Ok, hear me out:

Some years ago me and my friend (We’ll call him Hester), while travelling through a town somewhere in the western US, met an orphaned street kid, around 15 years old (Let’s call him Tacitus, after the roman philosopher). We were in our early 20’s, and quickly developed a bond with Tacitus. When he became of age, we decided to take him with us on our travels through the country, exploring the western USA, from California to the Dakotas.

Now, i have to include that the things we did to afford living were not always … legal. A lot of the money we earned involved robberies, schemes, scams and the like. We did have sort of a moral code, though, and only robbed people who looked they could sustain themselves even without the cash.

After a while, our friend group grew. Some time later, in November 2008 if i’m not mistaken, a guy (let’s call him Mitchell) saved me from getting beat up in a nasty bar altercation. He seemed inspired by my talks of freedom and independence, and we became friends quickly. He asked to travel with us, and of course i accepted.

Around 15 years ago, in May 08, me and my friends decided to rob a boat full of rich tourists (don’t judge, as we desperately needed the money). Though Tacitus was skeptical, we went through with it, because Mitchell convinced me. Long story short, it went very wrong, and a few people lost their lives, including people in my friend group. The boat was full of armed policemen, and it may have been a trap. This was pretty big in the news for a while, if you’re old you may remember, especially if you’re from the south.

Anyways, we had no choice but to flee east. We just kept having more trouble, and it seemed our luck had turned. It was impossible to stay anonymous as we did in the early 80’s, and i became sort of nefarious in the Texas area. Multiple scores went wrong, and it seemed as the police and government always seemed to know where we would hit next.

In late May of 09, we we’re trying to rob a score when my other friend of 25 years (call him Jim) got shot in the ribcage and fell out of the truck-bed of my truck. I told Tacitus to continue the robbery, while me and Mitchell turned back to get Jim. When we saw Jim on the ground, we knew he wouldn’t survive, and we had to hurry back to camp, so we left him there.

Now, a few days later, Tacitus suddenly rushed into our “camp” (some vans and trucks some tents) and accused Mitchell of being a “rat” and snitching to the government, giving them valuable information about us. He said he had found out through a government agent. Mitchell denied the allegations, but suddenly we saw Jim drive into our camp. He said I had left him to die. I i have to admit i got a little mad, since i thought he was going to die anyway.

Before the argument could escalate, a bunch of police cars came driving towards us. Long story short, we escaped onto a mountain on foot. Suddenly, i crossed a corner and saw Mitchell and Tacitus having a full blown fist-fight. I tried to break it up, but in the end Tacitus fell to the ground (did i mention that he had a terminal lung illness at the time). Tacitus accused Mitchell of being a rat, and Mitchell denied. Suddenly i had to choose, and i chose Mitchell, cuz he sounded most right.

The reason this case didn’t reach mainstream news is because the federal government didn’t want the public to know about their massive failure in hunting us down (lol), i guess?

Now, 15 years later, i’m sitting in a cabin with Mitchell and writing this (throwaway, as Mitchell knows my account). I have to admit i’m having second thoughts. What do you think, reddit? AITAH?