Disappearance of a Friend : Part 1

I guess some things just don't work. Relationships are bound to fall apart, jobs not work out and things just get crazy. My life as been crazy for the last year and half but I imagine that is nothing compared to what my friend and roommate Eric has been through.

As of Monday, November 1st 2004 Eric has gone missing. I got home from working in Hillcrest around 8pm, sat down to eat and noticed that about a number of my DVD box sets were missing. It was shocking and I tried to figure out what happened to them. I hadn't been robbed, as other stuff would be missing and stuff would be thrown everywhere. I realized he had taken them and probably pawned them off (something he had done with his own DVDs just weeks before).

At first I was terribly angry and knew I was going to have to get into it with him and that we couldn't be roommates anymore. That thought quickly drifted as I realized he probably wasn't going to return. I stayed up waiting and watching TV and became more panicked as time went along.

I finally decided to go to bed but realized I was too freaked to sleep. I called my friend Jonathan and stayed at his place for the evening. The next morning I drove back and nothing had changed.

At work I managed to get ahold of the landlord, Steve. Steve told me that Eric owed over $3000 in back rent: $600 for September, $1200 for October, and $1200 for November.

I moved in with Eric after splitting up with Maya. As it turned out his girlfriend, Claudine, was moving to New York City in August and he needed a roommate. I had been gaming with Eric for just under a year and I agreed to it. Some problems occured when we couldn't get our apartment right away and I had to stay with Eric and Claudine in there one bedroom apartment for two weeks. During this time I just gave Eric money to cover some minor costs in his old apartment. This would continue into our new place.

Once we moved into our new place things seemed to get better but Claudine and Eric were fighting more until one night they blew up at each other. After that Claudine would housesit or try and find other places to stay until she moved.

Once she left Eric became depressed. I wasn't too aware as I tried to give him his space and did my own thing as I had just gotten over Maya. Perhaps I should have been more aware but within a few weeks after Claudine left Eric was fired from his job after yelling at a customer.

I was concerned but not very. His birthday had just come up and I was certain he would get help and support from his family. I met his dad around that time and Eric was quick to bounce back as he knew everyone in PB, worked dozens of places and was able to get a job in two weeks after he lost his previous one.

This was not the case. A month and a half would pass before he got a new job. During this time he would sell a bunch of his stuff, continue to collect money from me until he started working again. What I didn't realize was that he was keeping the money I gave him and not paying rent at all. He told me that he wasn't paying his half but Steve was cool and would give him until December to pay the back rent.

For whatever reason he dug himself the hole that he could not dig his way out of and had me fooled the entire time. I wanted to trust him as I had trusted roommates in the past. As of now I have found a new roommate and currently taking the steps to reset my living situation. Steve is letting me start from $0 as Eric never gave him the lease I signed.

I still wonder what happened to Eric and hope that he didn't do anything drastic and that he figures out what he needs to. I hold no grudge against him and only wished he was more honest with me and his family so that we could have helped him.