Sometimes it takes you a long time to consider and decide to do something, especially if it is something quite hard and requires a resolute mind, and if you get interrupted at the moment you are about to do it, the motivation kinda dies off and you don't want to, or can't, try to do it again – at least for a while.
So although I definitely decided on ending my life on Tuesday night, it was now Saturday afternoon and I was lazing around in my bed reading irrelevant news and half-funny jokes on my phone. Then suddenly I got a call from a number I don't know – a landline? Who uses them these days? Normally only spammers use them so I instantly rejected the call, only for it to annoyingly ring again. I repeated the process a few more times, but it looked like whoever was trying to scam me or sell insurance (wait, aren't they the same thing) seemed quite set on it. Ok, I will answer and tell him to fuck off.
"Hello?"
"Hey, I only have a minute, so just listen. Come meet me at the clock tower by the city park entrance in 30 minutes. Bring cash. Got it?"
"What? What is this?"
"It's me, the one that you hurt on Tuesday night at the bridge."
Oh.
"I want my compensation. Bring money. Now."
"You had to go to hospital? How much was the fee?"
"Shut up and just bring whatever you got. Time's running out!"
"What time?"
"For the phone you stupid! I only have one coin, I can't talk any –"
Then the connection ended and the beep beep sound was all I heard.
Wait, this girl said back then she didn't have a phone. She doesn't actually have a phone? In this day and age?
In any case, if she did really have to go see a doctor, she was right that I should probably cover her fee, as long as it's not some big operation or whatever she had to do. But how much do I bring? What is appropriate? I guess I will just take cash out from an ATM.
I quickly changed from my home clothes and left the house. She said to meet her in 30 minutes but if I missed the next bus going to the city park it would take me much longer than that considering how infrequent the buses run.
It took me almost an hour till I arrived at the clock tower by the park, and I immediately spotted the girl with the same oversized black hoodie. I didn't realize this before because she was lying on the ground, but she did look quite short actually, for her age – assuming we are similar age. She wasn't facing my direction so hasn't seen me, so I just walked over and tapped on her shoulder.
"Hey."
"Gaaaaaahhh!" She let out a big squeal
"Whoa, calm down. It's me."
She then turned around and saw me
"Don't surprise me like that, dumb ass! And you are sooo late!"
"Erm sorry, I missed the bus."
"Lucky you, you can even take a bus!"
What does she mean by that?
"Anyways, did you bring money?"
"Earm yeah. Did you go to the hospital? Is your back okay now?"
"My back is fine now. But I still want compensation for my suffering."
"Gees. What do you want?"
"I'm super hungry. Burgers. I want some burgers."
"What the hell? You called me to come out here to buy you some burgers?"
"Yeah, I didn't know where else I could get money from quickly. Then I thought of you and how you owed me your life."
"Look girl, I don't owe you my life, and I'm not your cash machine."
"Whatever dude, this is the least you can do for me right?"
:Sigh:
I guess I'll just play along. Buy her some burger set, go home, and forget about her for good.
"Right, let's go then."
Then we walked over to a burger franchise branch near the park. It was Saturday afternoon so it was pretty packed
"You can go find the seat. I will order and bring it for you. What do you want?"
"I want to order myself. You give me your money and go find the seat."
"No way I'm just gonna hand over my card to you."
"Oh, you have a card?"
"Yeah, I didn't have much cash."
"Hm… right.."
"So?"
"Well, it's okay. Let's just wait in the queue together. I will order when we get to the counter."
"It's packed. We may not get a seat"
"Don't' worry, we will find something."
Whatever.
After some minutes we got to the counter as it became our turn.
"May I take your order please?"
"Yes! One Set A, extra-large, a cheeseburger, a double bacon burger, chicken nuggets, and onion rings, 12 pieces each please."
"What? Isn't that too much?", I asked her incredulously.
"Don't worry I can eat it all. So what do you want for yourself?"
"Wait, that's all just for you?"
"Yeah, so you order what you want to eat."
Man, this bitch...
In the end, I just ended up getting a medium chips and a drink. She asked me 'Are you sure that's enough?' but I just nodded and paid. Considering I haven't had any part-time job for a while now and living off the money I've saved from long ago, I didn't want to spend so much money for one meal with a girl I will never see again (and didn't expect to see again in the first place).
We managed to find a table just in time after a couple left, and as soon as we sat down the girl started to – for lack of a better description – shove the food into her mouth in frantic speed.
"Man, you must have been starving."
She didn't answer, but paused for a moment to look up, gave a big grin with her cheeks bulging out from all the food, the black hoodie still over her head, and gave me a thumbs up. For some reason, I found this expression really funny so I let out a chuckle, which I hastily stopped, but the girl didn't seem to mind and just went back to her feeding frenzy.
When our silent meal finished she finally lifted her head to sit up and pulled off the hood, revealing her very messy hair that looked like they haven't been washed for longer than I wanted to know.
With her eyes closed, she took a big gulp of her soft drink and let out a big burp.
"Whoooaa, that was satisfying"
This girl really has no manners.
"Right, I'm glad you enjoyed your meal. I guess we are settled then? I will get going now, please put the tray back. Bye."
I stood up and headed towards the door and got suddenly yanked back by my belt.
"Wait, We are not finished!"
"What more do you want?! You ate so much already!"
"Ice cream. Ice cream. I want ice cream. I haven't had ice cream for ages."
Then it struck me.
Maybe she really was a homeless girl or at least in a very poor financial state, living off what would be minimum wages with her sparse part-time job hours. Maybe that also explains why she does not have a phone. Maybe she is so poor these things I take for granted are luxury for her. With a pang of guilt, I accepted her request and we left the burger place to look for an ice cream shop.