My+Memoir-Joel+C.

My Memoir By: Joel C.

You can only tell who is your friend by what they will do for you, not what you do for them. A true friend will not threaten you or use you to get what they want. As a little kid it is hard to tell the difference between a good friend and a fake friend. I couldn’t tell the difference.

When I was 7 years old I went to my friend Brian’s house. When I got there we hung out for a while and played with his game systems. After a while his Mom said she would drive us down with her to do her groceries and we could get a doughnut or some candy. Once we got to the store I decided to get candy over a doughnut. Brian and I stood in the candy isle admiring the bodacious amounts of chocolate and sweets. “Ohh look at how big dis choc-lit is.” Brian exclaimed to me while holding up a chocolate bar that must have weighed more than him. “Lets go in and axc my Mom if we cin get it.” Brian said while half dragging and half carrying the chocolate down the isle. When we found his mom looking for whole wheat bread Brian begged her to get the chocolate. “Hey Mom can we get this choc-lit?” Brian pleaded. “How about we get a smaller chocolate because that seems really big.” Brian’s Mom replied. “Awe come on! You never let us get anything.” Brian said walking back to the candy isle. When we got to the candy isle Brian told me he wouldn’t be my friend if I didn’t smuggle the chocolate into my sweatshirt pocket. Since I wasn’t that smart and he was probably my only friend I agreed to it. When we started to walk out of the store his Mom noticed the large lump in my pocket. “What’s in your pocket Joel?” She asked me. “Nothing…” I said back not knowing what to say. She reached her hand in my pocket and pulled out the massive chocolate. “Did Brian tell you to steel this?” The word steel startled me. Thinking that it was something only a criminal would do. I looked over to Brian who was moving his hand back and forth under his neck. “No.” I replied to his Mom innocently. “Well if you guys really wanted it that badly I guess we can get it.” She told us not knowing how to react around Brian’s new thieving friend. Brian gave me a look that said, now we got the chocolate and I didn’t get in trouble.

When Brian’s Mom caught me that day I had the feeling that I had just killed someone. The guilt was so intense that I had stomachaches for days to come. Brian isn’t my friends anymore because of that incident… or isn’t my fake friend anymore. I’ve learned to choose my friends wisely and I try to avoid making the wrong decisions. Brian had got me in trouble but still taught me something. He taught me about the real friends, fake friends and not to smuggle chocolate into your pocket because you will get caught most of the time.