Sex & Drugs & Dungeons & Dragons

F5. Words of Poison

Tony had come out to his friends as they drove home, encouraged enough by Griffin and Hope's reaction the night before to reveal his sexuality to the rest of his friends. As it turned out, they didn't seem to care. But Tony knew his mother and father wouldn't be equally understanding. "Whatever you do," he made them promise, as they idled outside of his house, "keep this between us. I'm in enough trouble already for taking off while grounded. If they find out I'm gay they'll probably kick me out of the house."

"I'm sure they won't kick you out of the house," said Griffin re-assuringly. "I mean, you're their only kid, right?"

But Derek was more cautious. He could only imagine how his father would react if he were gay. "I don't know, man. Parental units can be strange."

"You want us to come in with you, help explain why you ditched?" Cobi offered.

"No, thanks, that might make things worse." He hesitated and then added: "But you mind hanging out here for a bit? Just in case they do kick me out?"

"Yeah of course," Cobi replied, and the others nodded their agreement.

Tony closed the car door behind him and started walking toward his front stoop like he was walking toward his own execution. He knew his parents would be livid; he just didn't know how they'd choose to punish him. He took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

A man and a woman were in the two big living room chairs, waiting up for him just as he'd expected. The woman was his mother. But the man wasn't his father.

He was Dr. Buford. He sat with his hands steepled before him, a sickening smile plastered to his face. "Good evening, Tony."

"What the hell is he doing here?" Tony demanded of his mother, his emotions immediately transforming from trepidation to anger.

"Where have you been?!" his mother barked back, equally angry. "You were grounded!"

Dr. Buford held out the palm of his hand, signaling to Mrs. Kim to try and remain calm. "This isn't about blame, Mrs. Kim." Dr. Buford reminded her. "It's not about anger; it's not about discipline or punishment."

Tony's mother closed her eyes and nodded, visibly working to calm down.

"You never answered my question," Tony spit, venom in his voice. "Why the hell are you here?"

"I'm here because your mother and father asked me to be here," Dr. Buford calmly replied. "They wanted my help."

"They don't need your fucking help," Tony insisted.

"Apparently they do," Dr. Buford explained to Tony. "They've never seen you act out like this before; they've never seen you so willfully disobey. Your mother called me because she didn't know what else to do. You're even more out of control than when I first met you."

"I'm not out of control," Tony growled.

"You don't listen! You don't do what you we tell you!" Mrs. Kim lamented.

"Because you're completely unreasonable!" Tony challenged back.

"Are you on drugs, Tony?" Dr. Buford somehow made the question sound less like an accusation and more like sympathy.

"Of course not!" Tony denied, even though he still hadn't completely come down and could still feel the last of the LSD tickling the back of his mind.

"Of course not," Dr. Buford echoed, nodding. "All right, Tony, I believe you," yet the tone of his voice said he didn't believe Tony at all. "But I'm not sure your mother believes you. So how about you prove it to her?"

"I can't prove it," Tony sneered, "how can anyone prove they're not on drugs?"

"With this," Dr. Buford said, placing a sealed plastic cup on the coffee table. "You could take a urine test."

"Seriously dude?" Tony mocked. "You carry a piss cup around in your jacket pocket?"

Dr. Buford stared Tony right in the eye. "This isn't my first rodeo."

Check and mate, Tony realized with sudden horror. Dr. Buford had just played him like a violin. "Fuck you, I don't have to prove anything," Tony lashed out, knowing full well a urine test would detect the residual LSD still in his system. He turned his anger toward his mother. "This guy's a total fraud, Mom, why do you even listen to him?"

"Because me and your father, we can't control you anymore," Mrs. Kim answered honestly. "We're afraid you might hurt yourself. But Dr. Buford can help you. He's helped other people just like you."

"I have a sort of treatement center," Dr. Buford told Tony. "A comfortable place, private, where you can meet other kids going through the same things you're going through."

"I doubt it," Tony sneered.

"I think you'd be surprised," Dr. Buford assured him.

"You could leave tonight," Tony's mother encouraged. "I've already packed your things." Tony saw there were tears in her eyes. "Please, Tony, I'm worried."

"You packed my things? Where?" Tony asked.

"On your bed," Tony's Mom replied, suddenly hopeful.

Tony turned and marched up the stairs. Sure enough, a packed duffel bag sat on his bed. He threw the strap over his shoulder and came back downstairs.

Dr. Buford stood up as Tony returned, hands outstretched as if greeting the prodigal son. "You're making the right decision, Tony," he said. "You won't regret this."

But Tony shouldered his way right past Dr. Buford. "Fuck you I'm not going anywhere with you." He paused at the door. "And when I come back tomorrow," Tony warned his mother, "That asshole better be gone. Because it's either him or me." Tony stepped outside and slammed the door behind him.

"Oh my God," Tony's mother exclaimed, actually speaking to the sky, speaking to God. "What have I done?"

"You haven't done anything wrong," Dr. Buford assured her. "It's not your fault he's turned against you."

"Turned against me?" she repeated with horror.

Dr. Buford solemnly nodded. "It happens all the time: one of the first symptoms of addiction. Nothing matters to him anymore, nothing but getting his next fix."

"You think it's true, then, that he's addicted to drugs?"

This time Dr. Buford shook his head. "Even worse," he told her.

Mrs. Kim buried her face in her hands in despair.

"Don't worry," Dr. Buford reassured her. "I can still help him."

"But how?" she asked in despair. "He won't go!"

"They seldom go willingly. As his guardian, it's your responsibility to decide for him that he's going. If you give us your permission, we can treat him regardless of his own preference."