Lebanon Park Woods, July 29, 1989
“Kendra, you there?” Jessie called out.
Kendra stood up from behind the bushes that blocked the view from the little-used dirt path that ran through the woods of the park, a shortcut they used to walk to school. “Yeah, but why meet in the park? You could’ve come over to my house.”
“Moms pick up on things like this. Whatever the result, it would be hard to hide our response. At least here I can scream, cry, laugh or yell without anyone caring.”
“Okay, here’s the test.”
“You only brought one?”
“You only need one.”
“What if it’s wrong?”
“Wadda ya mean, wrong. It’s a test.”
“I mean if it shows I’m pregnant then it’s gotta be wrong, and I’ll want to test it again.”
“I didn’t want mom to be suspicious. One missing and she may just think she lost count. Both of them missing and she’s gonna think I’m the one who’s pregnant.”
“I’m not pregnant.”
“How do you know, you haven’t tested?”
“I don’t want to be pregnant.”
“One step at a time, girl, one step at a time.”
“How’s this work?”
“I dunno. I haven’t ever missed my period.”
“Oh, so you have been boinking.”
Kendra flushed and smiled innocently. “Look at this.” She flashed her left hand in Jessie’s face.
“Jeez, Kendra, for God’s sake, why’d ya go and do that for?”
“Why? Because I love him, Jessie. Aren’t ya happy for me?” Kendra’s expression turned somber.
“Oh sure, sure, Kendra.” Momentarily forgetting her dilemma, she held Kendra’s hand to look at the ring. “It’s beautiful, Kendra, it’s gorgeous.”
Kendra beamed. “You’re not mad?”
“Mad? Why would I be mad?”
“Well, the last time we talked you were chasin’ your big ticket out of this life, but now— ”
“But now I may have a ticket that takes me somewhere else. Let’s quit the talkin’ and get down to business. How does this work?” Jessie held out the pregnancy test.
“Oh, yeah,” Kendra said, disappointed that her exciting news was so short lived. She glanced the illustrated page of instructions. “It says to pee on the stick then wait five minutes. A plus means positive, and you’re pregnant.”
“That doesn’t sound positive to me.” Jessie removed the foil wrap then disappeared behind the bushes.
“How long do I pee on this.”
“Five minutes.”
“Five minutes!”
“I mean five seconds, and then you have to wait five minutes.”
“Longest five minutes of my life.”
“Oooooh shit!”
Jessie and Kendra both watched the stick as the plus sign appeared.
Jessie wailed the cry of a strangled cat.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Jessie.” Kendra hugged her. Jessie stared at the stick.
Jessie and Kendra walked the path towards the school. Both were silent, absorbing the weight of the test results. Life was changing for both of them.
Jessie aborted the glum silence with flair, “You know, I knew that I had new life inside of me the week after. I woke that morning after dreaming all night long. Bright dreams with colors and faces that I knew like Momma and Daddy and Grampa—all of them gone, maybe not dead, but no longer in my life. Good dreams, not the black and white, scary faces of strangers or no face at all. I woke up feeling sentimental about my family, or the lack of one. I have a suitcase I keep the bits of memories that Momma left behind. I hadn’t opened it since I put the things that Mammie gave me after Momma left the first time.”
“What sort of things?”
“My baby blanket, baby shoes, and my christening gown was in there, too. I felt so warm inside, so needed.”
“That is so rad, Jessie, I think I’m gonna cry.”
“Most definitely.”
Kendra stopped and looked with a tilt of her head at Jessie. “What are you going to do with it?”
“Kendra, my baby is not an IT. My baby…” She rubbed her tummy and then held both hands there. “Is the most precious life I will ever know. I’ll never put any other love in front of her, or him, although I would love to have a girl. I miss my sister. You’re the closest to me of any girl I know. It would be wonderful to have a girl to talk to.”
“So, you’re going to keep the baby?”
“Why yes, Kendra, what else would I do? Kill a life within me. I would feel death itself. I . . . ” She looked away, deep in the memory. “I saw myself as a little girl, separated from daddy, and Momma leaving me with Mammie. Life was hell for me. I can’t bear the thought of snuffing out a life when Mammie has suffocated my own.”
“Just askin’. I didn’t mean anything by it. Some girls give up their baby for adoption.”
“What? And have her raised by some stranger? To never know who her real mommy is? Never!”
“Good, then that’s settled. You’re having a baby!”
“And you’re getting married!”
They turned to each other and hugged and jumped up and down, two 18-year olds venturing into life in the real world.
Thanks to you I got a new thing started
Thanks to you I’m not the broken-hearted
Thanks to you I’m finally thinking about me
You know in the end the day you left was just my beginning
In the end . . .
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone
What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn’t mean I’m over cause you’re gone
Copyright: Universal Music Publishing Mgb Scandinav, Perfect Storm Music Group AB, Kurstin Music, Kelly Clarkson, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
v v v
Excerpt from PURSUIT – A Matter of Choice,
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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