away, but it wasn't worth the time to argue about. The two of them carried Joey outside, and propped him up against the side of house. Lee noticed that Joey’s breathing was fitful and shallow. At least he was breathing. Lee then called an ambulance, which arrived shortly and took Joey away. Not long after that the police arrived, and questioned the two of them. Then the other two roommates were roused and were questioned.
No one knew anything substantial about Joey, not even his last name. All they could say was that he played tambourine, but they couldn't find where he had left it. No one knew where he slept other than under the boardwalk somewhere. He was from Georgia, or so they thought. They had no idea if he had any relatives to notify. Lee had had the most contact with Joey, what with playing music with him.
The next day, Lee called the hospital from a pay phone on the boardwalk.
"Seaside General," said the operator.
"I'm calling about a guy named Joey who was admitted last night around eight o'clock."
"Last name?" asked the operator.
"I don't know his last name," said Lee. "He's a street person, lives on the boardwalk. He was taken to the emergency room in an ambulance."
"I'm going to connect you to the emergency room," said the operator.
Lee was connected to the emergency room, and explained everything all over again.
"Yes," said the nurse, "we admitted Joey Doe last night. Are you a relative of his?"
"No, just a friend," said Lee.
"Well, I'm sorry to have to inform you that he died this morning," said the nurse. "We're not sure of the cause of death. We think he might have asphyxiated somehow. Do you have any idea what happened?"
"Um, well, I know that he did a lot of poppers," stammered Lee.
"Poppers?" said the nurse, alarmed. "What's that?"
"They're little bottles of chemicals that people sniff. To get high. Joey used to do it a lot," said Lee. "There were poppers bottles next to Joey when we found him passed out."
"That might have had something to do with his death," said the nurse. There was a pause. "Do you know anything else about Joey? His last name, where he was from, where he worked, or anything else that may help us identify him?"
"No I don't," answered Lee, truthfully. "What happens now? Is there a funeral?"
"The police have taken his fingerprints and are going to try to identify him. We can't release the body to anyone but his relatives. The body goes to the Medical Examiner. He's the person to talk to if you have any more questions. He can keep you informed of any progress we make finding Joey's relatives. His number is 290-3480," said the nurse, winding up the conversation. "I'm sorry that your friend passed away."
"Thanks for your help. I'm sure that you did all that you could," Lee said into the phone. Lee was facing the ocean, and could see the waves crashing out beyond the sand. The sky was overcast this morning, and the beach wasn't crowded.
"Bye."
