A Night in the ER

Well, I’m not in a better mood. I spent the night in the hospital with my son. A “friend” of his since third grade got cut off from the money last month. Zach refused to overdraw his account to give him more money, so the boy started harassing Zach, Megan and me. Zach was ready to cut things off, and against the pit in my stomach, I agreed that he could go tell this boy that it was time to break ties.

So the group of boys that were there decided to get Zach drunk. I’m sure what they though is that if Zach got drunk enough he would divulge his PIN. What they did is get Zach to drink enough vodka fast enough that he passed out. They were in the boy’s mother’s car (she bought the vodka for them) when a police officer pulled them over because the taillights were out in the car. That was when he saw Zach in the back of the car passed out and throwing up. He then called an ambulance. I wonder if he hadn’t pulled them over what they would have done. Would they have taken him to the hospital? I have a feeling the little cowards were planning to dump him somewhere. Of course, they got his wallet.

His blood alcohol level was .28 something. They told me that .4 is death. Tomorrow I’m taking Zach to the police station to get a protection order. He finally sees that this boy isn’t actually his friend, and that he is actually in danger when with him. I hope that lasts.

Because of his autism, he has a hard time making and keeping friends. This boy was always calling and coming around, and the fact that Zach had money was probably why. He managed to steal at least $400 from him in the past six months. None of it was provable, which irked me to no end. Even though I was constantly trying to explain to Zach that the boy was the only person who could and would have done it, Zach was so resistant to believing it. He needed a friend. Maybe on some level, he thought it was worth the loss of the money.

The war isn’t over, but this battle is won. I am going to work every possible angle to make sure this break is permanent. Zach is tired of not having any money, even though he has a job and works hard. He is disillusioned with the boy for lying to the police (he said he found Zach wandering around drunk like that and was taking him to the hospital).

I do know I won’t be complaining about boring Saturday nights at home alone for a while. I also know Zach won’t be drinking again for a while. Hang-overs suck. I keep having really dark thoughts about things I can do that would put that boy in prison. He makes it so easy. Too easy. I’m not the kind of person to hound someone to make sure they go to jail, but I’m protecting my kid here. My mommy hairs are standing on end, my teeth are bared, and my claws are sharpened. I won’t be losing this war.