A Brick Through the Window

It can be sad when a friendship ends. But when one person commits a crime in the process of ending the relationship, that transposes the situation into a betrayal.

For many years, my brother Eric was friends with a married couple named Steve and Rachel. Steve owned a local bagel store and Eric worked there as a “fish slicer.” His knife skills were so renowned that people would pre-order their nova with the stipulation that Eric carve it up.

Rachel drifted from job to job, vaguely satisfied as a mother to their young daughter, a homemaker, and an occasional day worker at her friends’ businesses during seasonal peaks.

Even after Eric took a position at a software company in Manhattan, he remained loyal to Steve. In exchange for slicing fish on Sunday mornings, Eric could buy things at a discount, for family events such as breaking fast after Yom Kippur or a Passover seder.

Eric had another friend accused of a horrific, publicized crime. Many of his peers were compelled by their parents to abandon the man. But Eric hosted him at our house (waving at undercover police who tracked his friend’s every movement). People whose families were impacted by the misdeeds descended on Steve’s store to demand that he fire Eric for “consorting” with an alleged felon. Steve kicked them out, declaring “His friendships have nothing to do…