My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth … Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Proverbs 6:1-2,4
Diego’s handshake was firm, his smile contagious.
“Júlio, you’re not just a friend, you’re a brother. You are saving my dream!” he said from across the polished desk of the bank manager.
Júlio felt a pang of discomfort, a small siren that went off somewhere in the back of his mind. But he ignored it. How could he say “no”? Diego was his childhood friend, his daughter’s godfather. And the business seemed so promising: a gourmet coffee shop in a trendy neighborhood. Júlio, a civil servant with a stable life and well-kept savings, seemed like the perfect guarantor.
“It’s just a formality, man. The bank requires it,” Diego had said. And Júlio, snared by the words of a friend, signed the contract.
For the first few months, everything seemed fine. Diego posted photos of the crowded coffee shop, of the coffee cups with elaborate latte art, of the five-star reviews. Júlio felt proud, a part of that success.
The first call came on a Tuesday afternoon. It was from the bank. A polite but firm voice informed him that Diego’s loan payment was late.
“This is just to make you aware, sir, as the guarantor.”
Júlio called Diego, who laughed it off.
“Oh, man, relax. It was just a cash flow problem. I’ll take care of it right away.”
But the call was repeated the following month. And the next. The voice from the bank was no longer so polite. Diego’s dream was subtly becoming Júlio’s nightmare.
He began to lose sleep. Every time his phone rang, his heart would race. He saw himself caught in a snare that he himself had helped to tie. He was the animal that, out of naivety, had put its head in the hunter’s trap.
The situation climaxed when an official letter arrived: a notice of debt execution. The bank was coming after Júlio’s assets. Panic swallowed him. His apartment, his family’s future, everything he had built with such prudence was at risk because of a signature.
He went to the coffee shop. The place was nearly empty. Diego, once vibrant and confident, looked haggard and evasive.
“Júlio, I swear I’ll figure something out!” he promised, but his words sounded hollow.
That night, Júlio did not sleep. He paced back and forth in his living room. He could no longer wait for Diego to solve it. He needed to act.
The next morning, humbled, he went to the bank manager.
“What is my situation? What do I need to do to get out of this?”
The manager was direct. The debt was high. The only way to get out of the snare was to pay it.
Júlio spent the hardest week of his life. He had to withdraw most of his savings, the money he was keeping for his daughter’s college. He sold his car. He asked a cousin for a small loan. He humbled himself, pleaded, and raced against time.
In the end, with a cashier’s check in his hands, he paid off Diego’s debt. The feeling was not one of relief, but of a deep and bitter exhaustion.
He met Diego at the bank’s entrance. He handed him the payment receipt.
“I paid it,” Júlio said, his voice devoid of emotion. “I am free. And so are you.”
Tears streamed down Diego’s face.
“I’m so sorry, Júlio. I’ll pay you back, I swear…”
“No, Diego,” Júlio interrupted, not with anger, but with a cold sadness. “You won’t. Because our friendship did not survive this.”
Júlio turned his back and walked away. He had lost a friend and a large part of his savings. But as he walked home, he felt something he had not felt in months. A lightness. That night, for the first time in a long time, he laid his head on the pillow and slept. A deep, dreamless sleep. He had escaped. The prey, wounded and wiser, was finally free from the hand of the hunter.
(Made with AI)
This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom
https://books2read.com/u/3knogL
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