"Why does it comes as a surprise to think that I was so naive"

I was a couple of months over 14 when I went on a school trip to Amsterdam.
I remember acting the goat for pretty much the whole journey. The 6 hours on the coach to Harwich & the 8 hour ferry crossing.
I also remember the first thing we did upon arrival was to go on a canal boat cruise of the city.
I slept through the whole thing & my mirror lensed shades ensured that no one actually noticed.
Our stay in the city was for all of about 6 hours & that was about 2 of them already gone.
I then proceeded to do nothing much except look round record shops & play video games in the amusement arcades. I didn't seek out the notorious red light district because we'd been told that we'd get into serious trouble if we did. I later learned that Mr.Perv had taken a group of boys on a tour of the area. Bollocks.
Before I knew it, it was time to board the coach for the journey home.
I must have been about 10 feet away from the bus when I was stopped by a very tall & imposing fella.
"You want any gear?"
"Eh?"
"You want some gear?"
"Gear?"
"Yeah, gear. You know, gear, stuff"
"Gear? What like clothes?"
Now getting quite exasperated "GEAR, STUFF"
"..." blank expression
"Marijuana!"
"Ooooh NO!"
He sloped off & I ran to the bus squealing "Miss! Miss! Someone just tried to sell me drugs!!!"

A couple of years later, I 'd not long left school & my friend Married A Proper Bitch had come up to Wakefield to stay for the week. We decided to pay a visit to Never Be Old.
Now, Never Be Old was one of my oldest friends. We used to walk to & from school together every day & we'd hang out most evenings.
His parents were just the coolest Mum & Dad ever. They used to let us do anything. I recall that they let us sit down with them one Saturday night to watch The Exorcist with them when we were about 12. They used to let me stay round there house till about 11pm before they'd finally suggesting that I should go home. The dad had a plastic arm which was intensely fascinating to me, as was the fact that he never had a job the whole time I knew them. I'd ask Never Be Old how they got by for money. He said that his Dad had a system that meant he could "earn" enough money at the bookies. OK.
When I'm round Reckless & Dream Girl's house I'm often reminded of being at Never Be Old's when I was a lad. Dream Girl's eldest, Scared Of Haircuts, has a mate that always comes round. He's annoying & lovable in equal measure & he reminds me of myself at that age to a frightening degree. The way he interacts with Reckless, Dream Girl & myself, the way that we just know that he's not a bad kid but that he's quite mischievous when out of our sight. Oh my, he's like a little mini-me. He even has similar hair.
Ooh, not like me to digress, eh?
Anyway, it'd been a few weeks since I'd last seen Never Be Old when Married A Proper Bitch & I called round. He welcomed us in & we went up to his room to hang out. He was acting a little bit odd, nothing I could put my finger on but just a bit off. We chatted a bit & eventually we got on to subject of what he'd been upto since finishing school. He said he hadn't done much because he'd been smoking dope.
WHAT???
Married A Proper Bitch & I exchanged worried glances as he went on to explain how it wasn't a bad thing.
"What's it do then?" I enquired.
He told us that it made him feel happy & at peace. He said that if he'd had some & we hadn't that we would be on different wavelengths. That we would seem boring to him.
We left shortly after that (I've never liked being called boring) & walked back to my house.
"Shit man, Never Be Old's a junkie"
"I know, shit"
We were shocked to our very core & wondered the rest of the way back in silence.

Of course, now when I look back it's very easy to see why Never Be Old's folks were so cool. I only ever saw Never Be Old once more after that day.
I'd love to see him again, he was a great friend of mine through our formative years & we hardly ever had a cross word.
I hope he's ok, I'd like to share a spliff with him now.
And his Mum & Dad.