He Needed Help, I Gave Him None

“He abuses substances.”
“He is a bad guy.”

These are the words I heard on my first day at work.

Months later...

"Art created by Astrid Nazareno".

My cellphone rang at 2 am.
His name appeared on the screen. I wondered if a problem had taken place at work or if I did a mistake. It got me worried so I hurriedly answered the phone and said hello.
The voice from the other line shocked me to my bone.
I could hear him crying and I knew he was drunk. I couldn’t find the words I should say to him. I just couldn’t say anything.

He said,
“I could not take it anymore. It is just so heavy. I know a long time ago that the woman I love so dearly is already married and had a kid. But I just can’t forget her. I love her so much and I want her only.”

I heard him sob. I didn’t say a word because why would I? The man on the other line was drunk calling me about a love that I knew would never be right. He has a kid himself and a partner. It was just so wrong to hear that from him. But hearing someone so broken like that was out of my mental capacity. I couldn’t decide how to react.
Then he ended the call.
In the morning. I saw him at work. He was the usual person I know so I asked nothing about the call.

Months passed and I received no call like that again. Those months were all about our work until one night.

"Art created by Belle Maurice".

A phone call woke me up and his name appeared on my screen once more. I did not even have the chance to say hello when he spoke. His voice was shaking and he was drunk again. I could sense that he was crying. His voice was unsteady and cracked (maybe just like how his heart was).

“I think I don’t have a chance anymore. She is pregnant. “
After saying that, he apologized for the disturbance he had caused and ended the call.
In the morning, I saw him at work. Just like the first time he called me, he never talked about it. I also never attempt to open the topic because I respected his privacy and I thought I was not in the right position to do so.

Months passed.
Things were just the same.
People smile in front of him but talk behind his back. Despite the nasty words from others, he remained very competent. He knew everything he was doing at work. He was aloof most of the time but he was always available when we needed support at work and he always helps. He always taught us about anything that needs to be learned and almost nobody appreciated that side of him. And not even once did I defend him.

Sometimes we do bad things but that doesn’t define and make us entirely bad as a person.
Sometimes we can’t control our emotions when we are in a painful situation. We do silly things when we get hurt.
Sometimes we decide out of impulse not thinking about what might be the outcome.
And sometimes, it would be too late to take back what we did.

I hope people will not be quick to judge and spread rumors about a person because we don’t know what he is going through.
I hope people won’t judge another person base on what they hear from others. Backstabbing will never help a person. It worsens the situation. If you ever get offended by a someone, tell him personally.
I hope people won’t condemn a person on a single bad thing he did.
I hope people will care more about the person and not his shortcoming.

We should not step on people.We should not step on people who already fell.
We handle things differently.
We tolerate level of pain differently.
We can’t say that other people’s problem is easy because we handle such thing smoothly.

I am not tolerating such action.
Yes, he abuses substances but he is still a friend. More than that, he is a father.

"Art created by Polet".

PS, staying silent is what I regret.
I let him fall into the trap of his wrongdoing.
He Needed Help, I Gave Him None.