Brothers Always

“I asked if anyone had called you and told you about him and his mom said that she didn’t know or not, so that’s why I’m calling now.  Anyway about three months ago Tate and Nikki broke up on a Friday.”  Alex said.  “The next day he was really upset.  He couldn’t stay home.  He couldn’t think straight.  So he went out driving at 12:30am.  No on really knows what happened while he was driving.  Whether he was so upset that he just lost control, or whether someone ran him off the road.  His truck went off the side of the road and hit a tree.  He wasn’t wearing his seatbelt and because of that it threw him through the front windshield.  He almost died.”

“Ohh no.” I said with a sigh.  “How--How is he?”

“Well, it messed him up pretty bad.” Alex replied.

“How bad Alex?”  I asked.

“Well Crim, he’s not in very good shape.”  Alex replied.  “He wasn’t paralyzed or have any major organ damage, but he suffered a severe concussion, broke both of his collarbones and broke most every bone in his left leg.  The doctors’ say if he’s lucky to be alive.  They say that hopefully he’ll fully recover in a year to year and a half.  Like I said I didn’t know if anyone had told you or not.  I just thought you should know.”

“Where is he now?” I asked quietly.

“His house.  He’s pretty much bed ridden right now.” Alex replied.

“Are you over there at his house too?” I asked.

“Yeah I’m here now.”  Alex said.

“Are you going to be there a while?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m probably going to be here most of the day.”  Alex replied.

“Well I want to come see him.  I’m coming over there.”  I replied.

“Okay, I’ll tell him your coming.”  Alex said.

I just started to cry.  I could not believe what I had just heard.  Tate, my oldest friend had almost died.  To make matters worse, I’m just now finding out.  How did this happen?  How did I not know?   I should have been there.   What kind of friend am I?  I just sat there stunned.  Mary came over and put her arms around me and asked what had happened.  It took a few minutes to calm down, but I managed to tell her the news Alex had revealed about Tate.  Mary helped me up and said, “come on let’s go.  Go get dressed and we’ll go to Tate’s house now.”  I did what she told me and we headed out for his house.  It was a long drive even though she drove 100 mph.  I had not realized how much time had gone by since Tate and I last seen each other.  I talked with Mary about how Tate and I would always help each other do the right thing. Tate always looked to me, and wanted me to be there for him.  I had not realized how different our lives had become after I left for school.  Alex, on the other hand, did whatever made him happy.  Alex was very strong-willed, which can be a good thing, but once he decided something he would not change whether wrong or right.  I told Mary about that mourning that our friendship was tarnished.  I explained to her what all had happened and that I did not see a way to reconcile with Alex.  She just looked at me with concern and said, “Did you try ‘I’m sorry?’ or did your pride get in the way?  Crim, everyone handles the passing of a loved one differently.  Some people become angry, depressed or any number of things.  Alex is no different.  His way of dealing with his mother’s passing probably wasn’t the best way, but you can’t criticize or lecture him on how he copes with it.  Sure drinking was not the thing to do and he made some mistakes, but you should have humbled yourself and helped him instead of trying to tell him how to handle it.  When you get a chance to sit down with him, tell him ‘you’re sorry’.  And you’ll be able to work things out; good friends always can find some understanding.”  I had never looked at it that way before.  Though I was right, maybe I handled the situation the wrong way.  Mary had a way to make things clear to me: from the outside looking in.  I realized that my pride (however much) was the reason that I