Page 59 of Hesi-Dating
"Yeah," he muttered. "Dumb plan."
"You’ve been straight for two years. You swore you’d never do it again. What happened?"
Bruno held up two fingers.
Marino glared at him.
"There was this girl who conned me into placing a bet. We had a few drinks, and I don’t remember what happened very well."
"What happened to the rule that you have one tequila and you text one of us? Or even one thought of drinking tequila and you text us?"
"I’m sorry. I thought I could handle it. I know I messed up. I’m not asking you to pay. I just… I don’t know what to do. I was conned. There was a pimp who wanted me in deep. I can put the bit I make down at the computer store fixing things toward it. Maybe I can take on more hours?"
"Your job is barely above minimum wage, although more hours would be great. Balancing the fact you’ll still need to pay for gas and some food, it’ll take you a decade to pay it off. Is this loan shark okay with that?"
He shook his head. "He wants his money now."
"I can take on another job to help out," I offered. This might give me the out I desperately needed to officially quit school.
"I love the thought, but you’re overwhelmed already." Amber shook her head. "I want you to focus on school."
Damn.
"I can do more work outside school," Bruno offered. He was such a giver, but law school wasn’t a picnic.
Amber said, "I want both you and Joley to graduate next spring so you can both get jobs that support you. Maybe enough to even get your own places, although you know you’re welcome here as long as you want."
"I could sell my car," Marino offered.
"You could. That clunker might get you a few hundred if you’re lucky," Amber said. If Marino sold it, he'd have to use the bus or get a ride from one of us. He could build a computer from scrap parts, but schedules and maps confused him. We bonded over our issues reading. He had been diagnosed with high functioning dyslexia such that he could read pretty well but still couldn't handle some things. Yet, like me, he never got professional help. Marino just adapted.
Amber compressed her lips. "Let’s not sell your car right now. That’s a backup plan. I’m the one in the best position to leverage more money. Doing so will involve more TV time, but I can handle it for a while. If I help you, you’ll pay me back over five years this time. If you don’t. If you miss one payment…" She held up one finger. "I’ll sell your Pokémon collection to raise the funds." Marino adored his cards. He had them all organized in binders and some in cases.
"Not my cards." He paled and almost looked green.
"I also want you to start going to Gamblers Anonymous meetings every week again. One of us will drive you there. We’ll sit in the car if we have to the entire time to make sure you stay. I want to hear step one right now."
"Amber…"
"Say it out loud, please."
He dropped his head. "I am powerless to my addiction. My life has become unmanageable."
I wrapped an arm around Marino's back and hugged him.
Amber reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "We love you. We just want you safe and not wrapped up in stuff like this. I don’t want you to end up in jail or, God forbid, one of the loan sharks sends someone to kill you. Does anyone want to hear how my day went sideways?"
Red flags went up. Amber was about to admit to a bad day? She never complained unless it had to do with the reality TV show filmed at her clinic. We were all well aware of how much she despised being on camera.
"They asked me to go full time on camera at work and sometimes when not at work, although I’m going to make sure you three are stricken from any camera appearance. We can’t handle that. Kind of convenient since the extra money they offered will pay this debt."
"You on camera all the time isn’t that bad," Marino said, "It’s kind of cool living with a celebrity."
"Oh, it gets worse." Amber rolled her eyes heavenward. "I must be nice to someone I don’t like—a vet I went to school with—to boost the show’s ratings."
"Who?" Marino and Bruno said at once.
"Is he hot?" I asked. "That would make it easier."
