Jack - A Story of Addiction

Bill maneuvered his truck into a tight spot in front of one of his favorite bars. It was a quiet Sunday morning and Bill wasn’t planning on drinking, but he passed by the bar and figured stopping by for a pint was the right thing to do. Bill didn’t drink often on Sundays. Well, he did, but as a rule of thumb he tried not to. However, if Bill had a reason to drink, he wasn’t going to pass it up. On this Sunday morning, Bill’s reason was that he happened to drive by Joe’s Corner Bar, which was as good a reason as any.

Bill entered the cool darkness of the bar and made his way over to his usual spot at the far corner of the horseshoe-shaped paradise. Bill liked this bar because it reminded him of the bar in one of his favorite songs, Piano Man. John, the bartender, gave Bill a long, genuine nod, the kind of nod only old friends can share. Bill returned the nod with a motion for a pint, and the man returned with a smirk and a turn towards the draft. The bartender handed Bill a frothy glass and told Bill to enjoy it. In a single gulp, Bill downed the glass- but he damn well did enjoy it.

Bill asked John for another and then turned his focus towards the video poker game flashing so teasingly on the counter directly before him. He put $10 into the machine and went to town on his second beer. Bill didn’t consider himself a gambler- he could stop whenever he wanted. But Bill really liked to gamble. It was a source of entertainment. Win or lose, the entertainment provided by this poker game was worth the $10 he put in, and winning just happened to be an added bonus on top of it.

Well, this $10 of entertainment ran short. By the time the second beer had disappeared, so had his initial deposit. Bill wanted more excitement still, so he put in $20 more and paired his poker with a third pint. After a few hands, Bill got lucky and turned his $20 into $50. He celebrated the big win by finishing his pint and ordering another. And he rode that $50 for quite some time but eventually that $50 went dry and his glass went empty so he put in some more money and ordered some more beer. But Bill was upset he lost his $50 so he finished his beer with a sense of urgency and ordered another and deposited some more cash into the machine with a new determination to win.

But by either lack of luck or lack of skill Bill just wasn’t winning so he drank his pint and got himself another and he put some more money in the machine and it wasn’t that much fun anymore but now he had to win. Bill took a nice, long drink of his beer to help him clear his mind and focus in on the task at hand and for a while Bill was doing alright and he sipped on the rest of this most recent beer and for a while he was doing alright and he wasn’t winning too much but he was winning just a little more than he was losing and if he just kept up this rate for some time longer maybe he would win some money back by the end of the day.

Bill’s steady climb up persisted through the rest of his glass and by the time his beer was gone he was only a few dollars lower than when he started so as a bit of a reward for a job well done Bill got himself another beer and by the time that beer arrived he was dead even, not down a single cent on the machine, so he slammed down that beer in celebration and ordered another one and he told the bartender about his feats so the bartender gave him this one on the house and another one to go along with that and since Bill had two beers at once he figured the only course of action was to down the first and sip on the next so he did just that and he even shared a laugh with the man behind the bar which was not something Bill did too often nowadays.

So Bill kept at his poker game and he was up a considerable amount so he withdrew the profit to pay for his beers and tip John the rest and kept playing with what was left over and he kept winning bit by bit and kept sipping on his beer and Bill was feeling alright for the first time in quite some time and for the first time in quite some time Bill looked at the scene around him.

Bill noticed a calm old man sitting to his right and Bill finished his beer and ordered another and ordered another for the man to his right because Bill was feeling decent enough so he got the gentleman a beer and they shared a few laughs and they shared about themselves and the man was a veteran and a widow and that’s why he drank but he was doing better than he used to, he joined a bowling league and he went hiking on Wednesdays and that made Bill think that it’s nice that a fellow can keep himself happy and for that Bill smiled and took a drink too.

But the man had to go so Bill finished his beer and returned to his game and he started to lose so he wanted a drink so he called for a beer and continued to play but now his money was draining faster than his glass which was not too fun for Bill to watch and his good mood was waning with his beer and his money and before he knew it his beer was gone and his money was gone and his morale was defeated.

But Bill wasn’t a quitter so he stuffed in some more cash and drank some more beer and his losing streak stayed, unwavering, unlike his beer or his head and before he knew it that cash was gone too so he finished his beer and called for another and reached in his wallet and pulled out his last bill and he looked at the bartender and told him this was his time and for once in his life Bill was actually right- when the bartender came with Bill’s beer Bill shrieked out in joy for he had just won big- a straight flush to be exact- and with that single hand he had repaid all his debts for the day and to add to the celebration John put the beer on the house and since he had won Bill was ready to quit but he didn’t want to be rude and ignore a free beer so he sipped on it and played just a little but before he knew it his winning money, the fruits of his labors, was fading and fading fast.

By the time only a little beer was left the machine was no longer letting Bill play and he blinked a few times and wiped his face because surely that wasn’t the case but he looked again at the game and it really was- Bill’s money was gone and he didn’t have more and he didn’t know where because he had a bad losing streak after his big win but he hadn’t played that many hands so how could he have already lost all his money in the course of one beer?

But reality began to set in and Bill came to the conclusion that with no money left his time to leave had come so he finished his last sips and nodded to the bartender and took his leave and headed back for his truck and he knew he wasn’t in the proper state to drive but it was a goddamn Sunday, the cops wouldn’t be looking to bust a drunk driver because who even drinks on Sundays? Bill drinks on Sundays but he tries not to even though most Sundays lately it seems like he ends up in some similar predicament.

Part two: https://steemit.com/writing/@jeffthebaker/jack-a-story-of-addiction-cont