Clareified

I heard some form of this story not too long ago. It stuck with me, for various reasons, but I’m not entirely sure I’ve settled on its meaning. I don’t necessarily remember all the real specifics, but here is my generalized retelling.

This is the story of two boys.
Friends since childhood, they started their relationship much the way we all do when we’re young. To wit: Hi, we’re the same age! Let’s play.
And play they did. Bikes, balls, running, videogames, they were two peas in a pod.
Then one of them fell into drugs. And he fell hard. He quickly moved up the addiction ladder from sneaking sips of beer to stealing his sister’s mp3 player to get money for cocaine.
His parents shuttled him from one unsuccessful rehab center to another. All the while, his best friend worrying, supporting, visiting, helping the best he could with a struggle, even men three times his age couldn’t begin to tackle.
Ultimately, the drug abuse had too powerful a hold. And when his friend stole his identity and directed the police to his door for a crime his friend had committed, he knew it was time to cut ties. Sadly, he turned the page and walked away.
They would, however, find each again some years later.
The non drug addict boy had graduated from college by now, had some minor successes, but had lost his job due to marked economic decline at the decade’s end. He hustled soft card games for money, subletted an apartment, dated occasionally. He was getting by.
His friend, on the other hand, had seemingly finally found the rehab program that worked. He had been clean for almost a year when he sheepishly showed up at his friend’s door to apologize for the things he’d done.
The young men hugged and no further words about the past were uttered. The former addict introduced his fiancee. Told his friend about the business he’d started. They picked up where they’d left off before drugs had cut their friendship short.
However, a few months into their adult friendship, the former drug addict came to his friend wanting to talk.
He was concerned about his pal.
“You need direction. I have a relationship and I’m a businessman. You are just wasting your life with nonsense. Yvonne and I are worried about you. Look at me!”
The young man listened quietly. He finished his cigarette and tried to suppress a smile.
“Yes. Look at you,” and he walked away without another word.

This entry was posted by Dawn Summers on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 9:15 pm and is filed under Not So Random Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.