Episode #418 "A Pair of Threes Beats a Flush Every Time"

A homeless man who turns out to be Jessie Stovall, an old teammate from Hilton's Philadelphia high school football team, approaches Hilton on the street. They reminisce about their high school football days, and Jessie, even though it's morning, drinks gin from a bottle in a paper bag. Hilton finds out from Jessie's mother that after Jessie's wife threw him out, he moved back home. His drinking, shouting and bad language, however, drove his own mom to throw him out too. Jesse's ex-wife Maxine gives Hilton more information - that Jessie was institutionalized three times. He refused to take his medication and all he wanted to do was drink. A psychiatrist tried to help her understand what was going on with Jessie, explaining that excessive drinking can trigger dementia. Hilton continues to hang out with Jessie, as Jessie tells him about his daughter, Tammy, the only relative still willing to talk to him, and about losing his job; blaming most of his troubles on fate and bad luck. Chuck, another homeless man, approaches asking for cans, bottles and spare change. They talk about jazz and the musicians they like and Jessie pulls out a little keyboard that plays "Farmer in the Dell." Jessie seems quite normal in Hilton's encounters - until, during a discussion, Jessie suddenly turns away without explanation, crosses the street and starts talking to himself and a mailbox. Ruth comes out of the café and observes that Hilton and Jessie looked like they were enjoying themselves. Hilton says that they were, and that they had a lot of fun talking about old times. Later, Hilton tells Ruth and Griffin that he wouldn't have believed that someone with such a high IQ would end up in that situation. It makes him wonder about all the street people he sees.