Best Friends

Best Friends

text comes

I see the number

not a name

which means

it’s some guy I know

but who hasn’t been

in contact for nearly a year

I’m like that

I restrict the list of saved numbers

to those I hear from

or want to hear from

how are you

I don’t ask

who is this

I don’t really care

I’m mildly curious though

I enjoy the mystery

after few texts

I think I recognize him

by the use of language

he’s feeling melancholy

bored

with the lockdown

I say we all are

we’ll get through it eventually

he wants to visit me

I say we might meet

when social distancing is less critical

he agrees

but misses seeing me

I say

you’re sweet

he says

you’re my best friend

I don’t reply

there nothing left to say

to someone

who gets in touch

after a year of a pandemic

with their best friend

because they are bored

and me

that best friend

isn’t sure who they are

I still have a flip-phone. It has limited memory so I keep it as clear of extraneous stuff as possible. No backlog of photos, texts, or phone numbers – in particular number of people I haven’t heard from in over six months. I’m also unwilling to just give my cell # out – I’m not on call, as it were.

This is an actual experience – actually it has happened more than twice – each time with someone different. I have given the number to people in recovery & when they text me after a year & I reply ‘who is this’ they are dismayed I don’t remember them. Keep that in mind if you text someone after year.

If the guy in this case had said ‘Hi – it’s Clint’ (not the actual name) ‘how r u’ my reaction would have somewhat different. I’d know him several years by this point in time & this sort of long silence was typical. His cell # changed each time he contacted me so no wonder I didn’t recognize this one. Each time there would an elaborate story about his misadventures & apologies. I was not emotionally invested but he was sweet & fun in bed. I also liked his Nigerian accent.

I wrote this shortly after our text conversation & it went pretty much as recounted here. It was his ‘best friend’ confession that made this memorable. It came out of the blue. I had always been affectionate with him & sort of agreeable in what conversations we had. He was opinionated about immigration services etc. I had no experience & let him go on whether I agreed with his judgements of our culture.

Often his opinions had made things difficult for him in his ‘real’ life – I only saw him for an hour or so at most, every now & then. If I was in his company day after day it would have been different. So when he called me his ‘best friend’ I felt a little sorry for him – that his life was so empty of people that his mistook my affectionate tolerance for something it wasn’t. I also felt that ‘best friend’ was manipulative. It didn’t work & I ended things with ‘take care.’