The Phone Call.
One evening in early autumn days, I was at home after work watching television. It was around 7PM.
I had just got home from work and was unwinding playing with the TV remote control, and sipping beer on the side.
I usually get home after 6PM, eat dinner, then hit the couch to catch the latest news and sport events on TV.
I was browsing through TV channels when my cell rang.
I responded, it was my sister Gina.
She sounded sad and asked me if I could meet her at my mother’s house.
I could detect in her voice, she had been crying. Even though she was trying to sound normal, I could tell there was something wrong.
I didn’t ask any questions, I told her I’ll be there in about 15 minutes, and we hung up.
I was aware my sister was staying at my mother’s for the last week or so.
I knew there was something wrong in their relationship with her husband.
Even though we were told she was there until some issues got resolved with her husband Steve, we knew there was more to it then we were told.
However, we were not to stick our noses into their affairs and give them a chance to take care of their own.
So, I did not get involved and let them resolve their issues on their own.
However, the phone call for me to visit them, told me something was definitely wrong.
I was on my way to my mother’s to see my sister.
My mom used to live in a 2 bedroom condo at the time, and it was within 5 minutes driving distance.
She lived alone. After my father passed away, she was on her own.
I knocked on the door and my mom opened it.
Before I entered the room, I saw Steve’s mom and dad sitting on the couch.
My sister and her 5 year old daughter was sitting across.
She also had a son 16 years old, but he was not present.
My sister was crying.
The thought immediately went through my mind was she had a fight with her husband. I looked at her face and could tell she had been crying for awhile.
Her face was all red and wet from the tears coming down, and she kept wiping them with a small towel.
I shook hands with Steve’s parents George and Tina and sat down next to them on the couch.
I would see Steve’s parents only at family occasions. They live about 30 minutes drive away and would show on family gatherings and events.
That’s the only time I would see them, about once every 3…4 months.
They are a nice couple always minding their own business and always together.
Seeing them present here told me the things were serious.
Here I need to tell you about Steve.
My brother in law was around 35 years old and 5′10″ tall.
He was well built and muscular, even though he never went to gym or did any sport.
Steve was a kind of a person where he would go out of his way to do good to people. However, the bad part is he would expect them to notice and appreciate it, or he would demand them to.
He is a nice guy overall, but Steve had a drinking problem. He liked alcohol.
Not that he would drink to exhaustion, it’s just he would drink often. By his admission drinking was his biggest character issue.
Steve had started a printing business. Business was doing fine, but building it took too much out of him. He built the whole business by himself, remodeling the place, putting the whole project together. It took him almost a year to complete the work.
The people that promised to invest into his venture and stand to be a partner, backed down in the last stage of the work. Therefore, he had to finish the whole work by himself.
It took him about a year to finish the construction and start the business.
By the time he was done, I could see the changes in him.
He was drinking more and more, and was hardly at home at nights.
He was out with friends almost every night and would spend less and less time with his family.
I like his company; he is very friendly and fun person to be around.
However, I hated to argue with him about any issue, he would occasionally raise his voice for winning sakes. That’s his nature. I would keep quiet and let him have his way. I’d rather lose an argument, then try to win him.
After greeting with everyone I sat down and asked if anything was wrong?
There was a silence for a moment in the room. No one said anything for brief moment, so I figured the things are serious.
“It’s Steve, he is on drugs” said my sister and kept wiping her tears.
Silence again, I didn’t know what to say. I was shocked.
This is the same Steve, who would criticize anyone for having anything to do with drugs. He would call them names, curse at them and send them to hell for being a bad influence to children.
This is the same Steve, who had help number of friends in past to kick the habit and stay away from it.
I have heard him brag many times how he helped his friends in past to get clean, or how he would punish someone for having something to do with drugs.
Then I start seeing the clearer picture.
Last time I saw Steve was when he showed up at my house at the dinner gathering, for a short period of time. Even though him and my sister were separated at the time, he came to dinner because we invited him.
Furthermore, I think we wanted him to dine with us to help their current situation.
He had lost too much weight.
I remember when he was leaving, I asked him the reason for losing so much weight. He almost yelled back at me in front of others, saying he didn’t lose too much, and he’s is dieting.
I was surprised to see him blow steam that fast, but didn’t put one and one together at the time.
Now everything became very clear to me…this is why my sister is staying at my mom’s, and it’s been going on for awhile.
So this is why Steve lost so much weight…
I asked my sister “How did this happen?”
She told us the whole story, it’s been going on for awhile before she moved to my mom’s. However, she had been trying to keep it a secret hopping to bring him to his senses and quit doing drugs.
Apparently, she kept warning Steve to stop, or she would leave, but he wouldn’t pay attention.
Steve had a friend who had a past with drugs and was in and out of jail for many times. I had heard of him.
However, Steve was not close with him. He thought of him as a “lost man” and not worth mentioning his name.
Apparently, this guy was back in town and was meeting Steve in some friend’s business location, where they would drink and do drugs in daily bases after work with a bunch of other friends.
After getting my thoughts together I asked:
“What do we do now?”
No one seemed to know how to handle the moment, as none of us had ever been through anything like this before.
It was obvious I was called here because they needed me to act.
I also knew, that If they could do without my help, they would not let me get involved.
Now instead of observing the events from outside, I was participating.
I knew what to expect, and what I was facing ahead.
Knowing Steve’s personality, this would take too much energy and time, and it would also mean an absence from work and my family.
To take the first step, we had to see Steve and talk to him openly.
Therefore, I turned to Steve’s father George and asked him if we should go see him. George agreed, so we left to visit Steve.
The Visit.
Steve was staying at the house, they owned about 10 minutes drive away.
After we arrived at Steve’s house, we knocked on the door.
Steve was in, we heard his voice. After the second knock, the door opened.
Steve let us in. We entered the room and sat down on the couch.
The house was a mess, like a junk yard.
Anyone walking into that room could tell something was really wrong here.
Clothes on the couch, glasses and trays on the floor, the tabletop was filled with items. The kitchen was like a war zone.
We start talking about Steve. His face had turned into pink color from alcohol and drugs. The eyes were all red and seemed like they were about to pop out.
He was very defensive, blaming everyone else but himself.
His main argument was that he did nothing wrong and my sister should not leave him like this.
He kept saying he will file for divorce and never let my sister back in. He was yelling most of the time, so we didn’t even pay attention to some of the things he was saying.
After talking to him for about one hour, we decided to leave.
George and I drove home.
We agreed to give it a time and see what will happen.
If Steve had decided to file for a divorce, then no one could get through to him to change his mind.
Instead of arguing and fighting him trying to prove he was wrong, we decided to leave things alone for awhile. Hopping Steve will start missing his children and start coming to his senses.
…… will continue soon Vagr.com/jack
