AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah,” she whispers, appearing to be lost in her thoughts. I’m assuming this baby she’s having wasn’t planned, and I get that she’s scared. Maybe that’s why she insisted that I went into the room with her when her name got called. She was offered options about what to do next, and despite the fact she’s clearly shook up by everything, she seems intent on keeping the baby she’s having.
“Do ya need to contact the father? You can use my cell?” I offer, curious as to who got her in this situation. Anyone can see the girl is innocent, she has such a naive outlook on everything it’s almost worrying.
“No,” she answers me back sharply, then smiles apologetically when she realizes how it came out.
I nod back at her, so she knows she caused no offense; just more interest because she seems so intent on doing this without him.
“We can head into town and pick up those prenatal vitamins the doc said you should be takin’, there’s a—”
“I have no money.” She blurts the words out and when I notice her eyes filling up and her breathing start to get out of control, I pull over and cut the engine. “I have no money, the job I have barely covers my rent. How am I gonna do this?”
“It’ll work out,” I promise.
“How?” She lifts her eyes from the grainy image in her hands and looks across at me helplessly.
“Because I’m gonna help ya,” I tell her, feeling some of that strength I lost when I lost Carly build back up inside me.
“You don’t even know me.” Addison shakes her head in disbelief.
“I told ya that don’t matter. I spoke to my friend last night, the one who owns the house you're stayin’ in. He was talkin’ about making it a more permanent arrangement.”
“Skid, I could never afford a place like that. He’s kind, letting me stay, but soon I’m gonna have to find somewhere affordable, and to do that, I’m gonna need a better job.”
“He doesn’t want any rent, he’s just happy knowin’ someone is takin’ care of the place.”
“I can’t stay there for free.” She stares back at me like I’m crazy.
“You’ll be doin’ him a favor. I can fix the place up for you and the baby. The doc said you were thirteen weeks along, that gives us just under six months to get it ready.” The thought triggers some enthusiasm I never thought I’d feel again. It feels good to have a purpose.
“And who’s gonna employ me? I can’t keep working at the bar.”
“You work in a bar?” I check I heard her right. I really don’t like the idea of that.
“Yeah, four nights a week,” she informs me.
“And you help out at the soup kitchen on your nights off?”
“We all want to get into heaven, Skid.” The tiny smile that twitches on her lips distracts her from her panic, but only for a moment.
“Quit your job at the bar, you can’t be workin’ there. Not in your condition.” I shake my head.
“I can’t just quit, it’s my only source of income,” she argues.
“I’ll find you another fuckin’ income source.” Now it’smyvoice that gets snappy, and I’m confused and a little unnerved by how protective I feel over this girl I hardly know.
She looks startled by my reaction. The last thing I wanna to do is scare her but she’s vulnerable, and being pregnant can’t be easy. She shouldn’t be working in a damn bar.
“Look,” I manage to calm my voice. “I get that you're afraid, and all this is overwhelmin’ for ya right now. You just gotta let me help.” I feel my chest sag with relief when she nods her head back at me and wipes away her tears. “Good, we’ll start by gettin’ your vitamins.” I smile reassuringly as I restart the engine.
“You know there’s nothin’ you can’t tell me. I’m gonna help you, no matter what.” Skid eventually starts to talk when we get to the small pebbled beach on the other side of the lake to the cabins. The whole walk here I’ve been trying to think of a way to explain things to him. Everything about my life before I escaped seems so insane now, even to me.
“I thought he was dead.” I don’t kick things off exactly how I intended to, but since the words are coming I don’t hold them back.
“I thought I’d killed him, there was so much blood and…” My hands shake when I think about how his blood had soaked into my skin and Skid’s eyes dance over me, looking concerned and confused all at the same time.
“I wasn’t expecting to care for the child growing inside me. The thought of him putting one there made me wretch. But as soon as I knew for sure that he was there, I felt a gut instinct to protect him. I wasn’t like them, I always had doubts about the Elders and their ways. Then something happened. Something that made me sure I'd be safer away from them,” I explain, fully aware that I’m not making much sense. But Skid is letting me take my time and tell my story in my own way. “I managed to steal a knife from the kitchen, even though Annie told me he wouldn’t visit me anymore. I knew he would, he got too much of a satisfaction out of how scared he made me.” I close my eyes and see his menacing eyes hovering over me, the low grunts he used to make in my ear seems to drown out the pretty sounds of the birds chirping in the trees around us.
Skid takes my hand, remaining silent as the frown on his face becomes even more engraved.
