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“I know your name. Your boyfriend kept shouting it out as he wanted you to leave the store.”
I nodded. “Yeah right.”
Remembering how Liam called me as if I was some kind of puppy from the door.
She said, “My mom owns the store. I just open up in the morning and then she comes in later on and I work there like four days a week, so I have a pretty flexible schedule.”
“Wow, great daughter,” I said as I thought about her being so young and giving up her time to work in a pharmacy. Maybe that’s what she wanted to be later on in life? I just wouldn’t have pictured her going for that kind of profession. She wasn’t the typical pharmacist with her bright make-up and punkish hair style.
She shook her head. “Not really. She has to drop my brother at school in the morning, he has ADH and his school’s kind of far. I just open up until she finds a permanent solution. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you, but with your boyfriend and all that, I couldn’t do it.”
“Ex,” I correct her pointing my finger at her. “He doesn’t dump me in the city and then he’s still my boyfriend. He’s a jerk. Prick. Coward…”
Before I could say another word she said, “Scared!”
I huffed, “Because that’s a good excuse to dump your girlfriend in the city. Because he’s the only one that’s scared.”
I move closer to her. “Like he’s really going to find out if I’m having a baby, because he can piss on the stick, right?”
She laughed and then for the first time this morning, I felt more relaxed. She said, “Can you imagine him holding the packet and doing it?”
I shook my head. “He would open it and then blame me for not being there and peeing!”
I had visions of him being so obnoxious that he would do that. It would be typical Liam to think that. We were laughing so hard and talking as the pancakes came and I saw the mountain of cream and chocolate on it. I didn’t feel so mad after all. It smelt good and tasted even better. I closed my eyes as soon as I had my first bite.
“Rita! You’re like the friend that I never had.”
She didn’t smile back and said, “Well, no one’s said that to me in a long time.”
We ate in silence as the mood suddenly changed. I wondered what I said that was so wrong, but I didn’t dare ask her. Even when Barbara brought the hot chocolate, she didn’t seem phased about it.
So, I decided to break the silence. “Sorry for whatever I said.”
She nodded. “It’s not your fault. I was like you about two years ago. But I didn’t even tell my boyfriend. I just got the money from my mom, pretending that I was going on a trip with the girls. And went to the clinic and I got it done.”
She started to sob, so I stretched out my hand and then she looked at me. The diner was a little busy, but no one was paying attention to us. If they were, I wouldn’t have cared. I was with her, my new friend, and she needed comfort. Just like I did on the bench outside.
“I went to college for about six months. It could have been shorter. My mind and body became so cold that I turned to drugs and the baby that I had inside of me. The one that I thought would ruin my life. I did that pretty much on my own. I got thrown out of college. Addicted to meth. Even have a record for stealing something in the mall. It was a mi
nor thing, I managed to get community service, but it’s still on my record. What I did realize was that if I’d talked to someone, maybe my boyfriend at the time, before I chased him away, or even better, my mom, then maybe my decision would have been the same, but I would have had the support to deal with it. My life wouldn’t have changed and been the disaster that it’s become.”
I had a question burning inside of me. I’d thought about an abortion, especially after the way that Liam behaved, but I had thought of other options too, like adoption.
“Do you regret having the abortion?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. I do know that I regret doing it alone. That’s all I’m saying to you. Just don’t do whatever you decide to do alone. Sure Liam’s acting like a jerk. He didn’t take it too well, but maybe give him time. But you live with your mom, right?”
I nodded my head.
“Talk to her, please.” She then reached down and got a bag. She passed it to me and said, “I saw you on the bench and thought that you’d need it. You can do it here or if you want at home. No matter what the result, talk to someone about it. Or if you like, I’ll give you my number.”
I smiled as I thought about keeping in touch with her. I knew that the pregnancy test was going to be positive. There was no two ways about it. I wasn’t a little late, I was really late and the only time that I was late was after I’d started having sex.
I nodded and said, “I would like to keep in touch, Rita. I would really like that.”
Barbara came over and took our plates. I could see her looking at us, wanting to say something. Two girls in the diner just smiling and holding hands. I didn’t care because I had a new friend. One that I knew would be important not only in my life, but her life too.
Chapter Three
