Scott shook his head and put his arm around Karen again. She had stopped crying and was staring off
into space. He wanted to know what his daughter was thinking, but not now. Now was not the time.
“Karen told me a couple of weeks ago that Jake had a problem with drinking. I knew she was right, but I wanted to deny it, so I did. I couldn’t understand how someone so young could already be a drunk.”
Chris flinched at the choice of Scott’s word but continued, “Teenage alcoholism is a huge problem. Kids start drinking as young as eleven, it’s sad,” Chris pauses and touches the tattoo again before continuing. “anonymity of person and story are both important to the alcoholic, but I think it is essential for you to know what Jacob shared with me, considering the circumstances.”
He pauses again; knowing he was about to compromise Jacob’s trust was uncomfortable. The eyes of Scott and his daughter were enough to convince him to continue.
“Jacob started drinking when he was sixteen, just a little at first, a beer now and then. He told me about his mother leaving and how that had bothered him but that wasn’t why he started binge drinking. He blamed his drinking on you, Mr. Kelso.”
Scott shuts his eyes but doesn’t say anything. Without realizing it Karen pulls away from her father.
“Jacob couldn’t believe in the things you do. He wanted to. He wanted to believe in God, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t against your beliefs; he just wasn’t able to hold onto his own. It began to bother him; he knew how important your faith was to you and knew that if you learned of his disbelief you would be hurt, disappointed. He realized that drinking took away the guilt of hurting you. It didn’t take long for the booze to take control. Jacob was a full-fledged alcoholic by his eighteenth birthday.”
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