Best Buds

A close "friend" can be your greatest nemesis. Sometimes it's a matter of misery loving company, which leads a struggling friend to incapacitate those around him. In other cases jealousy can be mistaken for admiration. There's a fine line between the two, and it's a difficult distinction to make. In the time it takes to identify a jealous friend as an actual enemy, a lot of damage can occur along the way.

Speedy has a problem identifying trustworthy friends. Part of the reason for this is that he stands at the threshold of the Bubble. Speedy has one foot planted firmly in the world of delusion, but he's intelligent enough not to continually make the idiotic decisions that full fledged Bubblees tend to make. As a result of being so close to the Bubble, Speedy has more than a few friends on the other side.

I identified Speedy as a Bubblee through a situation that occurred after the season had ended. One of his teammates, Lanky, was selected to play in the All-Region game. However, Lanky got into a fight at a club and fractured his hand weeks before the game was supposed to be played. To my great surprise, Speedy told teammates that I had selected him as Lanky's injury replacement. This was interesting to me since I never even had a conversation with Speedy about the All-Region game...

About a month before the season ended, Speedy had his Iphone stolen from his apartment. Apparently a friend of his, who happens to be a drug addict, stole the phone after he had let her in to use the bathroom. He eventually recovered the phone, but it wouldn't be the last time a friend blindsided Speedy.

Speedy: Coach, remember how I told you about my phone being stolen?
Me: Yeh.
Speedy: Tell me why my place got robbed the other day.
Me: What do you mean?
Speedy: Like, my place got robbed. Somebody broke in and stole our flat screens, my laptop, and other stuff.
Me: Damn. Really? You get the cops involved.
Speedy: Yeh. They came through and dusted the crib. You know what's messed up, though?
Me: What?
Speedy: I think one of my friends did it.
Me: Why?
Speedy: Well, he's kind of shady like that. The day before my place got hit, he came through the crib to chill.
Me: Have you called him?
Speedy: Yeh and he ain't pickin up.
Me: First your cell phone, and now this. Wow. What's up with your choice of friends?
Speedy: Right?!? I guess I have a hard time pickin the people I roll with.