I want to tell you a story about a good friend of mine, Freddy, and a friend of his, Mackenzie. Fred was a good guy, probably my best friend.  He was smart, but he never acted like he was better than anyone, and he always tried to hide just how smart he was.  He loved anime and video games.  We spent a lot of time playing Xbox and watching shows like Cowboy Bebop and Chobits, that’s for sure.  I’ll tell ya, some people thought we were brothers, and if I could have picked my brother, it would’ve been him.  He was always ready to hear my problems and help if he could.  Of course, I did the same for him, but it seemed like a lot of what he told me ended up being about people he cared about not letting him help them.

            That’s where Mackenzie comes in.  She gave him more trouble than anyone.  Enough that, if I were him, I would have told her to stay the hell away from me.  But, for some reason, I think the fool loved her.  He didn’t let her know that, of course, but he was always there for her, and always looked out for her.  Seemed like they acted like enemies more often than they acted like friends.  I guess I should have mentioned that they were two of the most stubborn people I’ve ever met.  For all the trouble she gave him, though, I’ve got to admit that she was a sweet, caring, girl, and I can’t blame him for liking being around her.  She was one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen too, for that matter.

            The story I want to tell you happened while they were acting like friends.  They hung out a lot when they were getting along, so it was no surprise they went to a party together.  To keep things straight, I need to tell you that this was the kind of party were a bunch of high school kids get together for the sole purpose of getting drunk out of their minds.  Freddy didn’t know this, or he probably wouldn’t have gone and would have done everything in his power to stop Mackenzie from going.  She, however, did know.  It was her idea to go.

            I was already there when they got there.  I didn’t know what kind of party it was either, Freddy told me to go.  I stuck around because I knew he wouldn’t be a happy person when get got there, and I was right.  When he came in with Mackenzie he knew right away what she had neglected to tell him.  She went over to some of the girls and he came and sat on the couch with me.

            “I didn’t know that there was gonna be drinking here,” he told me.

            “Neither did I, but what can you expect from this shit-hole?” I replied. “But we’re here, and that’s how it goes.  Did Mac know before you got here?”

            “Seems so.”

            “Does she drink?” I asked.

            “I didn’t think so, but I guess I’ll find out,” he replied.

            It wasn’t long before we found out the answer.  About ten minutes after they arrived she was walking around with a bottle of schnapps.  The look on Freddy’s face when he saw that would’ve been enough to make the most stubborn drunkard give up the bottle.  It was truly scarier than anything I could have imagined, and it was directly at Mackenzie.  He immediately got up, walked over to her, and grabbed the bottle out of her hand. 

I expected him to start yelling and hollering, but he didn’t.  Instead he said in a voice as cold as winter and as calm as Gandhi, “Mackenzie, you know how I feel about drinking, and what I think about people who drink, so I’m going to give you a choice.  Either you choose to be my friend, or you choose to take this bottle.  This is completely up to you, and I can’t do anything about what you decide.”

What she did next I can never forgive her for.  She looked at him for what seemed like hours, and then, slowly, she reached out, grabbed the bottle from his hand, and took a long drink from it.  Without so much as changing his expression, Freddy turned around and walked out the door.  I didn’t know where he went at the time, but after about an hour he returned, not longer cold and calm.  The next time he spoke his voice would contain the purest, most unrelenting anger I have ever heard.

He burst through the door, walked over to where Mackenzie was sitting, grabbed the now half-empty bottle from her hand, and drank the rest in one, long, draw.  After he finished he threw the bottle down and it shattered on the floor.  That was the first time I had ever even heard of him drinking. 

He then grabbed the nearest bottle of liquor and opened it.  He looked down at Mackenzie with the look of someone with a mission that could only end in death and said, “Mac, you will sit there, and you will watch, and you will not move until you realize how stupid it is to drink.  And once you realize it, I promise you, you will never forget.”  With that he chugged the bottle, and moved on to the next, then the next, then the next.  The rest is a blur, and I don’t know how much time passed, but, to the cheers of most of the people there, I watched my best friend consume more alcohol than should be humanly possible.  I tried to stop him, but he told me to “sit the fuck down and watch.  You need to remember this and make sure this never has to happen again.”  After finishing a bottle, I don’t know how many he had finished before; he stood and looked at Mackenzie.  He had a tear in his eye as he looked around the room and said, “Not one of you pieces of shit had better forget this.”  Then he passed out.

Somebody turned him on his back, and then everybody went back to what they were doing, and Mackenzie and I just stared at Freddy.  None of us even thought to call an ambulance; everyone just thought he had passed out.  When he stopped breathing it was too late, the paramedics didn’t arrive in time to save him.

The next day his parent found this note on their dining room table:

 

Dear Mom and Dad,

I apologize for what I’m going to do tonight, I know it’s stupid, but that’s why I have to do it.  In all likelihood, you will never see me alive again.  This wasn’t something I planned for, but it’s something that must happen anyway.  Earlier tonight I was at a party, and some of my friends from school were drinking.  None of them realize that what they’re doing will kill them, some soon and some later.  I need to show them that it will, by giving my own life.  I only hope to God that some of them realize what I’m telling them.  I only hope that I can stop Mac from drinking, I will gladly give my life if I can save hers.  I love her.  I’m sorry for the pain I’m going to cause you and everyone else.  Please forgive me.

                                                            Love,

                                                              Freddy

 

            Everyone was at his funeral.  I heard there was a party that night in his memory… and most of the people who were there got a minor in possession.  I don’t know whether Mackenzie still drinks, I haven’t seen here sense that night, and I hope to never see her again.  Because of her my best friend had to die.  Still, I hope she stopped drink, for Freddy’s sake.