It’s Wednesday night and the guys are all coming over after work for dinner. Trystan and I ran to the store over the weekend and got a ton of food to grill because Jack is bringing his wife and kid as well. His son is a bit younger the DJ but enjoys playing baseball as well, so it should be a fun evening.
“DJ, are you done with your homework?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Good, put your stuff away. Trystan will be here any minute, and the rest of the crew will be following right behind him. I want to sit down and talk to you for a minute before they get here.”
“Okay, Mom.” He runs off to his room to do as I asked, and suddenly I’m a bit nervous. I want to have a discussion with him in regards to alcohol and what is happening in case conversation comes up and he hears the adults talking. “What’s up, Mom?”
“As you know Trystan started coaching because he got caught drinking and driving. Well, the night that happened he did it to prevent a friend from driving while intoxicated. This friend is Billy, and he’s one of the guys coming over tonight. He is a nice guy but needs some friends right now, and we’re going to be that for him.” DJ has had plenty of health classes discussing alcoholism, so this should be an easy conversation.
“Is he an alcoholic?” he asks me.
“We believe he is, and Trystan and the rest of the guys have been working hard to help him stop drinking. There will be no alcohol served tonight and that’s why. We want him and everyone else to have fun so he can see there’s life outside of drinking. That said, you are to say nothing to the man about his drinking problem. I just want you to know that Trystan doesn’t have a problem and is just trying to help him out. Just be yourself and have fun.”
“I think alcohol is bad. I don’t think I ever want to try it, Mom.”
“I like you thinking that way, bud. I just want you to be prepared in case conversation comes up and you’re around.”
“Okay.”
There’s a knock at the door, and I know it must be Trystan. “Why don’t you go let Trystan in?”
He nods and runs off to do as I asked. A minute later, DJ, Trystan, and Billy come walking into the kitchen. Billy looks a tad better than the other day, but I can tell he’s still struggling. “Billy, it’s good to see you again.” I give him a hug, and he thanks me for having him over. Trystan gives me a kiss and tells me that Rick and Jack will be here any minute and that he told Rick he could bring the girl he’s dating. Sure enough, the doorbell rings. Trystan and I answer together. There standing on the porch is Jack with his wife and son. “Hey, guys.” Trystan opens the door. “Jack this is Stella. Stella this is Jack and his wife Rachael.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, welcome.” I shake hands with her.
“And what is your name?” I squat down in front of the shy little boy before me.
The little boy buries his face in his father’s legs. Jack scoops him up and says, “This little tyke is Jack Jr., but we call him JJ.”
“Do you know my son’s name is DJ because he’s a junior too.” The little boy shakes his head. “Come on, we can all head out back and JJ. can run around.”
When we get out there, Billy and DJ are already throwing the ball around. Billy still looks depressed, but at least he appears to be enjoying himself a little bit. “Hey, Billy. I need help with my team. What do you say? You think you can find some spare time to volunteer.”
He shrugs and continues to throw the ball around with a slight grin on his face. Jack and Trystan join them playing around with JJ while Rachael and I begin to grill dinner. “Thank you so much for having us,” Rachael says.
“Oh, it’s no problem.”
“This means a lot to Jack. He was quite the mess when he came home the other day and told me what he found in Billy’s apartment.” Conversation like this is exactly why I spoke to DJ ahead of time. He’s old enough to know that if he hears stuff like this he is going to wonder.
“Yeah, when I went there to talk to him with Trystan they had cleaned the place up, but Trystan told me that he was a mess.”
“They have been worried about him for a while, but I guess he did a good job of hiding how bad he’s been hurting because they only recently realized how bad it was.”
“I’ve never experienced alcoholism like that, but I’m sure people who are sick like that figure out how to get what they need. That’s why I was so worried about the guys leaving him, but it seems like he’s doing pretty good.”
“Rick has been staying with him since Jack came home, but Jack says he’s going back to his place tonight until he thinks Billy is strong enough to stay by himself.”
Rick comes walking into the backyard holding hands with a dark-haired woman. “I must be at the right place because I smell food.” He rubs his belly as he climbs the back deck. “Hey, Stella. Thanks for having us.” Rick gives me a hug. “This is my girlfriend, Rhonda. Rhonda, this is Stella and Rachael.”
He kisses Rachael on the cheek before saying hi to the guys and introducing Rhonda to them. They all start playing around, while we three ladies hang on the deck cooking and getting to know each other. This is why I love this house. It isn’t huge but I have enough room to enjoy guests and that’s all I need. The next thing you know, the guys are on the ground and the boys are jumping on top of them.
“Dinner is ready,” I call out.
They all jump up like a group of starving teenagers and run to the table. “Yeah, I don’t think so...go wash up,” Rachael yells at them. They all whine but run into the house to wash their hands. “So gross.” She shakes her head. “I know they’re in construction and probably eat with dirty hands all the time, but really.”
I laugh. “I know. I always make DJ wash his hands before a meal.”
“Mommy, I wash my hands.” JJ holds his hands up to show his mom his wet but clean hands. She laughs and grabs a napkin to dry them.
When the guys get back we all sit to eat. The table is quiet, and I feel like there’s some tension. No one’s sure of what to say, so I set us up with an easy topic. “Thank you guys for helping with the shed build.”
“Oh, you’re welcome. It will be pretty easy to do, and with everyone helping we’ll get it done in a few hours.”
“I want to build teams and have each team work on a part of it,” Trystan says.
“Yeah, like one team build each of the four walls,” Rick suggests.
“Exactly.”
“What do we get to do?” DJ shoves a bite of hamburger into his mouth.
“One of us will lead your team, and you’ll help build the frame for the wall.” Billy shrugs. “Stuff like that.”
“Is that what you do every day?” DJ asks Billy.
“Something like that. We’re hired to do all sorts of stuff, but you’ll see some of it when you help us with the shed. We build walls, floors, we install cabinets, and sometimes we build decks.” The rough sound he had in his voice the other day is starting to clear.
The rest of dinner goes smoothly. While the guys are playing tag and dodgeball in the yard, Rachael, Rhonda, and I clean up from dinner. When we’re done, we sit and watch the guys messing around but suddenly everything stops and I see the three guys talking while DJ and JJ continue to play. I can’t help but wonder what they’re discussing, but I have an idea when Billy comes over. “I want to thank you for dinner tonight. It was nice to have somewhere to go.”
“You’re welcome here anytime, Billy.”
“Thank you.” He nods and walks out of the backyard.
Rick, Trystan, and Jack join us at the table. “Is he okay?”
“I think so. I think he has a lot he’s still struggling with, but I think he’ll eventually be okay.”
“How can you tell?” I ask, worried he’ll slip.
“I told him I was buying a breathalyzer test and that if I thought he was drinking I would test him and then bring him to rehab.”
My eyes go wide. “What did he say?”
“We did a lot of talking over the last few days. He told me how much he hated the drinking and that he only did it to forget the pain of losing his family. I told him he needed to honor them by living a normal healthy life and not disrespect them by turning into the town drunk.” He shrugs. “I’m a guy so I’m not that great with words, but he seems to be doing better so I guess I did okay.” The guys all start to laugh at him.
“I’m sure you did fine,” I encourage him.
“It was you who really got through to him. He told me he wanted to be strong like you. He even joked that if a woman could do it, then he could do it.”
“Oh wait till I see him again.” They laugh.
Rhonda takes Ricks hand in support. You can tell it’s been a rough few days.
“Trystan has a saying, ‘Refuse to lose.’ I told him he has to fight. He has to refuse to lose.” Rick chuckles. “I used to bust his balls for it, but really, you can use that line on almost anything, and right now it’s working. I heard him mumbling it in the kitchen yesterday morning.”
“Well I’m glad he’s doing better, and I’m glad I was able to help.” I finish off the last of the water in my bottle.
“Mommy!” JJ calls out and, when we all look over DJ is trying to help him off the ground,I can see he feels really bad.
Rachael and I both go over to see what happened. “I’m really sorry. We were playing with the ball, and I threw it a little too hard.” I know DJ would never intentionally hurt another child, and I can see from Rachael’s expression she knows it too.
“It’s okay, DJ, he’s just tired. He didn’t get a good nap today.” She scoops JJ up off the ground to console him as we walk over to the deck. “Jack, I think it’s time we get going. He’s tired, and clearly I need to give him a bath before bed.”
They’re both standing to leave when Rick fills him in that he promised Billy he could have the place to himself tonight, but if we thought he’s had one drop of alcohol we would be all over him. Jack hugs Rick. “Thanks, man.”
“We’re going to head out as well. Thank you so much for having us over.” Rick and Rhonda stand from the table.
“It’s no problem at all. As a matter of fact, maybe we should do this more often.” I hug both Rachael and Rhonda. “It was nice meeting you ladies.”
They agree, and we say our goodnight.