From the Novel Saving Miguel - Friends for Life?



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Since social media came onto the scene several years ago, the meaning of friend has taken on a whole different meaning. To say the least, the meaning of 'friend' has lost some of its zing. On social media, we can now 'friend' someone with the touch of a mouse and unfriend them just as easily. The true meaning of friendship has been somewhat diluted in our modern social media world.

Wizard of Oz - four unlikely characters forging
the friendship of a lifetime.   

In Saving Miguel, it was my intent to capture the true and somewhat forgotten meaning of friendship. In Saving Miguel, three people with widely different backgrounds, come together under adverse circumstances and a friendship is forged out of the common goal of, in this case, staying alive. The friendship in Saving Miguel between Mo, Miguel, and Cookie was first built on common convenience but ended up being forged out of hardened steel that should last their lifetimes. In blue below, there is an outtake from Saving Miguel, where the three unlikely friends, are thrust together on a terrifying adventure where they routinely must face life and death circumstances.

Miguel just laid there, his dark eyes spilling tears onto the bank vault’s floor. He did not understand why these people had hurt him. He had not done anything to them. The dirty bandage on his hand grew red as the stub of his finger bled. Soon Miguel was too exhausted to cry and he passed out,

entering a nightmare-filled sleep. Mo watched over Miguel, sobbing and blaming himself for letting the boy down.
 

Once Mo saw that Miguel was asleep, he walked over and checked on Cookie. Cookie’s swollen and bruised face had several large contusions that were oozing blood down the front of his white t-shirt. His breathing was irregular and he was coughing up blood. Mo could not tell if Cookie had any

broken bones, but the way the gang members had kicked him, it was more than likely.

Cookie opened up a swollen eye, peering up at Mo through his bloodshot eye.
 

“You done taught dem boys,” Mo told Cookie, sobbing uncontrollably.
 

Cookie tried to smile, but his face was far too bruised and swollen. Mo looked around for something to wipe the blood from Cookie’s face, but all the gang members had left in the vault were a gallon jug of water and a bedpan. Mo unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. He then stripped off his t-shirt

and put his shirt back on, buttoning it up. He walked over to the water jug and doused his t-shirt with water. Then, he walked back over to Cookie.

“Dis t-shirt ain’t so clean, but gonna have to do.”
 

He carefully cleaned Cookie’s face, wiping off the blood with his wet t-shirt. Cookie winced when Mo rubbed too hard or in the wrong place, but Mo kept cleaning and yakking to himself. Cookie coughed up more blood, his breathing more labored than before. Cookie grabbed Mo’s hand and held it tight. Mo peered into Cookie’s good eye and saw something in Cookie he had never seen before: fear. Mo broke down and cried, holding his friend’s hand.

What are the key ingredients for a true friendship? Movies, television and books are loaded with examples of unlikely friendships. One particular television series that my wife and I enjoyed was Breaking Bad. The two main characters, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, have a strange relationship. The relationship has all or most of the earmarks of a friendship. Together, they have created a business, fought bad guys and good guys, and have common business goals. But, can we say that Walter and Jesse have a friendship? My three characters in Saving Miguel have also faced adversity, but is there a difference between their friendship and that of Walter and Jesse? If so, what are those differences?  

Read Saving Miguel and I believe you will discover the true friendship that I have written about. Available at Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and better booksellers globally.

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