we must come across as such a horrible family!...and we aren't, honestly!...

Nephew D - cousin's son, he of the phone calls!- is causing trouble again (not that he ever stopped, I guess it was just that he hadn't had the opportunity!)...

cousin got paid the 50% advance from two toy purchase orders, amounting to $2,100...for some strange reason (I really have no idea...I may ask later, but not right now -- you'll see why!)...well, for some strange reason she cashed the check and kept the $$$ at home! ...now, for some even stranger reason, she decided to tell D where she was leaving the money, in case anything happened to her -- maybe she hasn't been feeling well, I don't know, she's overweight and diabetic and, she doesn't exactly take care of herself! --now...I know EVERYONE here knows where this is headed, right?

RIGHT! He stole $300 and spent the whole afternoon binge-drinking with "friends"...he came back dead drunk and with $21 in his pockets...

I'm unlucky enough to have been there 1) when she discovered the theft -- which was obvious, as we HAD to take out the money so she could give me the money for the expenses that I had incurred!...I must say, when she mentioned she had told him, the first thought that crossed my mind was: WHY did you do that??...had to bite my toungue...and 2) when he arrived home!...oh, that was a scene from a bad soap opera!...really...I mean,at some point he said: search me, I don't have $300!...she got so mad she slapped him and he fell on the floor (he could barely stand anyway!) and he just went to sleep and started snoring!...it was just awful!...she had called a friend of hers to come help and, I waited there until he arrived...then I excused myself and left!...
I called her this morning, after coming from the Transport Protectin Division of the police (still trying to get the documents needed for that missing license plate for the company car! -- but that's another story!)...she told me she had called the police and they had come to get him...he was still sleeping when they got him out of the house...he is a minor and they had the mother's permission)...Apparently, he woke up sometime around 2am and tried to call his Uncle T. (cousin's best friend)...he couldn't take the call, he was out of the house, they know from a message in their machine!...

So, anyway, cousin is out $300 MORE ... which would be bad enough already if someone else had done it...but, being her son...Plus, obiously, now she has to 1) face the fact that the boy IS an alcoholic and 2) as a mother, living with putting your son in jail, whether merited or not, must be really difficult....