I cheat.
If you're my
friend, then
I want your
friends to be my
friends.
I may already be calling your
friends my
friends. Because
I like friends.
I like the
idea of having
friends.
But even if you're my
friend,
I refuse to regard your enemies as my enemies.
I may be seeking
out friendships with your enemies just because they're central figures in your
life. Because
I don't like enemies. In fact,
I love the
feeling of turning former enemies into
friends, or at least neutral associates.
I love the
feeling of social invincibility that
I get
when I go out to lunch with
a former arch-nemesis of mine and
we have idle, pleasant
conversation, then later
have dinner with an arch-nemesis of
hers.
I will
break the rules, take
no sides, take
no prisoners, and conquer
all with
compassion in the
same way that
I have conquered
myself.
I cheat. And
win.