He threw away our friendship over money. I know that ours is not a rare case and in fact very common. But it still hurt so much. I don’t know what run in his mind when he decided to stop talking to me. I do know that he was mad at me for getting mad at him. He had gone bonkers over alcohol and his family problems and his ego. He couldn’t take the fact that his wife is the one earning money for the family. He’s the man and in his mind, he should be the one working to feed his wife and two kids. What can he do? He is an undergraduate. And he’s sick, too! He can only do so much.

But his pride got in the way. And alcohol. He bungled the work I gave him. Of course I wouldn’t pay him for it! He knew the conditions and he was mad that I got mad at his sloppy work.

The money he owed me is irrelevant. The number of years we’ve been friends that he just threw away is the one that I regret the most.