Loyalty

June 10, 2011 –  

I had lunch with a friend recently and, during the course of our meal, he told me a story from his childhood about friendship and what loyalty meant to him.   

My friend’s mom had just remarried.  Shortly after the remarriage, the family fell on hard times and had to move from the small town that he had spent his whole life to the city.  But my friend was the kind of kid who bounced back from whatever was thrown his way.  And, being the adventurous type, he looked forward to the move.  The first day he was in his new apartment, he looked out of his bedroom window and saw a community centre.  Being the curious type, he grabbed his swim trunks and a towel, and hollered over his shoulder to his parents that he was going to check it out.   

He was happy with his discovery.  He viewed it as a refuge, a sanctuary from life at home.  As he walked towards the pool, he encountered a group of black kids.  My friend walked towards them and the larger one turned to him and said, “Hey, you’re pretty white.”  My friend was from a small town and, while he knew about racism, he grew up seeing beyond the colour of people’s skin.  And, being a bit of a smart-ass, he jokingly responded “Hey, you’re pretty black”, and continued walking towards the bench.  My friend casually dropped his towel and dove into the clear, blue water.  He swam a couple of laps, letting the water wash away all of the city’s grime.   

Feeling refreshed, he stopped at the shallow end and took a better look at his surroundings.  It was only then that he noticed that the pool had emptied.  Dismissing this as nothing more than a co-incidence, my friend pulled himself out of the pool.  The room was eerily quiet as his feet padded softly towards the bench.  He continued looking around and noticed that the lifeguard chairs were also empty.   

He grabbed his towel and his pace began to quicken as he started to walk towards the shower.  My friend rounded the corner and saw the same group of kids blocking the doorway.  My friend stopped dead in his tracks.  The larger kid shook his head and said “You’ve really got a mouth on you for a skinny white kid”.  My friend exhaled deeply, knowing what was about to happen.  He dropped his towel, ready to defend himself.  

My friend put up as much of a fight as he could.  He said he got in a few good punches but he didn’t stand a chance against 6 kids.  After about 10 minutes, the lifeguards came in and pulled the kids off of my friend.  My friend lay on the floor, curled up in a ball.  He had covered his head with his arms and, in what would only be characterized as a basic survival instinct, had wedged his back up against the wall.  One of the lifeguards extended a hand to help him up and the other one handed him his towel.  My friend took the towel and wiped the blood from his face.  He surveyed the damage as he wiped the blood away:  a chipped tooth, a broken nose, and lots of bruising on his arms and legs.  My friend thought to himself, “This is not good”.  Trouble on the first day wasn’t going to be an easy one to explain to mom and step-dad.  

The lifeguards knew what had happened.  But, they went through the motion of asking my friend.  My friend continued quietly wiping the blood from his face.  He shook his head and said, “I fell.”  The lifeguard looked at him and said, “You fell?  You don’t get all banged up like this from falling.  Now tell us what happened.”  My friend looked over at the tall kid and said “I guess I’m just clumsy”, and with that comment, walked past the group towards the shower. 

When my friend stepped out of the shower, the tall kid was standing there, holding a clean towel.  He offered it to my friend and said “You’re alright for a skinny white kid.”  Grinning, my friend accepted the towel.   

My friend told me that it was on that day that he learned what it meant to be loyal to somebody.  He said that he and the tall kid became best friends.  He said that throughout high school he and his friend always had each other’s back. He said that was the kind of loyalty he looked for in his friends now. It made me wonder how far I would go for him. Would I take a few punches for him? Would I sit in silence as he did wrong?