Something Breaks
I don't know if it was alcohol
that tipped him off the edge
or wounded pride
or if it was buried humiliation
that disturbed the surface
not buried deep enough
but his face flushed red
when I laughed at his made-up stories
that he told me:
how he always wanted a way out of his job
and was not booted out at all,
in fact it was all his idea to provoke his superiors
because he himself wanted out.
I knew the story wasn't true at all
(did he think I was so naive)
The truth was he chewed more than he could swallow
a case of heroics gone really wrong
I heard from people that
he tried apologizing,
and when he was booted out
he had tears in his eyes.
So, when he piped his bullshit story
just one more time
something broke in me
I told him he tried to lick his own spit
and in my contention
that is the lowest a man could go
and that I knew his story was phony all along.
I don't know
if ripping someone's mask is cruel —
maybe we are all wearing masks
and somebody will rip it someday
from our faces
like I did his
and it would be deemed
kindness.