One Friend (Patreon)

In 4th grade I had literally one friend, M.B. He was into the same geek stuff I was.

His family was working class, well below the poverty line, constantly struggling.

And all smart as hell.

(Don't be classist. Poor does not equate to lowbrow.)

M.B.'s family had a rented house that bordered the drive-in theater that used to exist in Norman. They could see, but not hear movies.

So the family would sit out in their yard on summer nights, assign each other characters, and do their own dialog.

It was amazing.

I later saw some of the movies I had first experienced through their family improv.

In some cases, M.B.'s family's version was better.

It was always funnier.

I was always welcome at their home, though feeding me clearly meant one of the parents took a half-portion of dinner.

I should've tried to find a way to make up for that, but it never occurred to me at the time. I did often give M.B. my veggies from school lunches, which I hated.

The main entertainment activity away from their home was the public library. They owned 0 books, but all of them had library cards. There was an ever-rotating selection of young adult novels, encylopedias, crafting books, cook books, classics, and current best-sellers. Also, old magazines and newspapers, which M.B was unashamed to say they got for free from neighbors and co-workers after those folks read them. The new was old, he admitted, but it all still happened.

M.B. only had toys that had been rejected from some donation center, where one of his parents worked. They were all broken. He also got a roll of duct tape every month.

So his toys were the most amazing kitbashed inventions from his own imagination.

We had a blast with them.

I knew M.B. before I found RPGs. I only knew him for one year. Sometime over the summer, the rented house went vacant. I never saw him again.

I honestly don't think about him all that often.

But for that one year, he was literally my only friend.