Ralph...

I awoke last night at 1am to the sound of an army entering my house.. or at least what sounded like one. In my sleepy fog, I tried to get a grasp on what I was hearing. It became quite clear when I heard the ever so lovely sound of someone dry heaving. Nice. As I got out of bed, I heard the voices.. "man, are you ok?".. "drink some water".. I already knew what was coming next. Finding my nephew in his room, practically passed out with the trash can propped up next to him. He groaned when he opened his eyes briefly and saw me, then continuously stated what an idiot he was. I didn't disagree. One of his two friends who had brought him home, and insisted that they were sober, took me aside and had the kahunas to tell me that I should wait til the morning to deal with him because he was going through enough at that point. Well no shit, I knew that getting in his face at that point wasn't going to do a damn thing, but I didn't need some punk telling me that!!
I can sympathize with them wanting to experiment. I knew that he was going to do it at some point. I guess I was being naive thinking that because he was involved with his church youth group he wasn't doing such things. I only get upset because of how afraid I am of him being like his father. His dad is a hopeless drunk, and just an all around pathetic person. I know some of the genes in my nephew are working against him, and he needs to be careful.
I can't imagine what his college experience is going to be like (oh yea, he got back in.. thanks to the wonderful letter my brother in law wrote in his absence) I think that everything my nephew has endured in his young life is going to make him a prime target for wanting to fit in, and feel accepted, therefore being totally vulnerable to peer pressure. I wanted to know all the details.. like where he got the alcohol (they were drinking screwdrivers) and how many times he's drank in the past. Of course he wouldn't tell me who got them the booze, I didn't expect he would give up his friends.. considering that my mother told him that she was going to call the cops and report them.. she's not exactly subtle. He told me that he drinks every couple of months and has been since his last quarter of his senior year.. Um, that was only a couple of months ago.. ugh.. whatever. I wasn't planning on him telling me the truth, but I thought he would be a bit more creative with his lying..
So, he's been grounded for a week, I took away his phone, and he can't go on the computer. He had to be at work for 7 the next day, I made him go, and drove him in (I think he may have still been a little drunk..) He got out early- told his boss that he might have mono (he's got a lot to learn!!) I had my mother go pick him up.. nothing like a big dose of HER with a hangover! He spent the rest of the morning with a bucket..puking. He said he learned his lesson.. which is probably not to come home on nights he's drinking.. you ALWAYS stay at a friends house.. jeez!