BADUM!
BADUM!
BADUM!
The heartbeat went on.
The room was louder than ever yet he could only hear none of the noise ruminating around him. From the people dancing and making unnecessary shouts, to those who were wailing in happiness on the dance floor as well as the loud sing-alongs. He could hear his own heartbeat, his chest swaying in and out ferociously as he digested what his sister had just told him. Had he heard her correctly? Or was it the effect of the beer taking place?
"YOU'RE WHAT?" He roared. He had heard her of course, but he needed to be sure.
"I'm...pregnant..." she spoke up once again, her voice shaking like a house of cards vibrating from an earthquake. She was whimpering, muffling her cries and shivering at once, as chills ran down her spine. Not from the cold, no– the heat in there was well too obvious, but from what she had just told her brother. She didn't know how he would react to the news.
Ethan's mouth was resting on the floor. He took the girl by her arm. She yelled a bit catching the attention of a few people. Elena wasn't that far from them. She saw Ethan climb upstairs, firmly gripping and pulling Ingrid by her wrist. She followed suit. Her dress was still perfect. No spills had poured on it. Some of her hair, black as midnight, was in front of her shoulders with some coils in their relative ends. Her thighs got exposed a bit as she climbed the steps racing up to her boyfriend.
Ethan entered Ingrid's room with the little girl whimpering now and then. He reached for the door and as he was about to close, Elena entered. She knew something was up and she wanted to help if she could. Ethan let her in, he saw no reason not to. Ingrid was uncomfortable but she knew Elena and how she and Ethan had an on and off thing going on. She seemed okay at last. She would protect her secret. Besides, she and Ethan had been given the task to talk to her about sex, three years ago on that day when Ingrid had come face to face with the jaws of death, from that disease…
"Start talking!" Ethan hissed at Ingrid who was seating on the edge of her bed. The oversized sweater was covering up to her thighs and the rest of the legs exposed to the cold winter air. The other two were standing in the opposite direction just in front of the door.
"I'm so sorry Ethan..." She said, shaking like a chick in windy rain. "I– didn't intend it to happen."
"How did you? How could you?" He asked with a pitched voice.
"I...I"
"Talk!" He roared at her again.
She managed to find some words, "It all started two weeks ago when...I had sex with this guy..."
"Name."
"It doesn't matter, you don't know him. He..."
"Name!"
"Ayden Ramsey."
"Is he the guy who dropped you off in some car a month ago?"
"Yes." She softly answered.
"Continue..."
"We...we, we had sex two weeks ago during your graduation ceremony." She said, head down.
He stared at the innocent girl he had been taking her for, teeth grinding against each other and brows almost touching themselves.
"I–I–I was too drunk Ethan. I wanted to take the after pills just as I had agreed with him but I was too wasted that day Ethan, and I forgot... I forgot. By the time I took them, I didn't realize that it was too late."
He put his hands behind his head, cooping his hair from the back. "Ingrid, how could you be so careless?" He said pacing up and down the room. "How did we not know? How did I not know?"
"Are you sure?" Asked Elena who had been listening all while.
"She has been behaving strangely since the commencement Elena. To add to that, she had locked herself in her room since Wednesday and today was when I was actually fortunate to see her. I knew something was up with her, but I didn't know what. Ingrid is a liar, but this is nothing but the truth Elena."
Elena directed her eyes back to Ingrid. "Are you a hundred percent sure?"
She nodded, crying.
"And what about the father? Does he know?" Elena asked yet another question.
"No, he doesn't. He...he will break up with me if he finds out. I do not want to lose him."
"Look at you. Will you just listen to what you're saying? You're so scared of losing him? Ingrid, you're pregnant! Losing your boyfriend should be the least of your worries. What do you think mom and dad might do to you? Huh? Or is that not too important to you?" He lashed out at the girl with figurative gestures.
"Ethan, please. Don't tell them. Please...mom and dad will murder me!"
"That's what you should have thought before you opened your legs to some boy."
Elena looked at Ethan. That response was rude. She moved closer to Ingrid and got down on one knee. She touched her hands and sought to soothe her. She looked up at her and said, "Ingrid, they have to know. They are your parents. They..."
"Shut up!" Ingrid hissed at her. Her eyes were closed.
Ethan looked at Ingrid, then Elena, then back at Ingrid.
"Little girl, listen to me and listen careful!" Elena snapped at her. "I don't know how you can be having all this uncanny valley attitude. For Christ's sake, you're pregnant! This is not a laughing matter Ingrid. Tell me what you think that Ethan is going to do to help you! Huh? Do you think that there's something your dear brother is going to do that will make much of a difference? Huh?"
"Get out! Get out! Get out!!!!!" Ingrid exploded in Elena's face. She looked perplexed. The sudden outburst wasn't seen coming from miles away.
"Elena, could you wait outside?" Ethan urged her. She nodded, looked at Ingrid, and shook her head in disbelief.
"Out! Now!"
She walked out, closing the door behind her. Some noise from outside entered the room for a while before it died out.
"You talk to her with respect!" He told her. "You don't get to do that to her! Do you hear me?"
She nodded. Tears were already building up. She broke up again. He calmed down.
"How could you be so careless Ingrid? How could you?"
"It...I...I don't know how it went wrong, I'm sorry!" She wept bitterly, tears meandering down that dull face.
"I told you one thing! Just one thing! Don't come home pregnant. Oh my god, what have you done?"
"I thought that it would be like the other times..."
"Other?" He asked. "Ingrid, how many times have you?"
"Three...five." She said, shivering and wiping the tears that came back anyway.
"Ingrid, things like this...you tell me, okay? You just don't get to keep them to yourself. You're so young and such things will kill you. I told you I was always here for you. Why did you not tell me earlier?
"I was scared..." Her words came out jittery, hands tucked between her legs. He headed over to her and embraced her in his arms. She was cold. He felt it.
"I'm going to help you. Dad and mom won't know about this. I promise you. We will talk about this first thing in the morning. Okay?" He said as he cupped her chin with his right hand. She nodded, crying softly. Those tears seemed to never just give up.