I've committed my share of crimes in this life. I'm fine with people knowing what I actually did and holding it against me; but it pisses me off when people think I'm guilty of something I didn't do. Of course, these things happen. When you establish yourself as a man of particular character, and when things occur befitting such a character, people often assume without evidence said act was committed by that character.
I used to roll with a guy named Mike Valentine. His real name was Mike Kaske or Kaskey or something, but his mom remarried some Valentine chucklehead and Mike, being a compulsive man-whore, seized the opportunity to brand himself a lover through his very name.
Mike had a friend from high school named Max Dible. Max and I were more associates, bridged only casually by Mike.
In my teens I was known as an unstable-but-fun-loving, mildly-irritating scumbag-thief. I was fine with that designation. But when Mike got kicked out by his mum and lived for a short while with Max and his family, Mike stole shit from them and blamed me, knowing it would be believable. He then continued the charade for years of being my friend until it was no longer convenient. It all went downhill when he fucked my admittedly-slutty girlfriend, Soleil (cringe), and then tried to make me feel guilty for taking a desktop computer back that had been purchased on my credit so that he could "start a business" he never truly intended to start.
I only found out Max had been living under the assumption that I had stolen from him during the MySpace days ten-plus years ago when, while browsing, I saw his face and name and reached out for whatever reason people reach out on social media to familiar names.
Mike, you fucking scumbag. I thought you were my friend, but you were never my friend. You accused me of shit I didn't do just to distance yourself from your actual responsibility.
Don't know why I was just thinking about that, sitting here, eating my Taco Bell stacker. Meh... he probably ended up with something antibiotics won't cure. I don't really hold any of this shit against him anymore; I was just remembering how I used to.