"What are we doing with our lives?" asked Dave like a comedian. "I haven`t seen you in a year and a half, and we`re sitting here talking about a crappy movie. I mean, I don`t think I`ve seen you since& my wedding."

　　"I guess it has been that long. How`s Elizabeth?"

　　"She`s doing well. She`s working hard; she just started a new work-from-home job a few months ago."

　　"Yeah? I`m trying to find work right now myself."

　　"You know, you should get a job here. Come work nights with me. It`d be great to have a friend around."

　　"I can`t do that, man."

　　"Why not?"

　　"I just can`t."

　　"I mean, the pay and benefits are good enough."

　　"I`ve got meetings that I go to. I can`t work nights."

　　"Meetings?"

　　"Yeah, meetings."

　　"What kind of meetings?" asked Dave. He gave a sideways glance. "Are you in a cult or something?"

　　"No!" laughed Billy.

　　"Well, what kind of meetings?"

　　"...Uh, A.A. meetings."

　　"Oh! Good for you!" said Dave.

　　When that tooth was pulled, a breath of life flooded the conversation. Some things get to be said with a little chuckle; some are said with a little wince.

　　"You have a problem? I knew you smoked a lot, but I never really thought of you as a heavy drinker. I guess I just wasn`t there for it."

　　"Yeah. I`m still not sure how to feel about it, I guess. I blacked out for a month, and the next thing I knew, one of my friends was driving me to Alabama in the middle of the night. You remember Trevor, right? From college."A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

　　"No, I never met a Trevor. Wow though. Good guy. I wish I could have been there for you. I wouldn`t have known what to do though."

　　"No, it`s fine. I wasn`t really reaching out anymore. You get to a point where it`s easier to sink than swim. What happens next feels natural."

　　"Man... I just wish I could have done something. Kudos to you though. I`m proud of you for getting yourself together. I guess I kind of watched Cliff go through the same thing; I didn`t know what to do for him, and I wouldn`t have known what to do for you."

　　"What happened to Cliff? I haven`t seen him since your wedding either."

　　"Awe, we had a falling out when I needed his help selling fireworks last summer."

　　"This past summer?"

　　"No, the one before, right after the wedding."

　　"Oh yeah. I remember you asking me for help with that, but I couldn`t."

　　"Yeah, I don`t want to go into details on what happened. We just had a falling out. I want to hear your story. What was going on?"

　　"I was having a hard time. I was working too much because I didn`t have any money because I was spending it all on alcohol to help me deal with working too much. I met a lot of people in rehab who did a lot of messed up things. Stealing, mostly, but it`s never as simple as that. We all kind of put each other`s mistakes into perspective.

　　"I thought I was normal," Billy went on. "I used to work at this call center, and I`d fill up my cup with rum before I went in. I always had a two-liter of Dr. Pepper in the car, and I`d pour some in just for coloring. I thought everyone was doing that, that everyone was on something. I thought it was normal to just try and make it through the day."

　　"That`s heavy man. I`m glad you`re here."

　　"Thanks. I`d do that every day. Then my bosses found out when a cup spilled, and I got fired. They were nice people, some old guy and his wife. One spilled cup broke the cycle. I blacked out for a month and woke up in another state."

　　"How do you feel now?"

　　"Well, even though I don`t have a real job, I have a lot more money now that I`m not spending it on drugs and booze."

　　"Good for you, man. I`m really happy for you," said Dave. He took another sip from the paper cup. "Happy for you: it`s weird and phenomenal that people can do that."

　　"What do you mean?" asked Billy.

　　"I mean, I don`t think humanity could flourish as it has without delighting in the success of others, but that`s such a complicated thing to do. You have to tell me your story, I have to understand it enough to feel what you felt, and then it creates the response in my brain that says I`m glad you`re okay!` And this can happen with anyone. Close friends. Strangers. I`m telling you, man, empathy is a kind of black magic."

　　"You callin` me a wizard?"

　　Dave laughed. "Maybe I am. You hungry?"

　　"I could go for something, I guess."

　　"Let`s go across the street; I want a burger from somewhere that isn`t here."

　　They tossed their trash and headed to the new burger joint, journeying through the gray city on the windy autumn afternoon.