This morning it is overcast and chilly. It rained earlier and the stepson has come to be part of this extended family.
As I have mentioned in numerous previous blogs to you my loyal readers, the stepson is a lazy young man living month to month on social security disability, though the money he receives lasts maybe a couple of days because he spends that siphon like it’s nothing and is broke the rest of the month. This last month was no less an example and he expected us to bail him out with loans and promises, plus he had this delusion that someone was going to come up to our former home in Spokane and hand him money. It didn’t happen of course, and he had to get someone there to buy him a Greyhound ticket here on Sunday.
It was presumably decided that he wouldn’t come here, but my wife decided differently and when Tom and Lilly found out, it was after the bus had left Spokane and he was on his way to Boise. Needless to say, the tension in the house was very apparent. I observe the exchange between Tom and Lilly and Stephanie all afternoon Sunday, climaxing with Stephanie abruptly going to her room, grabbing the car keys and announcing, “I’m moving back to Spokane. I can’t deal with Tom and his attitude. Nice was right, I should have never assumed differently.”
Later that night she called telling me her plan to pick up Terry, then drive back to Spokane the following morning. I listened to her rant but didn’t say anything. I knew she was angry at Tom for his outburst toward her, but I also suspected deep down she knew he wasn’t in the wrong and had messed up herself in this by going behind their backs and bringing him here when clearly, he wasn’t wanted. She hung up and I waited.
Around ten I called her back at Lilly’s urging and left her a message to come on home. After that she called her mother. Because Lilly is mostly hard of hearing, she can hear the phone better with the speaker on. I heard the entire conversation between the two and Lilly convinced her to come back. She and Tom had a long talk and he agreed to let Terry back, with conditions.
I went to bed and was later awoken when Stephanie came in. “I’m back but I’ll see about getting a place in Twin (Falls). I can’t be in the same place as Tom when he treats my son like this. What are you going to do?”
I already had two different conversation with both Tom and Lilly. They insisted that I stay regardless of what Stephanie hastily wanted to do that night in the heat of her anger and rage. “I’m staying here. I already burned my bridges up there (in Spokane).”
She shut off the bedroom light and crawled into bed beside me.
The next morning Terry asked Lilly if it would be okay for Tom to sell pot to him.
“No it is not,” She replied in her no-nonsense tone. “I want you to clean yourself up. You are not to drink or smoke pot in my house or on my property. You are an asshole when you do. And, if you do that away from here then you can’t live here either. Those are the rules I set down. I love you but you can’t keeping getting drunk and high all the time anymore.”
It’s been a week. As far as I know the stepson hasn’t gotten high, though he’s been texting someone here which suggests he might try and find someone who will help him out. It’s a deep hole he’s’ fallen into and I don’t know if he’ll ever climb out, or if he even really wants to.
Jerry Schellhammer 