Part 19: John's Confession

Everyone had sat around their respective campfires. They were enjoying eating some of the boar that McKay had prepared for them. It would keep them from starving for the next few days until the rescue party arrived.

Tony munched on the meat. He remembered eating boar in Somalia with his fellow marines after they shot a wild one. This one tasted much better. John sat next to him, eating his meat. He sipped on some water to wash it down. The blind doctor was interested how his senses were getting more and more attuned to the people he knew. He could tell something was up about John, and the shot he made earlier today. “John, can we talk?” he asked.

“About what, man?” John said, mouth half full of boar meat.

“You won a silver metal in the Olympics.”

“Yeah.” He whispered.

“Quite frankly I find that hard to believe. Not many men could have made the shot you made.”

“It was luck. Nothing more.”

“If what McKay said was true, then it wasn’t luck. It was trained skill. Skill that I don’t think could have made a silver metal.”

“It’s not a big deal, Tony.” John grunted, “Let’s just drop it, okay?”

Tony sat silent for a second. John was huffing and puffing, massaging his three day beard. The blind doctor still waited. The archer sniffed as he was about to cry. “You don’t know how hard it is.” He whispered.

“What is hard, John?” asked Tony.

“To make people believe you are no good when the truth is your better than all the rest.”

“I’m afraid I still don’t understand.”

“Back in America, people don’t worry about what kind of metal you win. Sure they want you to win the gold, but if you win an actual metal, it’s just as good. It’s not the same way in foreign countries, like Spain for instance.”

“You speak of your friend Ramon?”

“Yeah, Ramon was my best friend. He did everything he could to win the gold in the previous tournaments. He either would win brass, silver or nothing at all. He told me if he didn’t win the gold, he would be exiled from his country. Not literally but everyone would look down on him.”

“So what happened?”

“What else could have happened? Like I said, it’s hard to act that bad without really being so.”

“You missed . . . .on purpose?” Tony asked.

“I let Ramon have the gold. Hell, I couldn’t even tell him I did it. He was so full of himself that he didn’t even believe it was possible. Ramon was only barely an archer. If he was shooting for crap, he couldn’t even get a whiff!”

John massaged his face, leaning over. Tony could hear the anguish in his voice. He realized he might have been wanting to confess this for some time. “Forgive me, John,” Tony whispered, “But it sounds like you were a better friend to him than he was to you.”

“He took my gold,” John cried, “He took care of me. We traveled the world together and did numerous tournaments. I won those but not the Olympian gold. I shouldn’t resent it but I do.”

“It’s natural. You know what you are and you know what Ramon was.”

“It cost me my wife, did you know that?” John chuckled through his tears.

“Huh?”

“She left me. Said she couldn’t be with second best. I guess this made me also see her for who she was too but I secretly resented letting Ramon win. God, I was such an idiot.”

“You were just helping your friend. There can be no wrong in that.”

John wiped his tears, and looked to his blind friend. Tony had heard his confession and he didn’t judge him. He might even be the truest friend he had been searching for his entire life. Tony took a deep breath and turned his head toward John. “We have something in common, you know?”

“What’s that?” asked John.

“My wife left me too.”

John smirked and then playfully punched the blind doctor in the arm. “Ain’t we pair, eh, Doc?”

“Yeah, “ Tony chuckled, “The blind man and the second rate archer against the world.”

The two friends laughed their new personal jokes to one another. Their laughter was echoed to the others who enjoyed seeing them bond. They continued to eat their meal as the embers of the campfire floated into the heavens.