Jim just couldn't find it in himself to enter the living room. The music was going and the sounds of young adults making poor decisions and laughing and talking about it had been going for about an hour at this point, but Jim hadn't been able to leave the side of his pool. He sipped at his third whiskey of the evening, already feeling the warmth and sloppiness of the effects of the stout beverage. It did little to calm his anxiety though, as he knew that whatever was going on in the house would eventually find its way into the general discussion of his family in their community.

It's...