Nothing out of the ordinary, it was a Halloween like any other Halloween with me visiting my son, Joey, to spend some quality time with him, his wife, Patty, and my grandchildren. Normally, I vacation with them for a week every summer but, this time, his wife, Patty, asked me to come again over the Halloween weekend to see the kids in their costumes and to take them trick or treating. Since Halloween was my son's birthday anyway, it was a way for me buy him a birthday gift there, instead of buying it here and shipping it.
"Mom, can you come over Halloween," asked Patty? "I could really use your help with the kids and they'd be so excited for you to see them in their Halloween costumes."
"Yeah, sure, I'd love nothing more than to spend the Halloween holiday with you, the kids, and Joey. It would be fun to pass out candy after taking the kids trick or treating. I haven't done that in years, since Joey was a boy. Maybe, the day before, we can go to the haunted fun house together."
Only, a Halloween birthday surprise for Joey, my son didn't know that I had arrived to celebrate Halloween and his birthday, and I didn't know that this holiday would change our lives forever and change our relationship from mother and son to Elizabeth and Joey, lovers.
It all started early one morning when Joey found his way home drunk. It had been his birthday. Not only had he missed his kids dressed in costume and taking them out trick or treat but also he had missed his own party with cake, candles, and presents. With the kids disappointed that Daddy wasn't there to celebrate Halloween and his birthday with them, his wife and kids had already gone to bed, and I was still up watching television, something I never do so late, but I was worried about him.
"Where the Hell is he? Why didn't he call? Maybe something happened to him. I'm going to lay into him when he walks through the door," I said to myself, while pacing back and forth and peering out the window for evidence of his truck. Then, I thought, "Stay out of it. He's married now. This is between him and his wife. He's not your little boy anymore, but a grown man with a wife and kids. If you must, you can have your say later after his wife and when you are alone with him," I said to calm the anger that he'd rather be out drinking than to be home with his family for Halloween.
It was well after one o'clock in the morning when I heard him out front. Relieved, I knew it was him, as soon as he pulled up to the house. Only, when he hit the curb with his front tire, slammed his door twice to close it, dropped his keys, and swore, I knew he was drunk.
"Fuck! Where's my keys? Where the Hell are they? There they are. Just my luck, it figures they'd fall in the only freakin' puddle on the street."
He was lucky he hadn't killed himself and/or someone else. He was lucky he hadn't been stopped, arrested, and thrown in jail. In this day and age of public awareness and public outcry, akin to being an outcast from having leprosy during the Middle Ages or AIDS in the eighties or being a registered sex offender, driving drunk today was only asking for trouble. With a drunken driving conviction that follows you around the rest of your life, no one likes a drunk, especially a drunk driver. Only, thinking that it was only bizarre bad behavior, I didn't know that this had recently become his regular routine. Going out to the bar, hanging out with the guys, and coming home drunk, changed him from a good boy to a bad man. He didn't know, yet, that his wife, my daughter-in-law, Patricia, had asked me to stay with them over the Halloween holiday weekend.
"Surprise! Happy Birthday, Joey," I thought I'd greet him at the door, but I didn't say a word. Not wanting to awaken Patty and/or the kids, I was angry with him that he had disappointed his children and upset his wife. I just let him fumble and stumble himself inside.
Now, I understood what was happening between them and the reason why she asked me to come so soon for another visit. Maybe the reason she asked me to stay longer had less to do with helping out with the kids and more to do with helping her out with Joey. He was a mess. Neglecting his family obligations and drinking to an excess, he was out of control. Now, unable to even fend for himself, in the drunken condition and weakened state he was in, he needed more tender loving care than his 2-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son.
Because he was my son and because I loved him, I still was biased in his favor, figuring that Patty was the reason why Joey started drinking. Maybe, after the birth of the children and with her being tired from caring for them and cooking and cleaning, they weren't intimate anymore. It still amazed me how someone who was only 25-years-old could have such a problem with alcohol. When did he suddenly start drinking? Why did he suddenly start drinking? He didn't drink before he was married. I don't remember him ever having a drink when he lived with me. After having lived with and survived his drunken father, I wouldn't even allow alcohol in the house.
Yet, a telltale sign, even when the economy was good, he couldn't keep a job. Another telltale sign that he had a serious problem with alcohol, even when he finally admitted that he was an alcoholic and attended regular AA meetings, Patty confessed that he still couldn't stop drinking. A closet drunk, he had somehow hidden his drinking from me. It's a disease. His father had it and now he has it.
"He'd rather celebrate his birthday with his drunken friends, instead of with his family. That's where he is, in the bar with his friends getting drunk again," said Patty. "He'd rather drink and get drunk than to see his children in costume and take them trick or treating."
I could see in her eyes that she not only had already given up on him but also, by the late night telephone calls she received, that she had the interest and the attention of someone else. They lived in a small house with small rooms and she didn't think that I could hear her behind her closed bedroom door whispering her secret, sexual desire for someone else, but I could.
"Do you really like my tits? Tell me, what do you like about my breasts? Well, I really like your cock and if you were here now, what I'd do is..."
I figured she was having an affair with a co-worker or a customer. I didn't blame her. How could I for what she's already been through with Joey not working, not looking for work, not helping out with the kids, and getting drunk?