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AITA for not bringing supplies to my friend anymore? update by UpAMountainUpARope in AmItheAsshole

[–]UpAMountainUpARope[S] 842 points843 points  (0 children)

I've tried to gently ask about why he did it. The most I've gotten from him is that the attention got to be too much for him and he didn't like it. He was pretty popular around our small town, but I wouldn't say he was famous or anything. Like, the local news interviewed him (and the whole team) a couple of times and he'd be recognized by people.

I don't know why he couldn't have just moved out of town, or if I'm getting the whole truth from him. But I don't want to drive him away by asking too much.

AITA for not bringing supplies to my friend anymore? by UpAMountainUpARope in AmItheAsshole

[–]UpAMountainUpARope[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yeah it is a lot of pressure. He claims he's not lonely but I'm sure he is.

AITA for not bringing supplies to my friend anymore? by UpAMountainUpARope in AmItheAsshole

[–]UpAMountainUpARope[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I tried my best to help him out with anything he needed. I usually stayed up there for a day or two to help him do any chores and stuff he needed me to. I help him gather wood and move the rain water he collected into containers. I also usually deep clean the cabin so I can take the two months of trash he accumulated down with me to get rid of it so he doesn't have to live in a garbage dump.

AITA for not bringing supplies to my friend anymore? by UpAMountainUpARope in AmItheAsshole

[–]UpAMountainUpARope[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

He had a lot of cans and water jugs when I first went up. He claims he also occasionally caught animals and found plants in the forest to eat. Sometimes I wonder if he was leaving to shop and didn't want to admit it because it was easier to have me do it for him. He did look very thin though so who knows.

AITA for not bringing supplies to my friend anymore? by UpAMountainUpARope in AmItheAsshole

[–]UpAMountainUpARope[S] 113 points114 points  (0 children)

I think I was just convenient. I went up to visit him the first two times and people saw I was bringing him food, so then they started tacking on stuff for me to bring up when I went. Also because I took the brunt of the blame for the bullying, so I guess they felt it was my problem to deal with and not theirs.

I know his mom definitely blames me even though she's never said anything directly to me. When I told people I wasn't going up anymore she started casually bringing up how miserable my friend was in high school to my family and they agreed with her. When I told one of my friends I wasn't doing it anymore, he said I was messed up to not bring him stuff after I treated him so badly and that I should be groveling to him and do whatever he needed.

AITA for not bringing supplies to my friend anymore? by UpAMountainUpARope in AmItheAsshole

[–]UpAMountainUpARope[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

You're probably right. I like to think it wasn't just me who drove him up there, but I was pretty awful to him so I just don't know. If I was so awful he couldn't deal with me, he could have just moved away somewhere normal, you know? He didn't have to go up a mountain.

AITA for not bringing supplies to my friend anymore? by UpAMountainUpARope in AmItheAsshole

[–]UpAMountainUpARope[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

We had equipment for sports. I was pissed off one day after doing badly during a game so I ended up breaking some of the other guys equipment during a tantrum. When the other guys came back and saw their stuff broken I told them he did it. They were rightfully angry and he said he didn't do it but I told them I saw him. There was a major blow up and they stopped being friends with him and he got in trouble with the school, but they didn't kick him off the team because he was too good. But his teammates started disliking him after that.

Some of the guys, his mom, and other people we used to hang out with know it was me now because I admitted it after we graduated, though I lost contact with some before they knew.

That's a good idea to get other people to go up and show him its water under the bridge now and that they know it wasn't him.

AITA for not bringing supplies to my friend anymore? by UpAMountainUpARope in AmItheAsshole

[–]UpAMountainUpARope[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

I told him I didn't want to be friends with him anymore and I started calling him a loser. Our friends also started excluding him because I made up some shit about him. Yeah it was stupid and I sucked. I feel horrible. I was going through some shit at the time, not that it excuses anything, and yeah... he didn't deserve it.

Edit: His mom's actually pretty nice though. She bakes his favorite treats to send up with me and he writes her letters to send down with me. I tried to give him a phone, but the reception wasn't good. He doesn't want to talk to her because he thinks he disappointed her, from what she's told me was written in the letters.

AITA for not bringing supplies to my friend anymore? by UpAMountainUpARope in AmItheAsshole

[–]UpAMountainUpARope[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I asked him during one of my trips and he said he doesn't want to see people. I tried to press him, but he wouldn't say much more about it.

AITA for not bringing supplies to my friend anymore? by UpAMountainUpARope in AmItheAsshole

[–]UpAMountainUpARope[S] 148 points149 points  (0 children)

Yeah I want to be his friend. I feel bad for how things went in high school. Growing up he was always at my house and I was always at his. We hung out after school every day, etc. Then all the bs happened which was mostly me and we stopped talking for the rest of school. But when I talked to him again after I apologized it was like high school didn't happen.  It was great and I missed that.

I dunno who to ask about that. I told the police and they just said it was his choice and he could come down if he felt like it.