It’s never good when you get a phone call from a friend asking you to find a local rehab; it’s worse when it’s someone you know who needs the help. Halloween night I participated in an intervention that nearly didn’t happen. That we found our friend at all is a testament to God; every step of the way doors opened, both figuratively and literally. Most of the details will be left out of the following story to protect all of us involved.
The story is that our friend (we’ll call him Bob) allegedly stole some money from his family and was recently in trouble for underage possession of alcohol. He left his parents’ home and for the last week he stayed with whoever would let him use the couch. Three of us spent nearly four hours attempting to locate Bob. We followed our leads and interviewed his friends (most of whom were not helpful). At one point, I interviewed two individuals who were closer to Bob. It turned out one guy (how about Dan?) had been driving Bob’s car for the better part of the week, and the other (dressed as Heath Ledger’s Joker), rented the apartment Bob was staying at. In our conversation I mentioned that they were “possibly harboring a fugitive” and that “if I don’t lay eyes on Bob by the end of the night, police will be involved.” I was out of the mall with keys to Bob’s car and an address to find him in less than twenty minutes. Eventually we found Bob, and there was intervention. Bob went home with his mother and step-father, and promised not to continue down his path to destruction.
Bob is responsible for his own actions, but I can’t help but think how appropriate it is that I met the Joker in the rundown. Joker rented the apartment where Bob and Dan were both staying. Joker was quick to aid the downfall of Bob, and just as quick to give him over when confronted with the downside of keeping him around. Both of Bob’s friends bailed on him. They handed his keys over to a complete stranger and told me where to find him. They sold him out to cover their own butts. But Bob thinks these guys are his friends. They’re the ones who “took care of me last night when I was sick.”
“I just don’t care anymore.” Those are the words that will last with me forever. And as Bob said that, I remembered the words of The Joker in The Dark Knight.
“Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It’s fair.”
We’ll see.
by Joe Kennedy
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