Death of a Friendship

Sorry, kids, there will be no sports, no politics, no bitching about job interviews (or lack thereof), no worries of family nonsense, at least not today.

Nope. Time of Death, around 11:30 last night. But it could have been marked 3 weeks ago, or 3 months ago. Hell, how about after Christmas of 2006? Sound good? It does to me. I wish I could diagnose a cause of death, does inertia count? Lack of communication? Defiance of camaraderie?

Let me tell you about one of my best friends, and how much I wish I knew what the hell happened to our friendship, and why I marked time of death as last night. I swear I felt like I got deleted from someone's cell phone last night, and that was the time as I looked at my clock in my room. I wish I felt more sad, but it was kind of nonchalant, like an 'Oh well' feeling. Too bad, because we used to be as thick as thieves many years ago.

He'll always be G$ in my cell phone, in my head, but more importantly, in my soul. I met him in the 7th grade, he loved Darryl Strawberry, the NY Giants, St. Johns basketball, and Kevin Gamble. He was a bit shorter than the rest of us, but what he lacked in stature, the kid had a cannon for an arm. Only kid I knew that could throw a 12-6 curve at age 13. His family was originally from NYC, so that should explain the liking of the aforementioned things and people. The Kevin Gamble thing happens to every one of us. He was G$'s "that guy". We all have them. Now that we're older, we can spot them quicker, but they will never be as good as the ones from when we were kids.

I liked sticking up for him after someone tried to call him Gnu--it didn't fit, and it was lame. Then when we all played basketball, G$ was born. Sweetest stroke you'll ever see. Tough, too. Ever see anyone hit 9 J's from the same spot, in a row? I have, I gave him the ball all 9 times. You might want to cover him, I'm just sayin'...

We'd yack on the phone about all sorts of sports debates, name it. He was one of the few people I would have on my side during the Jordan wars--I never thought His Airness was the best, sue me. When Strawberry signed with the Dodgers, he couldn't get to the mall fast enough to buy a Dodgers hat, and that copy of The National is still somewhere in a box of his junk, I swear it.

The best night we ever had jabber-jawing at each other was during Jordan's comeback, wearing the 4-5, dropping a double nickel on the Knicks. Nothing made either of us happier, because as much as we were never Jordan's biggest fans, we hated the Knicks that much more.

We'd laugh at the same movies, same people, watch the same comedy shows and have Eddie Murphy, Sam Kinison, and George Carlin down cold. The kid could do a dead-on copy of Seinfeld.

We could debate hip-hop until we were blue in the face, 'Pac vs Biggie, but we both knew that I'd fall back on Pete Rock & CL Smooth, him Nice & Smooth. Not that they were better rappers, but that's who we liked. I'm 32, and I still gobble up anything by Pete Rock.

He was the kid I knew could've played D-2 in hoops, or could've tried out for a minor league baseball team. He may be short of 6', but the kid could chuck it.

I miss my friend, but I've known it's been over for awhile. He won't return phone calls, doesn't reply to emails. It sucks. I would love to be yakking with him about the Giants before the Super Bowl, or how great the Celtics are doing (present 3 game losing streak aside), the trades that brought Ray Allen and KG to Boston, how his Yankees are going to suck this year or how St. John's just doesn't have it.

Instead, I've spent a little time asking other mutual friends if they've seen or heard from him. I've wondered if I did anything or said anything that would make someone write me off. Regardless of the answer, I'm no longer someone he needs to BS with. Stings a bit, like a scrape after the band-aid is ripped off. I hope he's well, hope his life is everything that he wants it to be. I have my memories, and nothing will take them away.

I just miss G$....