A "Son of Bigfoot" StoryAll of a sudden there was a knock at the door of James and Sally’s Syracuse apartment. Sally opened the door and saw Ryan.
“Hello Ryan!” Sally said jumping up and down in joy.
“Hey, I hope you don’t mind us coming a little early to set up,”
Ryan told them not caring for an answer.
“That is fine. Jess already left for Turning Stone,” Sally muttered with her had hung low like it was her fault. As the crew set up for the show, Sally and James went on with their normal morning activities. Once they were all set up, the show was ready to start.
The cameraman started his countdown, “Five, Four, Three, Two, One. ACTION!”
“Hello, welcome to Addiction on MBA TV. As you know my name is Ryan, and I am with the parents of Jess Rodriguez who has a gambling addiction and is an alcoholic!” Ryan told the whole world who would watch this show on June 16, 2010. That’s if they could finish editing by then. “So James and Sally tell me about your daughter, Jess.”
“Jess has a bad gambling addiction and is an alcoholic. She can’t keep a job for very long. Jess is twenty-three and has had ten jobs since her eighteenth birthday when she started gambling. Right now she is a waitress at a bar, but may lose that job too!” Sally said bursting into tears.
“It’s okay Sally,” James said comforting, “Please stop the cameras.”
There was a long pause while Sally tried to regain her composure. Once Sally stopped the waterfall of tears, she said, “Start the cameras, I’m ready. So Jess is living with us because her paycheck all goes to gambling and drinking. The cost of supporting her and sending her to rehab five times has lead to the loss of our home of thirty years. It has been so bad that our dog
Bubbles had to get a job as a commercial actor, however, she just gambles that money away too.”
“WOW!!!!!” Ryan said astonished, “Well let’s go to the hidden cameras that will show us what Jess is doing. Remember it’s only 9:30 in the morning.” As they switched over to the cameras, they immediately saw Jess. She was outside the casino in the breakfast area with a drink and her dog that wasn’t allowed inside. The drink she had was a mix of orange juice and vodka.
“James how are you feeling?” asked Ryan.
“I had no clue that my daughter started drinking this early. This girl is nothing like my little Jess.
Where did I go wrong raising my only child?” James muttered in tears.
“Well let’s go back to the cameras,” Ryan said trying to sound happy even though the whole atmosphere of the room was sad and gloomy. When they returned to the cameras, Jess was playing slot machines. She spent her last one hundred dollars from last week’s paycheck and what little money she earned from gambling.
“Holy Cow!!!!! I better get to work, the bar opens at two and I’ve got to get ready!” Jess hollered to no one in particular which made some heads turn. Jess got in her car, which was barley running and the only place without cameras. First she dropped her dog off at work, which also had an overnight kennel. When Jess arrived at work at 11:00 A.M., she had to set the tables, put the liquor and beer in the fridge, and then she got her uniform on and waited on the customers.
It was 5:30 on Friday, and a lot of men and a few women started to pile into the bar. A little after 6:30, she already had had so much to drink, she passed out. When she woke around 9:30, all she saw was her manager’s angry face and a few curious customers who wanted to see what would happen next.
“Hello, I see you passed out again!” her manager shouted really ticked off, “Here is your paycheck and by the way… YOU’RE FIRED!!!!!” This shocked and scared away a few diehard bar goers who were still there.
“I don’t care, at least I can go gambling!” Jess fired back at him.
“How are you feeling? Seeing all that on camera”” Ryan said realizing how much of a wreak she was.
“I never knew that her problems were this bad,” James muttered sliding even further into the couch cushion.
“Well let’s see what Jess is up to at Turning Stone now that she has cash.” Ryan said trying to be enthusiastic even though the room felt so gloomy. As they switched over to the casino cameras, they saw Jess ordering a room in the towers.
Jess asked the clerk behind the desk, “What is the cheapest hotel room?”
“Right now you can get a free room because you spent so much money gambling!” the clerk muttered because she did the same thing every Friday night.
“Does she usually do this?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah, then she comes back around noon on Saturday,” Sally whispered with a embarrassed look on her face.
“Okay back to the cameras,” Ryan said dropping his jaw when he realized how out of line Jess was. When they went back to the cameras, they all saw Jess betting two hundred dollars on a blackjack game and losing it all. Then she walked over to a poker table and bet her last three hundred dollars on one hand. Luckily she won an amazing five hundred dollars! At midnight when Jess spent all her money on excessive gambling and was nearly unconscious from excessive drinking, she stumbled over to her hotel room. Once she hit the bed, she passed out.
“How are feeling Sally?” Ryan asked imagining her pain.
“HORRIBLE!!!!!” Sally shouted while the waterfall of tears started up. After they finished taping, they planned Jess’ surprise. James and Sally wrote what they would say to Jess to try to persuade her to go to rehab. They then picked out a rehab center. It took thirty minutes to decide. They choose the Syracuse Brick House because they had heard good things about it, and it was near to their house. After this they decided to go to bed because it had been a long day. They were all up at eight in the morning on May 5, 2010 and it was now two in the morning on May 6, 2010. They were going to stop at ten and continue on another day, but once Jess was fired they all knew it would be a long time before she got another job and money, so they decided to finish taping that night.
Jess came back to life at ten the next morning when the effects of the alcohol wore off. Jess then went through her purse and found one hundred dollars, which she had won last night, but was too drunk to realize. She got a sudden burst of energy. She packed up, and checked out, so she wouldn’t get charged for late checkout. Once this was done, it was eleven, so she went and spent her last one hundred dollars in slot machines. She won no extra money, so she packed up and went home.
Sally and James woke up at ten and saw the camera crew already set up for the surprise. James and Sally went on with their normal morning duties, fixing breakfast and getting dressed. They were ready at eleven and the family and Ryan went over the surprise one more time.
When Sally heard the car door close, she shaking violently not knowing how Jess would react. When the slow screeching sound of their old doorknob rang through the house, James started sweating like an obese pig on a treadmill. Then the moment they all had been waiting for… Jess walked inside.
Jess screamed in a high pitched voice, “WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE!!!!!”
Sally pleaded and succeeded, “Please sit down honey.”
Then Ryan threw down the facts, “Okay, Jess you need to get help. Please listen to your parents and then decide if you want to go rehab.”
“Jess, you need to get help and here is your opportunity. You have caused all your loved ones problems. You can’t keep a job, you still live with your parents, and you have no friends or money. Not to mention all the horrible things you have done to us. You have caused us to lose out home of thirty years, the place you grew up in, you sent us into bankruptcy, and ruined our credit so we can’t buy a nice car or a nice home. We want to help you, but we can’t anymore!”
Sally said bursting into tears.
James then said his part while crying, “Honey, please get help or you can’t live with us, and we will not give you any money.
This all made Jess a little sorry for what she had done, but unlike her parents she was able to stay strong.
“So what do you say?” Ryan asked dying to know, “Do you want to go to rehab? The rehab center is the Syracuse Brick House, so it’s close to home also.”
Jess gave a quick and right to the point answer, “NO!”
