For old times' sake - 5 minutes freewrite

I couldn't say no - after all we've known each other since kindergarten, we've played ball together, learned how to smoke together sometime in 6th grade, did a lot of stupid shit together until we sort of lost track of each other when we ended up in different high-schools. Yet, it felt awkward - I didn't want to offend Charlie asking about his time inside, but I couldn't exactly pretend I didn't know about it. Yet, I was quite impressed by the transformation - clean shave, nice white shirt, leather shoes - a far cry from his rebel wannabe years.

As soon we ordered our beers, I was relieved to see that Charlie was more than eager to talk about his stint in jail.
'Best thing that ever happened to me, man. Those twelve months changed me completely. I'm a new man, I've learnt from my mistakes, I learnt the hard way and I want to share my knowledge with everyone'.

Source

Please, don't let it be about religion - I just hated the born-again religious nuts that wouldn't stop talking about salvation.
Turned out Charlie had become a motivational speaker.
'You can do whatever you want. Everything is in your power, as long as you fight against your own weakness and work your ass off'.
Wow, I didn't see that one coming, not from Charlie, anyway. Speaking at youth centers, AA meetings, rehabilitation programs, self-help groups - you name it, Charlie was everywhere.
'You really should come to one of the self-help groups, Mike, really, you can do much better than that. Quality supervisor - what kind of a job is that for a guy with your brains? I bet you're bored shitless with such a dumb job.'
I tried to explain that it was an important job, we sold our devices to hospitals around the country, lives depended on them, but he was right. I was bored, I admitted.
'See, what you need is purpose. You need to figure out what you want from life. Took me twelve months inside, but I came out a determined man. You too can learn how to better your life, everything you need to know is right there in my book. For $29,99 you can become a successful man like me. Hell, you know what? I'll let you have it for $14,99, for old times's sake'.

Story written for @mariannewest's freewrite challenge. New prompt every day. Check out her blog.