Mona: The Walk Up The Block

The Walk

When Mona got off work she was beyond tired. She had had this sick feeling in her gut for the last day and a half, but was desperately trying to ignore it. Her best friend Liz who lived in Denver was in town visiting her for the week, which was nice because they hadn’t really seen each other in over a year. She and Liz had actually talked about her feeling the night before, but the two of them couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Her family was good, work was busy but good, her boyfriend would be back from his trip in a few hours, and everything was in order around her. So the feeling just didn’t make any sense to her.

When she got on the train she took a much needed cat nap since her Blackberry had no service. As she napped she thought about what they were going to do for dinner, she really didn’t feel like cooking. She thought about how happy she was KJ was coming back today. She had missed him so much, more than she thought she would. Mona and KJ had only been officially messing with each other for three months. They actually met on her way to work one day during the winter. It was nice because she had just recently moved to the area, and he was nice enough to get her familiar with the neighborhood and the surroundings. It also didn’t hurt that his house was only a block from hers. Things clicked with them. They both were out spoken, had been through a lot with relationships, and both were deep believers in God. But mostly she appreciated that they were able to be friends before any romantic b.s took place.

When she got off the train she went outside to catch the bus the rest of the way home. On the train she never got reception so she was sure she had missed at least one call. As Mona started to doze off on the bus her phone beeped repeatedly. As she looked at her phone she saw she had missed three calls from an unfamiliar number as well as two voicemails. When Mona checked the voicemails her heart sank to her stomach. KJ had been arrested in Florida during his trip, and he had used his calls to reach her. Mona couldn’t believe she missed his calls, and was terrified about what to do. When she got off the bus she called Liz to let her know what was going on, but Liz didn’t answer. Mona began to panic; Liz was always the person to calm her down in crazy moments like this. Luckily Mona knew her mom was at her house dropping some things off, so she called her to see if Liz was still at the house. When she called her mom she began getting nervous that her mom would sense something was wrong so she tried to play cool. “Hey mom. Is Liz near you, I tried calling her but she didn’t pick up,” said Mona. Her mom laughed and went upstairs to give Liz the phone. When Liz said hello Mona unleashed the whole story on her about the situation at hand. “Liz please act normal. I don’t wait my mom to know anything is going on. Try to get her to leave so we can figure things out.” Mona asked her friend. Liz agreed and acted as if Mona hadn’t said anything important at all. When they got off the phone Liz went to grab her tablet and started to do research on who they needed to call to find KJ. As she did this she mentioned to Mona’s mom that Mona was going to be awhile and that they were leaving as soon as she did get home. Mona’s mom sighed and said she would just catch up with her daughter later and left.

When Mona walked in the house they got right to work calling every police office and jail in Dada county Florida. After an hour of calls they had nothing. Absolutely nothing except the voicemail stating that someone she knew was arrested in Dada County. Now the thing about KJ is that he was extremely street savvy. So the possibility of him being locked up under a different name was completely possible, this worried Mona because she had no idea who he said he was, plus she already called each office back with the three names she knew he went by. The only thing left she could do was go ask his mother for help. She didn’t want to worry her or break her heart with this bad news unless she absolutely had to. As she and Liz sat in silence wondering about their next move one last idea came to her. She had briefly met a few people who knew KJ when he would take her for strolls after work; she figured it was better to ask them before heading to his mom. Mona and Liz grabbed their things and headed out. As soon as they stepped out the saw a group of guys sitting out across the street so why not start with them. As they walked up to the fence the group became quiet, staring the two girls up and down intensely. “Hey what’s up? Do any of you know KJ?” Mona asked. Two familiar guys walk over to the fence towards the girls and told the others they’d be right back. The four of them walked down the bock about two yards over to talk. “Who are y’all? And what you looking for KJ for?” asked the tallest of the two dudes. Mona told them she was KJ’s girl and that she thought he may have gotten himself into some trouble down in Florida, and she needed to see if he had tried reaching anyone else. The guys perked up when they realize these girls really had KJ’s back. They made a few calls but didn’t find out anything more than Mona already knew. They suggested that they try his uncle who lived a little farther down the street.

As Mona and Liz approached the uncle’s house they saw the car was gone and the house was dark. Liz suggested that they sit for a minute and figure out what to do next. As they sat waiting on some sign or answer Mona became overwhelmed with grief. She felt bad that she wasn’t able to answer his phone calls. He had called her three times, he had so much faith in her he used all his calls to her and she felt she had let him down She just had to figure this out before his mom found out. KJ had really been trying to get his life back in order lately, and this would just mess it all up. As her mind wandered something hit her. The week before he called his friend that was hooking him up with this trip, from her phone. As she went through her call log she prayed the number was still there. When she found it she smiled grabbing Liz’s hand as she pressed the call button. When the man on the other end answered she told him the whole situation. He silently listened before saying, “Yeah ok. I think I can help you out, let me make a few calls and get back to you in a few.”

They waited over an hour and still hadn’t heard back from him or anyone else. At this point Mona felt she had no choice but to go tell his mom what was going on. As they walked Mona started to think about how sick she had been feeling the last few days. Her heart knew something wasn’t right when she hadn’t heard anything from him during his trip. Maybe she should’ve called to check up on him. Her pride had stopped her from calling him the whole week because she didn’t want him to know how much she really missed him. This was how she was with all her boyfriends; she never wanted to look like that needy nagging girlfriend guys always complain about.

As they approached the driveway of KJ’s mother’s house they stopped. Her heart felt like it was going to skydive out of her chest right onto the warm ridged pavement beneath her.  She and Liz slowly walked towards the backdoor of the house, dreading what was to come next. Right as she lifted her sweaty hand to press the doorbell her phone rang. It was a private call, which she usually would ignore, but today she couldn’t afford not to answer. “Hey Babe it’s me,” said KJ. Mona was so relieved he was ok, yet so angry he had even put her in this situation. As they walked back toward her house KJ explained the whole situation. Apparently they were out at a club and his friend’s associate had brought his trouble making girlfriend who started a lot of drama. The girl was going up to guys asking them to buy her drinks, and then would tell the drink buyer that the group of guys in VIP were hassling her, which caused a bunch of guys to come over trying to start a fight. When KJ asked the gentlemen to leave them alone one of the guys threw a bottle at him. Anyone that knows KJ knows he has a short temper when he feels attacked, so when the bottle hit him his Mike Tyson alter ego was unleashed. And that was all she wrote.

After he finished his story Mona told him all the stuff she and Liz had been doing to find him, and how she was just about to knock on his mother’s door. KJ was extremely grateful and told her his new flight would get him back in town the next evening, so he would pick her up from work. After they hung up she and Liz just stared at each other shaking their heads before busting out into laughter. They had been through so many of these “What the Hell” moments together over the last six years, but this one had to be in the top five of crazy times. Later that night as they sat on the couch watching The Breakup, while drinking glasses of Rosé Mona turned to Liz and said, “Sis thank you for always being here when I really need you. Every time I think about the craziest things that have happened with me you’re always right by my side. I couldn’t ask for a better best friend, I love you.” Liz teared up because she was always emotional. She hugged Mona before saying, “Aaaaww Mona I love you too. I know we don’t talk every day or even every week, but I’m always here for you no matter what. You are my sister and my friend for life.” As they raised their glasses and toasted they both smiled, and shook their heads at the crazy evening they just shared.