Straight out of high school Mick's uncle landed Mick and me second-shift jobs at a textile factory. I asked Mick what the company manufactured. Gigantic rolls of something, he said. From three until ... [+]
We weren't quite yet old enough for a high school reunion, and not quite close enough to become Facebook friends or follow each other on Twitter. And yet, here we were. Jack had been one of my best friends for a solid few years in my youth. Now, he was strangely yet certainly a full-grown man, with a little world-weariness in his eyes. He was also the cashier at the gas station I was grabbing a soda from, something that would have made me drive to the one across town if I'd known. He was a nice guy, he really was. I just didn't really have a desire to talk to him.Growing up, we'd played lots o