Mammie’s House, July 29, 1989
Jessie heaved again, but this morning’s retching left nothing in her. Bracing herself against the back of the toilet, exhausted from her third day of nausea, she had eaten breakfast hoping to quell the ugly feeling, but it came up almost immediately. Not feeling well the past week, light headed and dizzy throughout the day, and her nose kept dripping. At first, she thought allergies, the hay fields near ready for their first cut of the season, but nausea would not let up.
Still in her robe and bunny slippers, she headed back to her bedroom. The pink Trimline phone blasted a ring as she entered.
“Hello.”
“Hey girl, can you meet me for lunch at Sadie’s? I’ve got something to show you,” Kendra said in a singsong, elated voice.
“Oh, I dunno, Kendra. I’m not feelin’ so good.”
“Ugh. You don’t sound good either. What’s up?”
“Been nauseous. Puked my breakfast.”
“How long’s this been goin’ on.”
“Three days.”
“Uh-oh.”
“What?”
“Lars?”
“Oh shit! No frickin’ way!”
“When was the party?”
“Uh . . . the weekend after Memorial Day.”
“Which puts you at . . . six weeks. Did you have your period?”
“Not yet, but I’m sometimes late.”
“Better late than not at all, girl. What are you going to do?”
“What can I do?”
“Hmm. Do you have a pregnancy test?”
“Yeah, right Kendra, I keep them on hand just in case. You know that I don’t let guys have their way with me. Remember the rules of Conquest?”
“Yeah, you drilled them into us, and it seems we all failed. Hey, I know where I might find one.”
“What?”
“A pregnancy test! You with me on this, girl?”
“I think I’m going to puck again.”
“Okay, you go do that while I look.”
“You keep a stash of tests? Come on now, Kendra, you and Donny doin’ the wild thing?”
“Shhh, sister, Mammie may hear you.”
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Boinking?”
“Jessie, stay focused! This conversation is about you, not me.”
“Oh, here it comes! I’ll be back . . . ” Jessie hurried out of her room and nearly knocked down Mammie.
“Jessie! Stop running in the house! Nearly knocked me over.”
Jessie held her hand over her mouth and headed for the bathroom.
“What is it, Jessie? What’s wrong?”
She heaved. She heaved again and again and again. But nothing came up but the sound of her retching. Her ears were ringing from the blood forced into her head. Face red, brow spotted with perspiration, gut in a knot.
“Jessie! Are you ill? Let me feel her head. My lands, Jessie, you’re sweating, and your head is cool. Are you all right? Lay down. Lay down right now!”
“I’m alright Mammie. Just something I ate didn’t agree with me.”
“What did you have for breakfast, dear?”
“Uhh . . . some yogurt . . . maybe it was bad.”
“I just bought that a few days ago.” Mammie shuffled to the refrigerator and checked the expiration dates.
“I think I’ll lie back down in bed. Let me rest, okay? I’ll come out after I feel better.” Jessie closed her bedroom door and then picked up the phone. “You there?”
“Yeah.”
“That was close. Mammie saw me pukin’.”
“Well, you’re in luck. Mom bought a three-pak the last time she missed her period . . . thought her boyfriend knocked her up. There’s two left.”
“Okay, hmmm, I’ve got to get outa here. Mammie is such a snoop and wise at that. I don’t want her catchin’ on to what’s goin’ on. Meet me at the park.”
“The park?”
“Yeah, meet me at the place where we first talked about Conquest. Kind of appropriate, don’t ya think?”
“Girl, I think this game has gone to your head.”
v v v
Excerpt from PURSUIT, a novel by Jeff
Cambridge.
Author of transformational fiction—
Realistic
characters in real life drama that tell the story of their transformation to
become a better person.
To read the
scenes sequentially, begin with
“PURSUIT: A
Novel – Prologue”
Located in the
May Blog Archive. Click on the episodes and enjoy.
This episode is pre-published.
The book will be available Spring 2018.
Your comments
are welcomed and appreciated. Check one of the reaction boxes below, write a
comment, or email me at lightbycambridge@gmail.com.
This novel is a
work of fiction. Any references to real events, businesses, organizations, and
locales are intended only to give the story a sense of reality and
authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.
v
One mistake changes the course of three lives…
Jessie –
chasing the dark side of destiny
The daughter of an alcoholic father
in prison for manslaughter and a mother who has abandoned her for her latest
boyfriend, Jessie has but one objective in life – to find the big ticket out of her miserable childhood.
Christina –
striving to bring comfort and light
The daughter of a nurse who
served in the Army medical corps, she follows in her mother’s footsteps,
pursuing her passion to care for the disadvantaged. A ballerina – a thousand eyes behold her, the dance
flowing seamlessly.
Jerry –
living in the grey of his circumstances
The son of a sixth-generation
Kansas rancher, his desire is to make it rich – to find the American Dream. A cowboy with a tender heart and
crystal blue eyes, he finds love in unforeseen places.
An allegory
of destiny and choices,
of wasted
dreams,
of paths
that lead to nowhere…
of trials,
we face every day.
PURSUIT
Where will
the chosen path lead?
v
Copyright 2018 © Jeff Cambridge
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