My Best Friend
The pain in Amarildo‘s face told his oppressor that everything was going according to plan. John never would have guessed it would be this good. He licked the sharp, titanium blade he managed to get away with just hours ago. This gave way to a symphony of whimpers from his victim. “Why, are you doing this John?”
“Oh, you know why I’m doing this.”
Amarildo saw the look in John’s eyes and knew he was going to be suffering a great deal before he perished. Amarildo never would have guessed this would be his fate; especially not at the hands of his childhood best friend. John left the room; leaving Amarildo with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company. Amarildo thought back to the happier times he and John spent together.
They met when they were only of the ages five and six respectively. Amarildo’s family immigrated to The States just a few weeks prior and immediately found a home adjacent to John’s family. Amarildo didn’t speak a lick of English, but being the bright boy he was, learned the language and managed to lag behind only a year. This inadvertently placed the two boys in the same class, and paved the way for a lifelong friendship to be molded.
If it had not been for Amarildo, John most likely would have grown up to be an introverted loner. He always had a hard time creating a bond with people his age, but something was different about his neighbor. They just clicked. Amarildo always led the way to new adventures; whether that be typical vandalism of some old houses in the neighborhood or riding their bikes into town for a day of carefree shenanigans. It wasn’t until they joined the town football team together that their relationship started to change.
Amarildo was a talented player and became a team favorite. John really only joined the team to be around Amarildo, so when he was made the team water boy he wasn’t too phased by it. Slowly but surely Amarildo’s popularity grew, he still enjoyed John’s company and always tried bringing him along to the parties and typical social gatherings any high school star athlete could indulge in, but John just didn’t fit in there. He was a fish out of water and would be casually teased because he wasn’t lucky enough to lose his V-card to some half drunk seventeen year old at one of these degenerative social occasions.
As much as John disliked the way things got, he knew the only other alternative was spending another Friday night by himself, watching another god-damb cat video on the internet, but the line was drawn when Amarildo made an offhand remark about the size of his penis, which caused the party to erupt with laughter. It wasn’t bad enough that his friend became this popular sports star, but knowing that the only chance at a social life he ever had was living in the shadow of him brutally stung his shattered ego.
That was six months ago, and after being rejected from every college he applied for, John learned that Amarildo was offered a football scholarship to his first choice college. It was at this point he decided he would act upon his vile hatred for his once beloved comrade.
Amarildo was due to leave for college in a week, so when John invited him to stay over one last night he couldn’t decline. This also happened to be the weekend John’s parents attended a friend’s wedding. The unsuspecting jock had no idea it was coming. “Okay, I’ll wait for him to pass out drunk, and then I’ll take care of him.” An hour had not passed before John had his victim ready for whatever fate he decided.
John entered the room. Amarildo was ready to puke from the anxiety, but he could tell that John was having second thoughts. Chained up in the corner of the basement Amarildo begged “Don’t do this man. We are best friends. I would never hurt you.” He didn’t know why but this moved John to tears. “I can’t believe what I almost did.”
John stopped his sobbing. He reached for the knife. Amarildo’s heart sank, and he closed his eyes with anticipation of the inevitable. But to his utter astonishment, John cut through his own throat and fell to the floor. Blood was everywhere. It was a truly grotesque thing to see. Unfortunately for Amarildo, it will be the last thing he sees before he dies of starvation.
