The Better of Me

"Don't ever wax philosophically with authority figures, especially if there's a chance they may be armed."
--Rufus Oglethorpe

The day I was discharged from the hospital, my father and I walked outside into the parking lot and there I saw the old man who had bummed me a cigarette. He was standing next to a police officer and looking none to happy about it.

"Rufus,"I said.

"Nathan," he said.

I was glad the old man remembered my name.

"What's all this about?" I pointed at the cop.

"Let's just say that my philosophy got the better of me."

When I had met him he had a beard. It was gone now.

The cop put a hand on his weapon and my father grabbed my shoulders to move me away.

"You going to jail, Rufus?"

"One way to say it," he smiled. "Another way to say it is I'm going back."

"I'm gonna get a milkshake," I said.

And he laughed.

I was dead sure I'd never see him again.