slimsam1

...but those details really don't concern me at the moment.



I had a friend in elementary school named David. I used to go to his house to play commander keen and pinball back when windows 3.1 was a recent innovation. David and I had a rocky friendship; he sometimes got on my nerves just because he played a little too rough for me. When we were assigned to different classrooms in first grade, David begged to be transferred to my class, and he was moved.

One time, we were playing in my front yard with a section of metal pipe and we broke a piece of concrete from my front steps. I lied to my parents and said it was only his fault. I speculate that since his father was the type to use a belt, David probably got a small taste of hell for my lie.

Years later (about two years ago), we met with some mutual friends to go bowling. We pretty much got along but he called me a "perpetual liar" a couple times during the day. I said goodbye, and we left.

More recently I felt a growing desire to call him up, apologize for the event long ago, and ask for his forgiveness.

David had behavioral problems since he was small.

This evening (I still hadn't gotten around to calling), my mom told me something that I will remember until I die.

Last Monday, David's mother found him dead. David shot himself in the head with his grandfather's gun. It was his 16 year old sister's birthday.