Okay, so this requires some explanation, yes?

Zach is Lena's boyfriend of around 2, maybe 3 years. Before Zach was Sam, who is a friend of mine. Sam broke up with Lena, out of the blue. She was quite upset. Zach is a lot like Sam, but a lot more insecure. He's one of those One Up guys, always has to one up whatever story and/or anecdote you're telling.

And so, end of July I had a housewarming party, in honor of my new apartment. Zach, Lena and Sam attend. Sam and Lena haven't spoken since they broke up, so naturally they spend a large part of the night catching up. This drives Zach into a quiet frenzy. Eventually, Sam tells me he's leaving for another party, popular guy that he is. He tells me this in my office, where Zach, Lena and my other friend Tony also happen to be. It occurs to me then to photograph this moment, the three of them together in the same room, everybody's friends! They agree, only slightly annoyed, pose and i hit the button. AND THAT'S WHEN I HEAR THAT DREADED SOUND THAT INDICATES THAT THERE IS NO FILM IN THE CAMERA. Groans all around. I quickly reload, but the moment's gone. Unfortunately, having missed a shot like that, I'm now a dog with a bone. I keep trying to get them to pose again, and now everyone's becoming quite annoyed. Finally some other guy walks into the room, sees that i'm trying to take a picture, jumps in between lena & sam and i take the shot. i'll settle for anything at this point.

sam leaves. the room is a bit awkward now.

here's where it gets interesting.

Tony, being drunk, starts doing a breakdancing move, can't recall which one. We laugh. Zach goes into one-up mode, mentions that this move was only invented a few years ago. At which point tony, lena and myself call shenanigans, and i say "see, this is white people right here, thinking they invented everything."

he finds this insulting, and begins to flick Skittles at my head. I tell him to stop. He does it again. I tell him to stop again, or i'll have to do something. He does it again, so I PUSH HIM INTO THE WALL.

{it's probably important to mention here that the two times I told him to stop, i was only saying "stop" in my head. out loud i said nothing. which may have been a tactical error.}

As his back hits the wall, i see his face turn bright red, RED LINE, he's obviously about to hit me. but he doesn't. he holds it in. Then says "over the line, man," and storms out. Lena, of course has to follow him.

She comes back in about 10 minutes later, trying to figure out what happened. I tell her not to worry about it, i'll call him and apologize.

But I don't. Because I realize I don't really like the guy. Don't like his constant brinksmanship(hope i used that word right). Don't like his constant misappropriation of black culture, like he was raised in the ghetto. but only when he talks to me. Dude, I wasn't even born in the ghetto. So I decide, fuck it, I have no problem not ever talking to this guy again.

But I am friends with Lena. So that's kind of kaput now.

Also, they're my neighbors, so now we get great situations like last night, where i bumped into them at the market, and had to awkwardly converse w/lena while zach ignored me.

Thoughts?

Related tags:

portrait, enemy

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