Sure, the holidays are stressful for some people. And for schizo-boy, this seems to be triply so. His brothers are very hard on him because they don't quite understand the ramifications of their actions despite out desperate attempt to educate them.
So, on the Wednesday before Christmas, we had Christmas at our house for the guys and their family. As conversations progress, I kept a wary eye on how Schizo-boy was doing. And then I saw the change in his eyes and knew that he would come up with an excuse to leave. Sure enough, I was not wrong.
From that moment on, he has become more remote from us. Spending more and more time away from the house. When he does interact with us, I can detect a bit of hysteria in his voice.
One note of interest happened about a week ago. His mom had just unpackaged a large group of picture frames and had them stacked on the kitchen table. He walked by and she pointed them out. He made the comment, with that wild glint in his eyes, that she should fill up the wall in the hall so it could be even scarier! She immediately looked at me with the horror of what we now know is the inevitable outcome.
This last week, a fellow showed up and talked with my wife while Schizo-boy quickly showered. They left in the guy's car. We did not see the boy until late that night. He claimed that he and the other fellow had spent the day at a well known strip club in town. *huh!?!* Anyway! It's very obvious that he has gone back to partaking in harder drugs. One thing about this is that he can't afford them! So, what in the hell is doing to obtain the drugs? (More on this in the next entry.)
This is a very big sign that he is battling the fear and paranoia. He is right on the cusp of having another mental break. So, his mom and I will now spend the next days/weeks preparing ourself for his crash.
oh, one last thing, two days ago, he got up and left the house rather early for him and we didn't see him all day. In the evening, we got snow and ice here. So, I SMS'd him and suggested that he stay where ever he might be for the night. Then yesterday, he finally showed up and he had on completely different clothes. None of them were his. When we asked where he was, he made something up on the spot.
Then he tried to say that he had to leave again and his mom demanded that the car stay parked due to the ice on the roads. He moped out of the living room. About thirty minutes later, I heard the back door quietly open and close. Then, a while later I realized that I never heard it open again! So, I went out and looked around and he was no longer home. (The car was here though.) I came back in and looked at the thermometer. It was 15 degrees outside!
I attempted to SMS him to prompt him to at least let us know that someone had picked him up and he wasn't just out walking around. No reply. So, around 11 pm, I got bundled up and went driving around for a bit just to make sure I didn't see him walking. No sign of him.
I did come across a family that was walking. They had a CHILD! I stopped and asked the guy why he and his family were walking in the 15 degree weather with a child. He replied that they had missed the last public transportation bus and could not afford a taxi to get home. I made them pile into my truck and I took them home. They had already walked over a mile from the train and their apartment was two MORE miles from where I picked them up!
Before I went to bed, I made sure schizo-boy's bedroom door was wide open.
This morning, his door was closed. So, whatever it was that he did, he's home now.
As we go through it, I will keep this blog up to date.
*sigh*
