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[[Non Journal Entry]]
Joseph stirred from a light doze on his new couch by the dull vibrations of his phone against the nearby wooden table. He fumbled at first - consciousness still foreign to him - but eventually he was awake enough for his fingers to close on the offending object.
“‘ello?”
“Joseph?”
Instantly consciousness hit him like a cold splash of water in the face. “Becky?” There was a slight pause and Joseph used the time to rub at his eyes and hair before swinging his legs around and flattening the soles of his feet against the ground. “What’s up?” Becky never called unless there was something going on and with a boy like hers there was always something going on.
“It’s Ben,” she answered, voice pitched low. “I think he’s in trouble.”
Joseph had been wondering how long he’d be in Vegas before he got a panicked call from Becky hot on the heels of his boy’s stupidity. “What kind of trouble?”
Becky took a shaky breath. “He got into drugs, Joseph. Cocaine, that kind of thing. Told me that he could make a fortune out of it, wouldn’t listen to me when I told him he should just stay away from it and focus on his education.”
Well, this sounded stupid.
Joseph lit a cigarette and let it hang from his fingers as he coaxed Becky to keep going; keep telling him what had been happening in his absence. “He started snorting more and more of what he should have been buying and before long he was deep in debt.”
“How far has it gotten?” Joseph asked, being clinical with questions because he needed to know how serious the situation was and what measures the men her son had been working for had gone to in order to get their money back.
“They broke the fingers on his right hand and when that didn’t work they broke his leg.”
Joseph nodded, inhaling smoke and exhaling it only when he needed to ask something. “And you’re calling me because he hasn’t been home in a couple of days?” That was usually the way, Ben disappeared and Becky called Joseph to track and drag his sorry ass home.
Becky’s voice broke as she tried to answer Joseph and it took her a couple seconds to find it all over again. “I haven’t seen him in three days, Joseph. And I can’t find him anywhere, he isn’t answering his phone. It’s not like him, usually he’s good at keeping in touch.”
“Do I even want to know how much he’s in deep for?” Joseph trailed through to his bedroom, rifling through his drawers for a shirt to wear.
“It’s too much.”
“So it isn’t something I can make back on the Casino floor?” And Joseph would if he could. Becky had been one of the few people that had helped him out way back when he first came to Vegas and Joseph didn’t forget things like that.
Becky gave a soft brittle laugh. “I wish, Joseph. I wish.” She paused for a moment. “Just find him for me, please? I… I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to him, I really don’t.”
Joseph flicked ash aside and shook his head. “It’s not going to happen, Becky. You know me I always bring him home. This time won’t be any different.”
“Promise?”
“I promise,” Joseph answered. “Now you get on with whatever it is you need to do and I’ll be in touch.” Joseph ended the call and finished buttoning up his shirt, taking the last drag of his cigarette before starting a new call. “Hey, it’s me. I need the usuals.” He nodded his head, scribbling a few notes of the place and time on the palm of his hand. “I’ll see you there.”
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