****
"You're two weeks pregnant ", the doctor said with a smile.
"What?", Jack exclaimed.
"Pregnant?", I asked with confusion all over my face.
"Yes, here's the test result", he said and handed the results to me. He was saying the truth. The test results proved that I was indeed pregnant.
"No, no, no. It can't be", I started sobbing. I looked at Jack to see his reaction. He looked down, avoiding my gaze and I could tell he was disappointed. He stood up and shook his head.
"Please get rid of it. I can't have a baby. I can't. How are we going to survive? Please doctor, we need to take it out now it's still early, please", I said with tears all over my face.
"Are you serious?", Jack looked at me and said.
"Umm, from what we see you're underage and we can't make decisions for you neither can you. We need to contact your parents or guardian", the doctor replied.
"My parents? No. No way in hell. It's my body. I wanna get rid of it. I don't need anybody's approval.", I yelled in a defensive tone.
"I'm sorry miss but that'd be a very bad thing to do. We need permission from your guardian. We can't proceed.", he responded.
Jack looked upset and I noticed he was trying to hide it.
"Please don't call my parents. I beg you. Please. Fine I won't get rid of it, but please don't call them. Okay? I'll let them know about everything on my own. Don't tell them. Infact I'm fine, you can discharge me. I'll leave but please don't tell anyone.", I said, sobbing.
"You heard her, please leave.", Jack told the doctor, gesturing to the door. I was crying bitterly.
"My whole life is a mess. I wanna die. I can't do this anymore. I can't. I can't.", I yelled. Jack sighed and palmed his face. Out of frustration, I began to disconnect the drip the nurses had set up for me.
"Stop it", Jack cautioned me.
"What is wrong with you? Do you wanna kill yourself. Relax. Calm down.", he said and held my hands.
"I brought you here to save you. It'd be very bad if you die on me.", he said with a very harsh tone. I didn't say a word, I just kept on crying.
"Maybe you should contact the father of the child", he said abruptly.
Really? Contact the father? How do I tell him I was stupid enough to fall for a stupid guy who used me and ruined my life. I don't even know where he is. I don't even care; I thought to myself.
"I don't know who the father is", I responded.
"Are you kidding me? What do you mean you don't know who the father is? Oh, so you sleep around?", Jack said furiously.
"Jack please. I'm going through a whole lot right now. Please leave me alone.", I replied.
"Don't you see I'm trying to help?", he shouted.
"By interrogating me? That's not helping please go away.", I yelled back at him.
"Fine", He said and left. I started crying again.
"I curse the day I met you Raymond. I hate you", I yelled continuously. A nurse came in and tried calming me down. She suggested calling my parents or a friend but I refused. I picked myself up and stopped crying.
" I just want to go home please.", I told her and assured her that I was fine. She did some physical examination on me and she discharged me. I changed back into my clothes and I noticed there was cash in it. I had no money so obviously it wasn't mine. I brought out the money and counted it. $170. I was confused. I thought a nurse mistakenly put their money in my pocket until I saw a note.
"Stay safe- Jack".
Of course, it was Jack. I shrugged and walked out of the room. I took a cab and went back home.
I walked into the living room and the first person I saw was Jayla. She looked at me and smiled. I was really unhappy so I couldn't smile back.
"Are you okay?", Jayla asked.
"Sure", I replied and went straight to my room.
As I entered my room, I saw a picture of me and Teresa in middle school. We looked so happy, we were the best of friends. I still don't understand why she'd choose to hurt me. I walked to my drawer, took a lighter and burnt the picture . I sighed and laid on my bed. I began crying. I was so tired and I started feeling sick. Immediately, I regretted leaving the hospital. I was dizzy and I felt so uneasy. I didn't even know when I fell asleep.
******
I woke up and the sun was already out. I checked my clock, it was 9:57.
"Oh my God", I screamed and jumped out of bed hurriedly. It suddenly dawned on me that I was fired. I have no job, no money, nothing. I was supposed to get paid today but what happened happened. I fell back on bed and cried.
*******
Weeks passed and I never heard from Jack. I felt bad for shutting him out when all he wanted was to help. He was so kind to leave me $170; that was the money i had been surviving on. I kept on rotting in my room and I didn't bother to find another job. I was fed up and very tired. I look at my reflection in the mirror and tears dropped down my eyes. Who could have thought getting all glammed up for prom will turn into this horror. I heard a knock on my door. It was Jayla.
"Someone's here to see you", Jayla said.
"I really don't want to see anyone Jayla", I said softly.
"Too bad you have to see me", I heard a familiar voice say from outside. It was Lana.
Lana walked into my room and Jayla left. She gave me a big hug and smiled.
"Don't tell me you've been crying", Lana said and held my hands.
"Are you okay? Is it because of your job? What's wrong? Talk To me.", she added.
I couldn't even utter a word, my face was already soaked with tears.
"Lana my life's a mess.", I replied. She held my hand and started comforting me.
"You can trust me, I promise. I'm here for you", she said softly as tears rolled down her cheeks. I knew she felt pity for me, so I decided to tell her everything, except from my pregnancy . She started crying too and then I felt bad. We hugged each other and she told me I can come and eat at her place anytime I wanted. We talked about a lot of things, she even told me Jack bought the restaurant I used to work at. The thought of Jack made me feel so sick. What made me even more sick was that my baby bump might start showing any moment from now. I sighed and laid on my bed.
"I have to leave. Time for work. Remember if you're hungry you can come eat at my place, okay", Lana said and kissed my forehead.
"Okay, thank you", I thanked her.
She left and I picked up a book to read. I was supposed to be preparing for college but there was no point. I had no money for college, mum and dad disowned me. To top it off, I'm pregnant. I laughed and continued reading.
"You're so beautiful, I'd never hurt you", I read from the book and my mind immediately drifted to Raymond. That was the exact thing he said to me when I agreed to be his girlfriend. I shook my head and closed the book. I decided to go out for a quick stroll.
I got downstairs and heard mum and dad arguing.
"It's your fault everything's happening like this, Maria . If only you got rid of her when you should have it wouldn't have gotten to this",Dad yelled.
"Oh please, how is it my fault that she's irresponsible and she tarnished our image? I trained her well, look at Jayla. She doesn't go around humiliating us", mum responded.
"Yeah that's because Jayla is ours Maria. You brought a bastard child into my home, what were you expecting", dad said.
"That bastard child is ours,okay?",said mum.
"You're forgetting you were already 2 months pregnant when we met? You lied to me. You pinned the baby on me damn it.", dad yelled at her.
"John, I thought we've gotten past this. Why bring this up again". Mum replied and I started feeling suspicious. I walked into the living room and they stopped as they noticed me.
"What's going on mum?", I asked with a shaky voice.
"What's going on? When were you going to tell us you were pregnant?", dad said and snatched my arms. I got really scared.
"What kind of embarrassment is this? I'm tired of you Avani, I'm really tired. Sometimes I wonder where I went wrong.", mum said and palmed her face.
"Who's the father?", dad shouted angrily at me.
"It's Raymond dad. It's Raymond. He's the only person who has touched me and it was just once. I'm sorry dad", I answered and dad slapped me. I faced down and started crying. When is all these torture going to end?
"Don't you ever call me dad again you stupid embarrassment", dad yelled and pushed me to the floor.
"You keep ruining our image Avani. After everything we've done for you.", mum said and slapped me, and that was it. I was fed up.
"Everything you've done? What have you ever done for me mum. You always make me depressed. I've been through a lot. You never heard my side of the story. You never even gave me a chance to explain anything. Just a slight provocation and you both turned your backs on me. Is that how parenting works?…..", before I could finish mum slapped me again.
"Now you have the audacity to talk back? How dare you?", she said and hit me again. I moved backwards.
"I regret having you as a daughter. I should have gotten rid of you the moment I realized your dad was a deadbeat. You're just as stupid as him. I hate you as much as I hate him.", mum screamed, pointing her index finger towards me.
"You regret being my mum? Well I regret being your daughter. I wish I wasn't even born. This family is a curse. I hate you too and I hate dad even more. Y'all have tortured me a lot. You've both ruined my life. I hate you all. I hate you", I yelled back at mum and dad pushed me to the ground and kicked my belly. I felt a very sharp in my stomach and I started rubbing it. I wasn't about to lose my child in such stupid manner. I was extremely shocked. The abuse was just too much.
"I'm not your father, I've always hated you as much as I hated your disgusting father. I only put up with you all these while because I loved your mum. But now I see it was useless. I should have kicked you out a long time ago." He said. He went upstairs to my room and began to throw my things down.
"Today, you're leaving. I've had enough of you.", dad said as he was throwing my clothes and boxes down.
"Mum, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I have nowhere to go", I burst into tears and crawled to her legs, clinging to them and begging her to let me stay.
"Go to the father of your baby", She said and pushed me away.
"Let's see how audacious you're gonna be while living on the streets.", dad said and dragged me out of the house.
"Dad please. I promise to be better, please don't kick me out please.", I kept on begging but they didn't listen.
He pushed me outside, threw my clothes and boxes, and shut the door.