[Verse 1: light boyish male rapper, urgent and clear over the half-time drums] First of every month I walk down to the corner store Same old man behind the plexiglass, same number as before Twenty-five dollars cash, I slide it underneath the slot He don't even ask me no more, he just punches what I got It's your number, Dez, the one you had since ninth grade With the cracked screen and the case you fixed with duct tape And at night, when it's too quiet, I just dial it in the dark And it rings four times, then you come on, laughin' at the start "Yo, it's Dez, you know what to do," and then the beep goes off And I tell you about the job, the rent, the girl, the cough [Hook: boyish tenor rapper, half-sung, the snare cracking] Twenty-five on the first, and I keep your line paid Just to hear "You know what to do" before it fades You covered every tab I ever ran and never said So I keep you on prepaid, 'cause you paid for me ahead [Verse 2: harder, the bowed bass under him] You paid my bail at nineteen when my mama wouldn't come Paid my light bill twice and never told me where it came from Bought my first suit, tied my tie, and then you shined my shoes Stood up at my graduation hollerin' like you'd paid the dues And I never paid you back, not a dollar, not a dime 'Cause I always thought I had a whole lot more of your time Now the only bill I got that's got your name across the top Is a twenty-five a month I'm too scared to ever stop Two years I been talkin' to a voicemail every week Two years of tellin' you the things I never learned to speak [Hook] Twenty-five on the first, and I keep your line paid Just to hear "You know what to do" before it fades You covered every tab I ever ran and never said So I keep you on prepaid, 'cause you paid for me ahead [Ringback: everything drops to a phone ringback rhythm on the rimshot, four rings, then the band crashes in when the line picks up] One ring, two rings, three rings, four [Verse 3: boyish tenor rapper, the whole band crashing back, voice breaking open] Last Tuesday I called it, and it only rang two times Then a little voice said "Hello?" and it froze me on the line It was Junior, Dez's brother, he's eleven, maybe ten He been sleepin' with that phone and chargin' it since way back when He been readin' every message, every rent and every fight Every "Dez, I miss you, man" at three o'clock at night And he said "Dez told me if I'm ever stuck, to call the one he saved Under 'Brother' in his phone," and that's the number that I gave So Saturday I got him, took him for a cut and lunch Showed him how to tie a tie the way you showed me once And I finally know what to do, Dez, like your message always said You ain't leave a voicemail, man, you left a kid, and paid ahead [Hook] Twenty-five on the first, and I keep your line paid Just to hear "You know what to do" before it fades You covered every tab I ever ran and never said So I keep you on prepaid, 'cause you paid for me ahead [End]
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