Lifetime Friends

 My friendship with Fausto began when we were nine years old, give or take a year or two. This was around the time my mother owned a restaurant.  Fausto’s father used to come to eat, drink and play billiards.  I would enjoy the occasional challenge of eight ball with him.  One day, he brought his two sons with him; Fausto and Carlos. Little did we realize that was where and when our friendship would grow.

 When I was about twelve or thirteen, my mother closed the restaurant, and our friendship began to dim. To be completely honest, I almost forgot about them. My life was very complicated throughout those years and weighed on my mind heavily.  Fate has a mysterious way of unraveling situations, though. Fast-forward… I am now fourteen. Being the first day of high school, walking up the stairs, I meet this one Hispanic kid in a predominantly black school. I proceed to ask him where he was from. To my surprise, he is also of Dominican heritage. I tell him that as Hispanics we need to stick together. Little did I know who I was speaking to, even after he told me his name.

In the reality of forgetting my friends, my mother takes me to one of her friends’ baby showers, and there was Fausto and Carlos’ mother. When I spoke to Carlos at the party, he told me that they used to go to the restaurant with their father and that Fausto went to the same school as me. That was when it hit me. That kid from the stairs, my first friend in high school, was none other than Fausto!

As timid as he acted in school, I barely recognized him. Yet, from there on out our friendship developed into something greater. He became my brother, always having each other’s backs and we did everything together. I remember when I began to trust him completely as if it were yesterday.  We were at the park, a block away from our high school, playing handball. It was then a random girl asked me about the phone that I had. It was a Sidekick LX. The phone was popular at the time, so the girl said to me “You have a Sidekick?” and I replied, “Yes”. She warned me “Watch out.” Fausto and I were leaving the park when we realized two guys across the street following us. I turned to Fausto and said, “Be prepared for anything”, clenching our fists. We were ready for confrontation as we continued walking. He didn’t fear, he didn’t flinch. He was ready for anything. I knew I could trust him with anything from there on out.

Even though Fausto might have thought I was brave, I was not. I thought he was timid and shy but really, I was the one who was not courageous. I had to become brave because I could not let something happen to him. If I showed weakness, then our bond would be weak. He stood tall, encouraging me. He not only made me believe in him, but he also made me believe in myself.

My friendship with Fausto has changed me and helped me become a stronger individual.  If you ever need someone to be there for you, or someone to talk to, or someone to talk you out of a stupid decisiosn…that is who Fausto is. His friendship means a lot to me, he is and will always be my brother!

-Dieris Rojas (Personal Friend)