In 1988 I was busy being addicted to crack. I was living in semi-independent living and was not working. I had these two guys who would get crack for me and in return I smoked most of what I bought for myself with them.
One day I had borrowed my dads 1970 Cadillac and me and these two guys had been partying all afternoon. But night came and we ran out of crack and money. My dad had strong suspicions that I was doing drugs but he didn’t know for sure. He probably knew but he didn’t know the extent of my using. This particular night these guys had a brilliant idea to get money.
I would call my dad up and tell him my car had broken down and the police had my car towed to a private impound lot. My dealer would then get on the phone and pretend that he was the impound operator and he would say that if we slipped him $20.00 he would release my dads car. Then I would get back on and tell my dad I was broke and could he give me the $20.00. I had my doubts about the plan but I called my dad who lived about ten miles away and we tried the story on him and he said yes, he would give me the money.
Now my dad had had a brief run-in with my dealers already a month before when he thought they kidnapped me. But anyway all three of us drove to my dads. We got there and of course we parked a block away because my car had supposedly been towed and we couldn’t let my dad see it. And I walked to where he was staying with a friend. The friend always kept the house dark. My dad was renting a room in the back. So I walked in and I sensed something was wrong by my dads friends demeanor. He answer the door and said ominously, “Your dads waiting for you”. I walked to the back bedroom and knocked.
My dad said “Come in”. I entered and my dad was in his bed sitting up and he had one hand flat on the bed with a washrag covering it. He said, “Sit down”. I sat.“He said, “Are you alone”? I said “Yes”. He said “Good” and uncovered his hand and there was a gun in his hand. He then proceeded to give me the lecture of a lifetime. He told me I was screwing up, that I wrecking my life and his and he didn’t know exactly what was up with me. He said, " If those guys you know would have come in this house with you I would have shot them”. He knew they were hardcore ex-cons. I had no doubts that my dad would have shot them. My dad was a little crazy and violent and I thought he might shoot me.
But he told me I had to stop what I was doing and straighten my life out. He cut right through my bull. He wasn’t joking around. None of it was funny. He was sick and tired of me knocking on neighbors doors to borrow money and wrecking his cars and getting in trouble with the police. He was sick of all my lying and he was sick of all the craziness and all the weird and dangerous people I was hanging around. I listened. I was scared and ashamed and felt lower than dirt. And I was keeping one eye on that gun. He layed it all out on the line and asked me what I had to say for myself. I mumbled apologies and promised him I would straighten out.
Then I got up to leave. He said, “Wait, here’s the twenty bucks”. He had fallen for our ruse!!I I couldn’t believe it and I took the money. But he said, There’s really a junkyard, right"? I said “Yes” and started quickly walking out. He said call me at 10:00 pm tonight when you get home:. I said “OK”. It was about 9:30 pm right then.
I walked down the street to where the car was parked with my two connections and said, “I got the money”. So we drove across town and bought some crack, smoked it and I ended up not getting home until 1:00 am so I thought it was too late to call my dad.
This is how crazy addiction is.