The next day was normal. I may have just lost a kidney, but for the most part I was physically fine. Tabetha dropped me home, and, apparently, my uncle and aunt didn't even notice I was gone. I took a long nap and went to school the next day, attended class, went home, and caught up on everything I missed. The biggest change, honestly, was mentally. I never liked school nor cared that much, but the car crash weighed on me and made it difficult to concentrate for more than 5 minutes at a time without losing focus. The collection of events that happened ever since I got into Tabetha's car – her passing out, the accident, the ambulance, the restraints...all of it, they weighed me down. But what weighed on me the most were the echoes of Tabetha's crying. Her weeps and pain. Like, I know that the whole thing was her fault, but at the same time, she needed help.
I don't know why it never occurred to me to check on her. I mean, the entire time I was thinking about her, but for whatever reason, I was waiting for her to text me. And, eventually, she did.
"hey"
That was it. Really? Look, I get that she had some issues she needed to work through, but how is "hey" in any way an appropriate response after all she put me through. Unless, of course, she didn't remember.
"look I'm sry I'm this way, I never meant to hurt u. meet me at ur house after school?"
I thought for a moment. Maybe I should meet her again. Then I recalled something she said about selling my kidney. Might she really go through on that or was she tricking me again? Wait, how did she know where I lived? Was she stalking me? But then I remembered her tears. I remembered her helpless body lying on the shoulder of the highway from a few days ago and, even though I now know that was set up in some way, I couldn't help but feel her pain. I couldn't help but feel her helplessness.
"sure" I texted back.
The next day, I went to school as I normally would. Then, I came back home and, just as I was about to enter my house, I saw her standing next to the door, leaning back against the outer wall. She was smoking a cigarette and as I approached her, she flicked it to the ground.
"Can we talk?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure." I responded. "Feel free to come in."
I walked into the house, and she trailed behind me. I felt very nervous for whatever reason. I started to sweat, my heart started to race, and my mind was going everywhere. It seemed that every possible question played in my mind before we even walked up the stairs to my room. What was she gonna say? Why did she have to come to my house? What else could she want? Did she want my help with something? Why did she kidnap me? Was that part of her whole plan or was that unrelated? Did she even remember any of it?
We finally entered my room and she took out something from her pocket. It was an envelope.
"What's this?" I asked.
"I told you," she started. "I'm giving you half of what's yours. I'm not gonna lie, when I first planned this, I was going to take everything, but I felt kind of bad. Like you seem like a genuinely nice guy. I couldn't do that to you. This envelope only has five-grand, enough for the hospital payments. I'll give you the rest incrementally over time."
I mean, that's good, I guess. So, I can just walk out of this whole thing with one less kidney and who knows how much more money. I could cut my losses, take the money, and go back to my life. It would be easy. But, no. For once I had to do something.
"I appreciate you coming here and giving me the money. Thank you, really. I don't have a job and, you know, if it costs a kidney to not have to work for a bit, I'll take it." I chuckled a bit. "But, I'm not gonna lie. These past few days, I was worried about you. Like, you really pulled all of this for some money? You need to get some help or something, because this is no way to live life."
"Again, I'm sorry for everything I've put you through. I really am. But I can't really do anything else at this point. Do you know how hard it is to get a job as a felon? It's pretty damn hard. This is the only way I can live life at this point. So, I appreciate your concern for me, but don't waste your time. And
I'm sorry for wasting yours." At that moment, she put the envelope down on my desk, turned away, and exited the house.
YOU ARE READING
as the way comes
General Fiction[redacted] is a 17-year old kid in high school. He is sort of a lonely kid until one day, he meets an attractive young woman who saves him from the feeling. He decides to go with the flow and see what happens. That is, until he doesn't.
