I mentioned Nick Miller was a good friend of mine by the time I graduated high school. The thing about Nick, at times, was he could come off as really racist. Which baffled me, because, Nick had no legit reason to be so angry at say, people from Ireland. And he made fun of African Americans too, using a variety of that word we all know, and most of us avoid saying, like, ever.

Well, dumbass Nick. Makes a post on Facebook, I believe. Talking shit about people from the Mid East. Dropped the word, sand n-word.

Turns out our mutual friend Adam, his father, was from Dubai. Which means Adam read that, and took it personal. I mean, why wouldn’t he? I think people always kind of thought of Nick as the Eric Cartman of the group. Just, straight up delusional in his obnoxious statements sometimes.

Well, Adam straight up said, I’m going to find you, when I return to the states. He was visiting Dubai, on vacation.

Nick is at a party. I wasn’t there. Guess who magically shows up? That’s right, Adam.

Adam didn’t whoop Nick’s ass, but since Nick dishonored him, I think he popped Nick in the face, pretty good. He embarrassed and humiliated Nick in front of everyone else at the party. And like any good showdown, the audience was quiet, watching to see what would ensue.

Nick took it, because deep down Nick knew he really fucked up. Nick probably realized, he shouldn’t have said what he said.

If you’ve got friends that are part of the minority, saying racist shit… Well, duh, ya dumbass, what do think is going to happen, if you do that? Nothing positive will come of it, I’ll tell you that much.

Then, I heard about Mike. Ironically, I met Mike’s younger brother, who was also named Nick, before I even knew Nick had a brother, specifically Mike.

Nick, was, well- kind of an odd, pudgy stoner. He wasn’t obese, but he for sure didn’t work out, or eat healthy. Which, who cares, not that big of a deal. It’s not like I was in warrior shape myself. But, there’s a reason I mention these aspects of Nick, younger brother of Mike. Nick, was a beta, which, is fine. I pretty much am a beta, or a sigma, myself. I’m not an alpha, really. So, in my mind, I heard about Mike, and I thought, “well, his brother Nick is a stoner without care, Mike can’t be much different”. I was soooo wrong.

Come to find out, Mike was indeed a fucking apex Viking dude. He was a fighter, and a lover, too. But Mike, when I finally befriended Nick Miller, told me about Mike. And the other friends of Mike, that were our friends, verified the same thing about Mike.

Stories existed of battles between the Tongans and the Vikings. From different high schools. They’d show up at a location, and fucking battle. Sometimes with weapons, often times with fists. People nearly died, went the ER. I mean, that’s hardcore. To seek that out? That’s a real, genuine Viking.

At one point, I went out with these stoner athletes into the desert to drink and smoke and have fun. We’re all hanging out, and this is the first time I ever see Mike, even before I knew about him. Apparently Derek, pulled some fuck shit on Mike. Mike was also in the ER because of the shit Derek pulled. I dunno what happened, but Mike got jumped by thugs with brass knuckles. You do the math.

Anyway, Mike rolls up with two other Viking looking dudes. So, three of them… And maybe like seven or eight of us, who rolled there together. We technically had them outnumbered. But, I had no fucking idea what happened.

MIke confronts Derek, who’s fucked up (stupid choice, Derek). And Mike calls him out. Then, he doesn’t fight him, or maybe he says, “you wanna square off, Derek?” Derek said no. The rest of us, quiet as a church mouse. The other guys must’ve known Derek had seriously fucked up, and so- none of us really had Derek’s back. Kind of like, “you’re on your own this time, Derek”. Derek had dishonored MIke.

Mike basically said, “if you do that shit again, I’ll fucking kill you, do you understand?” He said it, and that was the first time I could tell someone was serious about their promise of murderous violence. Derek accepted without saying much at all. Then, Mike and his Viking friends, rolled off back out into the desert, just disappeared.

Derek was a fighter too, by the way… But even Derek knew, Mike would whoop his ass, any given day.

I heard that Mike had such crisp punches. That he really knew how to throw a mean-ass punch, and inflict serious damage with his fists. My buddies also told me, Mike really fucking knew how to fight. It was almost magical, watching him throw down, is what I heard.

Never saw Mike fight. In fact, I pissed him off over a misunderstanding of trying to get some cannabis. I asked Nick Miller about it, and he thought Mike had kind of overreacted. I thought so too, but deep down… I knew that that was just who Mike was. He wasn’t a Christian, at all. Mocked the Christians, in fact. Mike, I really don’t believe showed mercy or forgiveness to anyone. Which, you know, is indeed a badass warrior thing. But at the same time, I stopped talking to Mike. Because, I didn’t want to piss him off to the point that I got my teeth knocked in. Because, I’m not really a Viking mofo. I grew up soft, in a non-denomination Christian church. I didn’t really have an urge to fight, or inflict violence on others. And I kind of realized, best to just leave Mike be.

Mike was a cool dude, but if you said pussy bitch shit, that angered him profoundly. And, I’ve said some pussy bitch shit. So I knew, best to just part ways.

But I’ll always remember that I knew a real badass, when I was still pretty damn young. I wouldn’t say Mike and I were ever friends, more mutual friends of friends, but it was cool to see how he viewed the world, and people in it.