aghhhhhhh time for a vent, and it's a long one too, so scroll on past if need be:
So I've kept to myself for 2-3 years now. Haven't really been chillin' with anybody because most of my circle turned into heroin addicts, where the addiction obviously took priority over the friendship. Last night I got a call from a random number. Pick it up, ends up being the person I used to consider my best friend who I stopped trying to contact after not being able to get a hold of him for like a month straight a couple years ago. Turns out he's sobered up, got a job, an apartment, the works. He had some warrants that he had to take care of and had just been released from the detention center, asked for a ride home. I agree because I'm excited my buddy's back, you know?
So I hop in the car an hour before I should be going to bed for work. Take the 45-min drive to the jail, drive around the complex for fucking 17min and this dude is nowhere to be found. Said he'd be right in front, but he's obviously not there. Remembering junkie logic, I convince myself he got in touch with somebody else he'd rather ride with and left without giving me a heads up. I pull out the parking lot and make it home in about 30min thanks to angry driving. Unlock the front door, kick off my shoes, greet the dogs and grab a beer... and then my fucking phone rings. Same number as before, dude's apparently still up there and wants to know where I'm at. I'm pissed at this point because this is the type of shit that always happens when I reconnect with my past.
He sounds sincerely sorry and unsure of how I didn't see him. I kind of kirk on the phone and then tell him I'm on my way back up there, be where I can see him, I'm not making this fuckin' drive again, yadda yadda. So I go to pick him up, and this time I catch him standing by the main interstate the jail's off of, just waiting. A place I passed at least a dozen times circling the lot the last time I was up there looking for him.
"Oh no, I wasn't there when I first called.You see those green boxes?" [points to a fucking forest to the side of the gate where they release inmates] "I was over there, man. I didn't want you to have to deal with any police or anything so I just sat out the way."
I'm thinking to myself "Well then how the FUCK was I supposed to link up when you don't have a phone and aren't at the place you called me from?" but I keep it to myself. Start driving to his house, get about halfway there and...
"Wait, are you going to my parents house?"
"...Yeah?"
"No man, I live in Baltimore now"
"....fuck you mean, Baltimore??? Bro, I can't drive to fucking Baltimore right now, I'm supposed to be asleep and I fuckin' would be if we had met up the FIRST time I went up there."
"Dude, I'm SORRY.... god damnit... alright, can you take me to (a mutual acquaintance)'s house? If he can't take me home at least I'll have a place to sleep tonight."
JACKPOT, found out what to do with him. So I start to chill out and get a bit less irritable, take him to his buddy's house, drop him off, shake hands/dap, make plans to meet up on Sunday. Went home, but I missed my window for a melatonin and had so much adrenaline flowing from this situation that I didn't sleep at all before my shift started at 1am.
This morning I get off work and within minutes of walking out of the building I get a phone call. I don't pay it any mind. Two seconds later it dings that I have a voicemail. "fuck...." Another minute goes by and a text comes through: "Hey man, it's (friend from last night), I was wondering if I could get a ride home today if I could get up some money"
I tell myself fuck no and decide to ignore my phone for the day. It goes well, too, until it rings at 10am and it's part of the management team at work. I feel obliged to answer... and this fucking chick wants me to give her a ride from a motel two counties away back to the neighborhood I live in! She was in a desperate situation but still, I was fuckin' numb to that at this point. She tells me about the domestic dispute that led to her living at the motel for a short while, that she had to check out today and couldn't afford another night, but managed to find a place to stay that'll hold off on the first rent payment until she gets her next check. Oh, and yeah, she's got her dog with her, just chillin' in the parking lot of a motel.
That dog softened me up, man. I made the ride, got her where she needed to be and now I'm back home.... but I can't stop thinkin' about my dude who needs to get back home. It's legitimately not my problem but for some reason I feel like shit over dodgin' calls on this shit, but at the same time I'm mad as fuck that the first time someone calls me in years all they really want is a free hour and 30 minute ride, which would be 3 hours just for me to get home in light traffic.
I honestly can't tell if I'm the asshole here or not but god damn, man, I'm so tired of people asking for things and never reciprocating in any kind of fashion. It's almost like people think that to enjoy their presence I have to be providing some kind of service and FUCK it's just got me seething, man.
