“I can’t believe you had to have two surgeries,” he said, and I wanted to laugh.
Jude never knew how to ask for things and as much as I wanted to keep the conversation going, I wanted to put him out of his misery.
“Do you?—”
“I feel like an asshole asking for help, but I need your help, Sam,” he said, speaking over me.
“I’d do anything for you, Jude, even if we hadn't been speaking for years,” I said truthfully, but it was too much truth because the line went silent.
“Sam…”
“Let me help you and if you're up for talking we can talk,” I said softly.
He sighed. “Thank you.”
I could hear his stress vanishing.
“So, what do you need?”
“Nova asked me to pick up Sol, but I’m stuck at a call, and I won’t get back in time. Can you please pick her up for me?”
“Is Nova ok with it?” I knew she probably would be, but I wanted the assurance.
“Yeah, she is calling the school while I call you,” he said, as a loud siren came through the phone.
“Ok, what time do I need to drop her off?” I checked the time on my watch, seeing I had about thirty minutes till school got out.
“Nova should be out by five,” he said, as another siren sounded.
My concern grew and I hoped he wasn't in danger,
“Ok, sounds good,” I said, feeling awkward.
“Thanks, Sam,” he said softly.
“Anytime,” I said, wanting to say more, but not knowing what.
A lot of commotion was in the background making me bite my tongue. This wasn’t the time or place for this.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said, hanging up quickly.
I really hoped we did see each other soon.
“Webby, I don’t think I can do this,” Sol said with a serious face.
“It’s a very tough choice, Sol,” I agreed.
“What if I make the wrong choice?”
“It’s ok; next time we can make sure we don’t make the same mistake,” I said, rubbing my chin.
“Ok, I think I want the strawberry ice cream in a waffle cone,” she said, proud of herself.
“Good choice,” I said, as we pounded our knuckles together.
“I’ll take a scoop of the butter pecan in a waffle cone too,” I said to the young girl behind the counter.
“Ooooh, I almost got that one,” she said, looking at me with her big brown eyes.
