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Picking upvoiceo, and I was anxious to hear what she had to say, hopeful thatonly 18at 22 million The house was nice, but it wasn’t twofor final comments; the end was near

The moment I disconnected, I dialed into my voicemail

“Good e I heard back froave no hint to what their decision was I would think if they’d accepted, she would have left a congrats e instead I dialed her nu

“This is Brenda, how can I help you?”

“Hey, Brenda, Mal here”

“Malcol cheerful

“Well, that depends on what you have to tellback in my chair

A pop-up thunderstor were now dark and ominous The heavy rain pelted my s as I waited for her to respond hat I hoped was good news

“I think your day is going to be brighter than this weather They accepted your offer Congratulations! You’re a homeowner”

That news did brightenfor the hoot ready to call Ginger, butMy buddy Gerald’s number flashed across the screen It had been a few months since we talked last He told otten picked up by the Taet clean and stay that way for long had led hi his shot in the NFL

“G, man, what up?” I asked when I answered

“Not much, dude What’s your address? I’ with you”

“What the hell? How do you know I don’t have plans this weekend?”

“Because yo black ass don’t make plans any more than I do Besides, you said when I was in the city to stop by I’ by”

I laughed We’d been friends since high school, and he hadn’t changed uy at heart, but he liked to party What started out as recreational dabbling in drugs at college parties took over to becoer demon for him to battle, which was ironic since he was the one to call my parents after et the look of sadness and disappointment that was on Mom’s face when I woke up in the hospital