I rolled onto my back trying to ignore his snoring.

How can he sleep so soundly after what he did? After what I helped him do. How can he be so damned callus?

Opening my eyes, I stare at the water-stained ceiling illuminated in the red glow of the bedside clock. That damned thing is way too bright, but he likes the light it provides. I cursed and pulled the pillow over my face.

Why did I come along on this venture? I'm not sure if I still like him. I think of him as a partner. A friend. I trust him to have my back, but that may not be too smart. It's like a monkey having a grizzly as a companion trying not to look to much like a prime rib steak.

He called me last week, seven years after we graduated high school.

"Hey Cal, this is Kelvin Peyton from Bristone school. Remember me?"

Like there was any way I would forget the guy. I helped him in geometry, and we were best friends after that. Because he was six feet and close to two hundred pounds, I called him Hulk. He liked that, and he called me Robin, Batman's sidekick.

"Sure Hulk. It's good to hear from you. How've you been?"

"You mean since prison? Fine."

I almost dropped the phone, and then considered hanging up. He'd been nothing but kind and gentle back then.

I spoke the word in a whisper.

"Prison?"

"You didn't know?"

"N... No. I had no inkling. What happened?"

"Naah. It's not important. I'm back in Bristone, and I need your help. Can you meet me here?"

Bristone, Texas is a small, nothing, nowhere, city in the panhandle that kids move away from as soon as they can.

"It'll take a couple of days to rearrange my work. Is it important? Can you come here?"

"No, Cal. I need you here. Yes, it's important."

Now lying in the bed next to me is a man far from the nice kid I once knew. I'm here because he did need me. Does he still?

Hulk had a younger sister. She committed suicide. She had been shy, vulnerable, and too trusting. A jock had dated her, and they had become intimate. Upon his insistence, she took a nude photo of herself and texted it to him. He texted it to his buddies, and everyone at school began calling her a skank and worse.

Discovering the details of who the boyfriend was, the friends he sent the picture to, and the identities of those that sent her nasty texts, is why he needed me.

I have a degree in computer science, and have been working for an oil company in Houston for a couple of years. I supervise the IT department.

It was easy to retrieve the information from her computer and cell phone. We found her ex and the friends to whom he sent the pictures. Everything was there. The picture, the emails, and her Facebook account with all the nasty comments. Her picture had been spread throughout the school. She was a social outcast after the picture was posted.

Yesterday we found the ex and five of his friends playing a game of pick-up touch football. The stadium was empty and on the outskirts of town, so little traffic passed the area.

Hulk walked to the center of the field and took their football.

"Hey guys. I've been looking for you."

Hulk had muscled-up since high school. He told me he had little else to do while the was in prison than lift weights and exercise. Now at close to three hundred pounds of solid muscle, the boys were wide-eyed with surprise as if they were staring at King Kong.

"I'm Kevin Payton. That name mean anything to you?"

No one spoke, but with frowns they all shook their heads.

"I'm Kasey Payton's brother."

He didn't have to say anything more. All their faces showed fear.

"Hand me your cell phones." When they looked confused, he shouted, "Now!"

We followed them to the bleachers where they had their backpacks and wallets. Each handed his phone to Hulk, and he handed them to me.

"Sit," he commanded, and they all sat on the bleachers in a row.

Hulk grabbed the ex by his shirt and lifted him one-handed into the air. He punched him hard in the stomach. The boy curled with the blow, and Hulk placed him back on the bench doubled over his stomach.

"My sister didn't deserve what you all did to her."

They lowered their faces.

"Did she?"

They all shook their heads and some said, "No sir."

"I think she needs a little justice, don't you think?"

They remained quiet, but some began to cry.

"Don't you think?" he asked again.

They began to nod their heads.

"Strip."

They glanced at one another, and more tears came. Most were whimpering but not making any moves.

In a whisper, Hulk told them, "Stand up and take your clothes off. All of them."

One at a time they did as they were told.

"Stay standing, place your hands behind your back, and stand still. I'm going to take your pictures with each of your phones. Don't move as I take them. I'll take several. One individually and at least one as a group."

Then he did exactly as he promised.

"Now I want you to each take your phone back, text these pictures to all your contacts along with this message. 'I did a very cruel thing to Kasey Peyton when I forwarded a nude picture of her to my friends. I am partly responsible for her suicide, and it's only fair that I humiliate myself with these nude pictures of myself. I'm sorry for what I did'. Then post it."

We then collected the sim cards from each of their phones. Before we walked away, he told them, "Be kind to one another and to anyone hurting and in pain. I know pain. I've seen a lot of it in prison. I've dealt a lot of it. I also know cruelty. I've seen a lot of that too. Treat this as a life lesson. I don't want to have to find you and teach another. My partner and I will be watching your social media accounts."

We spent the night in rundown motel that he rented in his name. When he awoke, we said our goodbyes.

"Cal, thank you for your help."

"Hulk, you know one of them might report you."

"Maybe, but I know how to deal with prison. You don't have to worry. I'll never betray you to the cops."

I have all kinds of friends. Some I want close to me, and one I think about all the time but hope we never see each other again. I know he'll be there for me if I ever need him... and I'll be there for him. I'd be afraid not to. It's a strange friendship.