PLEASE PLEASE HELP ASAP The morning after the rugby championship, Jerome reached for his phone, prepared to enjoy the usual flood of photos that tended to appear following a game. Lying in bed thumbing through hundreds of shots and flagging his favorites to save was his customary post-game ritual. But instead of the barrage of celebratory excitement he expected, Jerome found a somber post from his teammate Martin, saying that his mother, who had suffered from a terminal illness, had passed away that morning. The post already had more than fifty responses offering thoughts and prayers to the family, and several people—including many of Jerome’s teammates—had written that Martin could call on them if he needed anything. Below Martin’s post, Jerome saw some of the photos he’d initially gotten on his phone to browse through, but they were no longer enticing, in light of Martin’s tragedy.
Jerome wandered through the morning with the weight of Martin’s news crowding his thoughts. In the early afternoon, he sought out his mother in the garage where she was boxing up old clothing for a charity rummage sale. He explained that Martin’s mom had died, and told her how he felt about his friend’s loss. “What do you plan to do for him?” his mother asked. Jerome thought for several moments, aware that his mother had paused her sorting to give him her full attention. Finally, he said, “I don’t know what to do. I guess I should tell him to let me know if he needs anything, but that doesn’t feel like enough.” Jerome’s mother leaned against the edge of the table and nodded slowly. “Yes, I think plenty of people are willing to help if he asks. Maybe you should go visit him—take a meal or something he enjoys.”
Jerome returned to his room with his mother’s advice weighing on his mind. He thought showing up at Martin’s house uninvited seemed too much like barging in during a sensitive time, so he opted instead to offer dinner and company via a text message first. Because Martin was not usually the type of person who liked to accept help or talk about his emotions, Jerome was surprised when his inquiry received a quick “that would be great” in response. With his mother’s help, Jerome prepared a tray of food for Martin and his father.
Martin’s house was silent when Jerome arrived with the care package. Martin’s father had gone to make funeral arrangements, and Martin sat waiting by himself on the back porch. Jerome carried the food inside and returned to sit and converse with Martin. Jerome said, “I thought you might have too much going on already. I saw everyone post online.” Martin said, “I don’t think anyone wanted to be in the way today, so I’m glad you came.” Jerome didn’t mean to stay long, but he and Martin started to chat, and soon they were reliving childhood memories and even chatting about the championship game from the night before. They ate together and played old board games until Martin’s father returned later that evening. Jerome excused himself then, promising to stop again soon.
Later that night while he sat with his family to watch the news, Jerome got a text from Martin thanking him again for being there. Only then did Jerome realize that no one else had stopped by the entire afternoon, despite the plethora of messages offering to help Martin and his dad. The thank-you text made Jerome feel good, and he realized that he would want someone to do the same thing for him in a similar situation. The local TV news came on then, and Jerome put his phone away to watch the lead story, which was about a house fire. A family’s home across town had burned to the ground overnight because of an electrical malfunction. The family and their pets got out safely, but they lost everything. The newscaster provided a link to a website that had been established to organize assistance for the family. More than two hundred signatures were in the guest book when Jerome clicked on the site. “That’s quite a shame,” Jerome’s father said. “I sure hope they have enough assistance getting things cleaned up.”
“The website says they need volunteers to help haul away debris tomorrow,” Jerome said. And, thinking of his mother’s advice from earlier in the day, and of Martin’s text, he added, “I’m going to message the team. I think I should be able to get a few people together to go.” Jerome watched the number of signatures on the event page tick up as the web address scrolled across the bottom of the TV screen. He wondered how many people would actually show up to help out and how many would simply hope that enough others did. In the end, he decided it didn’t matter. He would be there, and he would do whatever he could to help.
What is the theme of “A Friend in Need”? What details introduce and develop the theme? Use evidence from the text to support your response. Your response should be at least one complete paragraph.