' 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗜𝗡 ' › D. SWING

04.

"Three months had passed since I heard from Donald."-

Laying across my head, propped up on my elbows, I glanced down at the chemistry book in front of me and used my highlighter to mark all of the important information I needed for the presentation I needed to finish by Tuesday. It was the weekend and unlike most kids, I was spending it doing school work. Typical.

The door to my bedroom opened and my mother appeared in the doorway holding the house phone, "Rhonda?"

I lifted my head to look in her direction, "Yes ma'am?"

"Someone's on the phone for you", she replied as she walked over toward me, handing it over.

Taking it from her grasp, I placed the phone to my ear, "Hello?" There was silence. "This is Rhonda... Hello?"

"Rho. Can you hear me?", the deep voice asked through the phone.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and sat up, folding my legs in Indian-style, "Yeah. Who is this?"

"Donny", they said. And like that, I had a rush of memories and emotions that started to overwhelm me. "Don't hang up, alright?", he continued, his voice a bit shaky as if he was crying. "I fucked up." I wasn't sure if he was talking about our friendship or something else so I remained quiet, waiting for him to explain. "I'm in Minneapolis and I barley have any money to get back to Charlotte. On top of that, I don't have a home to go back to", he said lowly. "You know I wouldn't ask if I didn't need help but I really need you right now, Rho. Please."

I was at a loss for words, feeling different emotions all at once but I couldn't leave him in the situation he was in just because of a fallout we had. My heart just wouldn't allow me to. Finally, I spoke, "What do I need to do?"

He sighed with what seemed like relief, the tone of his voice changing slightly, "I need you to send me a money order."

"How much, D?", I asked, unsure if I even had enough to get him home.

He took a while to answer as if he was nervous to say the amount. "$200"

"$200? D, where am I going to get that kind of-", I started but he quickly interrupted.

"I know, I know. It's a lot. If you can't do it, I get it. I don't deserve anything from you...", he trailed off.

Chewing on my bottom lip, deep in thought, I cleared my throat before speaking, "No, I can do it. I got $160 saved up that I can send and I'll see if Dalvin and the guys can help me get the other $40."

"You sure? I don't wanna'-", he began to say.

"I'm sure, D. Just give me a few hours and I'll have it. Where are you going to pick it up?", I asked.

There was a pause. For a moment, I thought he had hung up until I could hear wind blowing through the phone on his end. "Uh... I think there's a Wal-Mart over here. I can pick it up from there", he said in response. I nodded my head as if he could see me. "Hello?"

"Yeah, yeah! Sorry, I heard you. I'll drop it off in a few hours, okay? Just...be careful. Do you need money for food?", I asked, sure he was going to lie as if he didn't. And sure enough, he did.

"Na', I'm okay. I'm not hungry."

I ignored him, "I'll add some extra money for food. Are you on a payphone?"

"Yes... why?", he inquired with an unsure tone.

"Do you have enough to call me back in two hours?"

"Uh huh", he simply said.