“Mr. Johnson, like I said, it’s quite expensive,” Naples said.
“She’s not leaving here, and she damn sure ain’t going over to City Hospital. Now, how much is the fucking bill?” I glared at her.
She reached into the folder she was holding and handed me some papers. “It’s about forty thousand dollars.”
I looked down at the itemized bill. I knew it was probably gonna be high as hell, but I damn sure wasn’t expecting it to be that high.
“Shit,” I said, much quieter now.
The bitch from billing looked like she wanted to say “I told you so,” but instead she just nodded.
I straightened my spine and said, “Listen, I’m gonna pay this shit, but I can’t pay the whole thing today. I can get you fifteen, maybe twenty by the end of the day, the rest by the end of the week, okay?” I folded the papers and stuck them in my pocket. “I said okay?”
Naples nodded. “If you make that substantial of a payment, that will buy you a little more time.”
“A’ight, I’ma go home and get the money now. So go ahead and schedule my mom’s kidney transplant.” I stared her down to make sure she understood I wasn’t asking her, I was telling her.
“You may want to speak with Dr. Ford regarding your mother’s transplant.” She stood up, and now her voice wasn’t quite so sweet. Maybe she wasn’t used to being told what to do.
“Do you know where he is?”
She looked at her watch. “He’s probably still in his office. His rounds start in about fifteen minutes.”
“Bet.” I rushed out to find Dr. Ford’s office. There was no way I was gonna let them kick my mother out and take her to the worst hospital in the state. The care at City Hospital was so bad that people called it The Morgue. Patients were known to go there with a little cough and end up dead. I didn’t care how much it cost or what I had to do. My mother was staying where she was.
“Mr. Johnson, come in,” Dr. Ford welcomed me in when I found his office and knocked on the door. “Ms. Naples called and told me you were headed down here. What can I do for you?”
I wondered what she’d said about the way I went off on her, and I reminded myself to stay calm with the doctor. I didn’t need him to get pissed off and take it out on my moms.
“I wanted to know about the transplant for my mother. I’m ready,” I said.
“There’s a small problem with that, Mr. Johnson.”
“Please don’t tell me it’s the money.” I fought back the urge to curse his ass out. Did anyone around here give a shit about anything but getting paid?
“Well, that too, but that’s not my department.” He stopped talking and stared at something over my head like he was afraid to make eye contact.
What the fuck was going on here? His vibe was making me nervous.
“Doc, what exactly is the problem, then?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, my problem is you’re not a match.”
It took me a few seconds to speak because I just kept repeating his words in my head: You’re not a match. You’re not a match. You’re not a match.
“I’m not?” I blinked. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m positive.”
My emotions were all over the place, and I couldn’t think straight. I’d heard what the doctor said, but he had to be wrong. There was no way he could be right. There was some sort of medical mistake—hospitals made stupid-ass mistakes all the time. Maye some dumb motherfucker in the lab mixed up my blood sample with someone else’s.
“Nah, that ain’t right.” I shook my head to try to clear it.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Johnson.”
“Run the test again.”
He shook his head and gave me a sympathetic look. “We’ve run the test several times. The results are not going to change.”
“How can that be? I’m her son.” There was a buzzing in my head, and I felt kinda like I might pass out.
“Genetics are funny. They don’t always fall where we think they should,” Dr. Ford said. “I know this is painful, but I’ll speak with the hospital administration and get your mother added to the transplant list as soon as possible—provided you’re in good standing with the billing department. But, Mr. Johnson, either way, like I said, this is a very expensive long shot.”
At least he was working with me. “Hey, Doc, how much does an operation like this cost?”
“We’re talking over two hundred thousand dollars, and that’s not including the medication she’ll be required to take afterward. It’s a huge financial undertaking.”
“Shit, you got that right,” I said, stunned by the numbers. “You just do what you gotta do. I’ll come up with funds,” I told him. “Even if I have to rob a bank.”
He laughed, and I joined in, even though I was dead-ass serious.
When I got back to my mother’s room, she was still asleep, and Denny was still glued to the TV watching run-down homes get fixed up.
“What’s up? Everything good?” he asked as I paced the floor.
“Yeah, I just had to get some stuff straight with her bill,” I told him. I wasn’t ready to say anything about the genetic test, because as far as I was concerned, that was just some fucked-up mistake that I would sort out later. For now, my only focus was getting my mother back on her feet.
“She needs this surgery, but real talk, I ain’t got the money to pay for it right now.” My voice was low because even though my mom was knocked out, I didn’t want her overhearing our conversation.
Denny leaned forward, his voice just as low as mine. “Yo, we still got that shit from the other day. That’s something.”
“Yeah, but that probably ain’t gonna be enough to cover it.”
“Listen, bro, your mom’s been more of a mother to me than my own. You ain’t in this by yourself. Whatever we get, for however long
