Friendship is a bond made over time but it can be broken in an instant. John and Paul have been friends for as far back as either of them could remember. Being anything  was uncharted territory. The two have always had small spats but never anything strong enough to threaten the bond time had created between the two.

John was there for Paul when Paul’s parents separated and eventually divorced. The two boys being so close their families were intertwined. Not one holiday passed without both families celebrating together. Both boys loved and respected the others parents holding them in the highest regard. When Paul told John about the separation of his parents John took it very hard himself, but had the awareness to keep his feelings in and not make it about himself. John would save his sadness for his time alone at home. His mind couldn’t escape the situation and his grades reflected this. Having John there to listen proved to be a huge help. Of the two boys Paul reflected much less social damage. Paul wasn’t exactly chipper but John was completely withdrawn. John’s teachers arranged meetings with his parents in suspicion. John’s parents were not happy about some of the allegations being suggested and became angry and confrontational. This reaction drew more suspicion from the school so they let CPS know of their concerns.

No family is “the Cleavers” even 10% of the time and every family has moments where they would fall short of the charm of “the Osborne’s”. Unfortunately for John and his family CPS decided to check things out during one of these less than optimal moments. Saying things didn’t go well would be true but still sugar coated. John’s family suffered humiliation, disgrace, and worst of all departure from each other.

The boys never talked of what had happened, but still the seed was planted deep in the back of each boys self conciseness. John’s a bitter resentment, and Paul a slight guilt. Though neither one ever directed any speech to what happened, there were things that John said that would leave Paul’s guilty insecure conscience to interpret John’s words incorrectly. Paul was never sure if John was hinting to the whole thing being Paul’s fault or not and didn’t want to open that can of worms and ask John what he meant exactly, so every time Paul felt this way he would get quiet and bury his guilt deep inside of him. With years and years of suppressed guilt taking its toll John could feel the seed growing. If you ignore a weed unaddressed it will grow and grow until it takes over the yard.