New Sh*t, Mixed with Old Sh*t

 A childhood friend of mine is currently incarcerated. This particular friend has always been a bit of a dirtbag, but we managed to stay cool, in spite of the fact. He seemed happy the last few times that I talked to him, so I never dug too deep. Throughout our childhood, he'd always been in and out of jail, so I wasn't too horribly surprised when I'd learned that he was incarcerated again. Like I often do, the moment I'd learned he was locked up, I searched for his mugshot and charges. And what I learned was absolutely horrific. I won't say what it was, but it's bad enough that I'm seriously considering no longer talking to him again, when he gets out. It's disgusting. Disturbing. Let's just say, there's a pretty good chance that he'll get the shit beat out of him, while in prison, and he'll pretty much have it coming. I'm pretty forgiving, in most instances, but this one is one of the things I abhor the most in life.

That particular friend, who's childhood home I spent many years in, had a brother who was making waves and pretty well known in music scenes. He'd gotten to be known in local media, in addition to working closely with someone who was, at the time, one of the top musicians in the world. I ran into the friend at an event a few months back and I asked what his brother was in for. He gave an exasperated look and asked me to inbox him, so we could chat on it later.

We did eventually inbox, but summer did what summer does, and I hate hot weather, so I tend to squirrel away, but I had every intention to follow up. Surprisingly, he hit me up and asked if I wanted to talk about his brother. I was like "sure!" We met up in my favorite coffeehouse. He stopped by after church.

He told me what my friend had done. His face. His eyes. I'd seen this man buzzing in and out of his mother's home and I'd watched him on major tv shows, whenever that musician was featured, over the years. But his face. I'll never forget that face. He was hurt. Confused. Heartbroken. I saw it. I felt it. I immediately asked if he was okay. He admitted that he wasn't.

We spent the next hour and some change, talking about stuff. I was pleasantly surprised with our interaction. I'd seen this man around for years, but this was our first time actually talking. Yesterday, I got a call from a number that wasn't saved in my phone. Because of spam, I normally don't answer such calls, but something inside of me told me the call was safe. I'd asked who it was and he told me it was him and told me that I needed to save his phone number lol. We proceeded to talk for nearly 3 hours. It was a nice call. I asked how he'd gotten with his girlfriend and from there, the conversation just grew.

It took me a good while to process what my childhood friend had done. He was a pretty big part of my childhood and to learn that he'd done something so heinous is really tugging at me. So it's wild to me that while I'm struggling to accept what he did, I've gravitated toward his brother. I'm still very much not dating anyone, in spite of my interest in my other friend, but I love new seasons like this. I love new people. We're entering fall. This season has always meant growth to me. New shit.