Libby

I was on my way back to the Library last evening all excited about writing the play by play of that fantastic baseball game, ran into one of LPD's finest, which I mentioned. Then I ran into Libby.

Libby was on the Mocho Bike Path just off Holmes. I usually stop to say hello and she does what she normally does when I do, asking me for a smoke, which I gave her. She's Leonard Mooney's girlfriend, who, it turns out, is in jail right now for shoplifting. Yeah, Leonard is that guy who attempted to steal my bike twice...

Libby is well tanned with a pretty face, her dark hair is growing back well after she shaved it all off. She's rail thin and when I came across her, she had her possessions scattered just off the path and was going through them as she does... often.

Libby is yet another cautionary tale about Methamphetamine. When Joe VanFossen offered to help me write about it, Libby was one of the people I had in mind.

You'll see Libby around town either riding a bicycle or pushing a shopping cart filled with plastic bags of stuff. She'll often have a stuffed animal of some sort for comfort. She speaks with this very sweet singsong voice and is quite friendly so long as you're listening to her. Even so, your empathy will very likely pick up the vibe that this girl has suffered serious abuse. What abuse? I've only heard stories that I dare not repeat for fear they may be false... but I have heard some horrific things.

I stopped and chatted with her. And I mentioned the officer I'd just spoken with, which sent Libby off in a tirade about how such and such a policeman had murdered this many children, and yada, yada, yada... The conspiracy theories came rapid fire.

Libby, I am told, had worked as an Emergency Medical Technician and an exotic dancer. But, I am told, once Libby hooked up with Leonard Mooney she began a steady decline into... dare I say dementia?

It does somehow lead to a question about why young women are attracted to very bad men... though I'm not sure Leonard Mooney qualifies as a man... or anything less slimy than a slug... But everyone will tell you it was Leonard that hooked Libby on meth. The problem with that theory is that Libby had to do it willingly unless there was a gun to her head or a knife at her throat forcing her do ingest the stuff. Somehow I doubt that was the case.

Why am I telling you about Libby? For this reason: if you have a daughter, please do not let her go down Libby's path! Do everything you can to keep her away from sleezy slimeballs like Leonard Mooney. Don't let her hang out with pants-on-the-ground losers.

Of all the cases out here of lives that have been destroyed by methamphetamine I have to say that Libby's case is probably the most heart breaking...