A belated apology

When I saw the message on Whatsapp I thought it was a joke, it said it was about an old friend I hadn't heard from in over forty years.

I didn't remember that I had ever given him my old cell phone number and if I had my current number was relatively recent. But in this day and age it is very easy for someone with a little skill to get your phone number, it is data available on the ways of the internet.

As a precautionary measure I demanded that he show me some current photos, I knew he lived in San Francisco, USA, where he had married another old friend, an acquaintance of mine from when we were all teenagers. He sent me the photos and I had no doubts. Although the passage of time had left its mark on his face, his features were those of the young man I had known.

After a few messages he told me that he would be in Caracas for a few days and was interested in meeting me. I told him that I was now living in Maracay, but he insisted that we meet in Caracas, in the hotel where he was staying. He was so insistent that I gave in to his request, I told him that the next morning I would go to meet him.

At mid-morning I took the bus to Caracas, during the two-hour trip I kept thinking about the reasons for that unexpected meeting. It is true that in my adolescence that man and I had been friends, but his bad actions put an end to that friendship and since his departure to the United States I never heard from him again.

When I arrived at the hotel terrace he was already sitting there waiting for me. I pronounced his name a little coldly, he looked at me with a hint of a smile on his lips and invited me to sit down. He ordered two coffees and started the conversation...

-I imagine you must be surprised, he began in a neutral voice, but after so many years I wanted to clarify a few things with you.

From that moment on, the tone of his words became warmer and warmer.

-I admit that as a boy I wasn't the best in the world, I didn't even have the slightest idea of the value of friendship. I was so wrapped up in my own affairs that I thought only of my own personal gain. That's why I caused so much discomfort to people like you who helped me when I was in trouble.

-I would like you to tell your mother that I thank her for everything she did for me during those years. She always treated me with great affection and she must have been very sad when she found out that I was the one who took your guitar and some other things from the house.

-I would like you to tell her that I was no thief, just a naughty boy, aimless and tempted by great adventures.

At this point of the conversation, which was more like a monologue than a conversation, I listened to him with enthusiasm, it seemed to me that his words were honest and that there was a certain intention of repentance in them. I just watched him attentively and with my eyes I invited him to continue.

-I don't know when the idea of going to the United States came to me, he continued, but one fine day I found myself making plans to leave, almost fifty years have passed since that decision. At that time they didn't even ask for a visa, it was enough to have an updated passport to be allowed to enter.

-Even when I had collected some money I still didn't complete the ticket, so in the most irresponsible way I decided to take advantage of the trust they had in me, I took your Fender guitar, the one you were so excited about, and an old wristwatch that they always had on the dining room table. I sold those two things, completed my ticket and left the country...

-More than once over the years I thought of communicating with you to apologize, not with the intention of getting back to some kind of friendship but to give my conscience some peace, but I thought you would probably be so angry that you didn't want to hear from me. So I thank you for agreeing to listen to me this morning.

I can't say that those words had touched me deeply, deep in my heart I was still very disappointed with the way he acted. However, I had no trouble accepting his apology, it was what he expected.

-Calm down, I told him, we all make mistakes at some point. The important thing is that you had the courage to recognize it and the intention to apologize. That's enough for me.

After those words I got up from the table and said goodbye, however I could read in his eyes the invitation to continue talking, but something in my mind predisposed me to continue with him.

On my way back to Maracay I was thinking how easy it can be to break a friendship, how easy it can be to reduce to ashes the feelings that once were noble and pure... I thought that maybe in my heart resentment still lived...

Thank you for your time.