A Friend's Burden


By Evan Drake


© 2020, Evan Drake, All Rights Reserved

It was a calm, cool night just like any other. Zack
preferred his nights more lively. Except for now. Now he was prepared to give anything
for a chance at a quiet night.

Some rock song about the pain of
relationships blared on the radio as he sped down the street. It hit a little too
close to home for his taste. He turned the radio off and let the roar of the
truck's engine fill the silence.

            He drove
into the bar parking lot, taking up two spaces with his truck. Not his usual
style of parking, but he was in a hurry and wouldn't be there long anyway.
Snatching the keys out of the ignition, he rushed toward the bar's entrance.

He froze when he heard the shouts
and the breaking glass within. “Yeah, well fuck you, fuck yer mutha, an' fuck
the bitch who fucked 'er!"

            A heavy
sigh escaped him as he rubbed his temple. The voice belonged to his friend,
Manny. He truly wished he could give anything for a quiet night. Technically,
he could. Just turn around, go home, and let the police sort it out.

            That
thought was shattered along with a nearby window. A glance to the left revealed
the culprit, a barstool. Zack swore and rushed inside.

            The bar was
a mess as expected. It reminded him of the bar fight scenes in those old
westerns his uncle liked to watch. Overturned tables, broken chairs, and spilled
booze on the floor. To top it all off was the pile of furry bodies in the
middle of the room, all eight or so of them holding down a single drunk lizard.
The reptile was the smallest one there, but he was putting up a fight and
shouting obscenities. His thick green tail thrashed about, hitting a poor bear
holding his leg in the shoulder until he made the mistake of releasing it to go
grab the roaming appendage.

            The moment
Manny's leg was free, he kicked the bear in the chest. The entire group holding
down fell apart after that as each one was either kicked, bitten, punched, or
tail-slapped.

            Zack
quickly moved to the group's aid. In a single motion, he slipped behind Manny
and held him in a chokehold. “Are you going to calm down or do I need to knock
you out?"

            The lizard
relaxed in his grip. “Yeah, yeah. I'm calm. Can you let me go now?"

            Zack slowly
released the hold in case it was a ruse just to get loose again. Manny stayed
true to his word and did nothing except make a failed attempt to fix his
stretched and ripped shirt. He snorted and shot a withering glare at the
bartender before stomping out of the bar.

            Zack
quickly followed, saying to the bartender as he left: “I'm really sorry about
this."

“It ain't your fault, Zack," the
bartender replied. “Just tell that crazy bastard I'm sorry for what happened to
him, but he better not ever show his face in here again."

Zack sighed and shook his head.
That was the third bar this month in which Manny had been banned. It wouldn't
surprise him if every remaining bar in the city decided to just cut him off
preemptively.

Manny was nowhere in the parking
lot meaning he likely was stumbling down the street. With a loud grumble, he
climbed back in his truck. “I can't just drive home and leave him out there," he
said to his reflection. “I have to be the 'good friend.' Fuck my life right in
the ass."

Manny hadn't gone far, just making
it a little ways past the next corner. Zack drove the truck onto the sidewalk
into his friend's path. The lizard leaped back, drunkenly staggering into the
nearby building.“Hey, what the hell do you think you're—" his expression softened
slightly at the sight of the driver. “Oh, it's you."

Zack jerked a thumb at the empty
passenger's seat. “Just get in."

If there was an objection, Manny
didn't voice it as he walked around and climbed into the passenger seat. No
words were exchanged as they rode down the street. After riding several blocks,
Zack decided to break the obvious tension in the vehicle.

“Look, man, you can't—"

A loud snore from Manny squashed
any chances of conversation. The lizard sat with his feet resting on the dash,
head back, and tongue lolling out. Thinking of all the times he woke up with
hot sauce on his tongue made Zack chuckle. Even after all these years, no
matter how many times he pranked him, Manny still hadn't learned to sleep with
his mouth closed.

It took 20 minutes of driving
before they reached Zack's place. It was closer and Zack didn't remember where
Manny was staying exactly. In the last six months, he had moved more times than
in the previous 10 years. After his ex put him out, he was staying with his
brother, then their mutual friend Derrick, next his mom, and finally his uncle.
But that was also a week ago. Whether things had changed—again—since then Zack
didn't know. Manny's phone had been off for a month.

Zack parked in front of his
apartment building then shut off the engine. He thought about leaving Manny in
the car to sleep it off, but the thought of him possibly throwing up in the middle
of the night or waking up and wandering off made him think otherwise.

It was going to be a pain in the
ass, but he moved around to the other side of the car and half-dragged his
friend out. Carrying him up the stairs was the hardest part. Manny was much
heavier than he looked. Thankfully, their destination was on the second floor. He
nearly dropped his friend when fishing out his keys to unlock the door, but
somehow he managed.

By this point, Zack was too tired
to bother being nice, so he dropped his friend on the sofa. Manny mumbled
something but remained out cold. Zack removed his friend's boots, tossed his
legs up on the sofa, then covered him with a blanket. He then went into his
bedroom.

Upon seeing the bed, he realized
just how emotionally drained he was. How many times had this happened, picking
up his friend drunk or covered in bruises or both? How many apologies did he
have to pass out like flyers? How many times had he defended his friend's
reckless behavior? How many friends have walked away because they just couldn't
take it anymore?

After kicking off his sneakers, he
fell face-first on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

The next morning, Zack was awoken
to the sound of someone talking. He bolted upright, thinking someone had broken
into his apartment then the events of last night came back to him. With a heavy
sigh, he climbed out of bed and shuffled into the living room.

Manny paced behind the sofa,
talking to someone on the phone. He didn't acknowledge Zack's presence as he
walked in. Judging from his the scowl he wore, there were bigger things to
worry about.

“I don't see how that's my
fault!... Well, yeah, but—" He stopped and gripped the back of the chair,
glaring at an unseen entity. “C'mon, that's not fair!... Yeah, sure, whatever."
He hung up the phone then slammed both fists on the back of the sofa,
bellowing, “FUCK!"

Zack took that as his cue to enter
before things started breaking. He knocked on the wall and slowly walked inside
as if approaching a dangerous beast. “Tough morning?"

Manny snatched his head up looking
ready to bolt. He quickly calmed down at seeing Zack. “Just got fired because a
couple of punks broke into the store last night. Dumbass manager says it's my fault
for not locking up. Mind you, locking up is that prick's job."

“Sorry to hear that, man."

“Whatever. It was a shitty job
anyway. But my Unc is gonna kick me out when he finds out I got fired."

Zack nodded then walked towards the
kitchen to make some coffee. “I'm sure if you explain it to him, he'll cut you
some slack. And if not, you can always stay with me. By the way, what happened
last night? You were pretty pissed about something."

“I was?" Manny called from the
living room.

“Yeah, they had to call me to come
get you." He fished the coffee pot out of the sink, gave it a quick rinse, then
set it in the coffee maker. He then added the water and the coffee grounds and
hit the power button before joining Manny in the living room. The reptile had
moved to the sofa and placed his face in his hands.

He spoke as soon as Zack sat down
next to him. “I got banned, didn't I?"

“Yep."

“Fuck. Do you think if I tell him sorry,
he'll let me come back?"

Zack inhaled sharply. “You might
need to do a little more than that. I mean, you made one helluva mess and bit
people."

“Guess that means they don't wanna
look at my sorry ass either," he said dejectedly. He looked over at Zack. “What
about you? Why do you keep me around?"

“Because we're friends. I mean,
sure you're a pain in the ass, but I've known you since second grade. I know
you're not like this, man. I mean, that breakup hit you pretty hard."

Manny snorted and jumped to his
feet. “That shit was almost a year ago!"

“And last I checked, there's no
timetable for recovering from that kind of thing," Zack said, staying in his
seat and remaining calm. “I don't care how long it takes, man, I got your back.
I'll be right here, looking out for you."

Manny started pacing again. “Whatever.
I don't need you or anybody else looking out for me. I can handle myself! Why
don't you try minding your own fucking business?!" He stormed out of the
apartment and slammed the door hard enough to rattle the walls.

Zack sighed and rubbed his
forehead. He couldn't even begin to understand how his friend felt. He had been
seeing Ashley for three years and she not only left him, but she also cleaned
out his bank account. No word, no warning, just packed up and left him to come
home to an empty apartment. Her latest Twitter post showed she was “living her
best life" with a new boyfriend.

That wasn't something someone just
bounced back from. The problem was the rest of the world wasn't going to wait
for him to get back on his feet. He figured that was what upset Manny the most.
He had a life to live and bills to pay. These things couldn't be put on hold
while he got his thoughts in order.

Zack got up when he heard the beep
of the coffee maker indicating it had finished its task. He poured two cups of
coffee and left one on the table for when Manny returned. Zack also made some
pancakes, eggs, and sausage for breakfast. He set aside a plate next to the
coffee.

After breakfast, he sat down with
his laptop and watched Netflix until there came a loud knock at the door. Already
having an idea of who it was, he called out from the sofa, “It's open!"

The door slowly swung open
soundlessly and Manny walked inside looking like a scolded child. “Look, man,
I'm real—"

“There's some coffee and breakfast
for you on the table." He pointed to the kitchen and went back to his video.

“Thanks."

“Sure thing. That's what friends
are for."

“No, I mean, for putting up with me
even though I've been an asshole."

Still watching the movie, he replied,
“I know."

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