This is the first time I’ve ever actually had them on my own. It’s a good thing, I think. We’ve had some time to reconnect. The boys know me as Daddy. Their best friend. They can tell me anything. They can ask for anything, and if I say yes, I mean it. Of course I spoiled them a bit.

I went up to pick them up. I got there about 45 minutes early, so I hit my old casino. I made $35 at Blackjack in about 7 minutes. Decided to leave. Went and the boys were just getting there. They were ecstatic to see me.

From there we had to stop at an auto parts store. My check engine light had come on during the trip. I needed to find out if it was anything serious. It wasn’t. But my younger son, Arthur, saw the toys in front of the register. The ones that are marked up anywhere from 60 to 700%. So they talked me out of $4.

From there we went to Cici’s for dinner. Lady had an issue with me giving her a $100 bill. I had an issue with her having an issue, so she just used it, finally, giving me a bit of a dirty look. Weird since they’re pretty close to the casino. Maybe I wasn’t the first one that night. You do need small bills in retail, I understand.

Boys ate three rounds of pizza. They were so psyched. They noticed the arcade. We checked it out. It used tokens. I bought $20 worth, then $10 more. We dominated the wave runner game or whatever it was. Hank was killing it. I was really proud of how fast he picked it up. Arthur gave away like $8 in tokens to the claw machines. He gradually learned how to play, but you really  never win on those. Always cheaper to just buy the item. In any case, we tired of that and hit the road.

We made two stops on the way to my house. The second was a bathroom stop. Arthur decided to take all his clothes off in order to potty. It was a serious poop he needed to lay. So I had to help get redressed while Hank ran the aisles. It was a weird little store, kind of like a bodega. it had three gambling machines. I also have three gambling machines. My guess is that his business is truly gambling, beer, and gas. Anyway I bought an overpriced coffee from him, so he wasn’t mad about the amount of time and energy we spent for everyone to go potty.

Then we got to my town and went to Walmart. The boys immediately talked me into more toys. Arthur had earlier lost his car, so I bought him a pack of cars. We got a garage. Some other stuff. Plus milk and cereal and other things I don’t eat by nature, but they do eat by nature. Then we finally got home. They love their room, they love it here, and they don’t want to leave tomorrow. I explained it won’t be much longer. This will be their home all the time. Along with their younger brother and sister. And we’ll get a dog. Mommy’s just sick right now. She won’t be much longer. Before long she’ll be back in that stage where she is sorry for all the crap she pulled. I look forward to that, but I hope she never relapses again.

Schizophrenia is worse than cheating or drug addiction. Often it includes both. She cheated many times this time around, maybe more than 10 different guys. I really don’t care anymore. It doesn’t matter in the end. I just need my family back together.

So here I am. The boys are still up, but they’re finally winding down. I could do this on my own if I had to.