The Long, Hot Summer [RETIRED]

Chapter 8

I gulped and nodded as I took a seat in the love seat the furthest away from them and the closest to an exit. When I walked in I was still a little groggy from my nap, but once I took in their angry and disappointed glares I was fully awake, alert, and seconds from peeing my pants in fear.

Maybe they're mad about me skipping school today and they don' t know that I'm pregnant, I thought to myself, if it's the former, I can handle it, but if it's the latter, Jesus be a fence.

My mother cleared her throat and began to speak, "I saw something interesting in the mail. Our quarterly insurance statement came in today and there were some details on this quarter that took me by surprise, some charges I'm unfamiliar with. Now, I'm not sure if by any possible chance our insurance company made a mistake and charged us for someone else's medical visits, or if there's something you know that we don't. So before I get on this phone and act a fool to our insurance agent, is there something you would like to tell us?" she asked and I swallowed nervously, my mouth suddenly very dry.

Shit.

"Um, I'm not sure. What were the charges?" I asked, playing dumb. She was vague in her statements and I'd be a fool to outright take the bait. Maybe this was a test.

My father hit the end table in frustration, "Don't play dumb with us girl, are you pregnant or not?!" he boomed and I flinched back in fear. I felt my hormones raging and the need to cry coming strong but I couldn't let them see me cry, it would only make things worse.

I looked down and nodded, "Yes sir," I replied in a near whisper, and my parents lost it.

"Oh Lord have mercy Jesus!" My mother cried as she clutched her chest in shock, but my father was livid. The thing about my father, his anger is like a kettle heating up. At first he's quiet but once that water gets hot, he'll get to screaming. In this case, the water must have already been hot.

"Where is my gun, because I'm about to kill whoever it was that took advantage of my baby! Who was it?! It was the Bishop's boy wasn't it? I bet it was, I'm about to teach him a lesson he'll never forget!" he angrily declared as he stood up and began to go get his gun.

I jumped up quickly to stop him, "DADDY STOP! Lamman didn't get me pregnant and no one took advantage of me! It was consensual!" I revealed and he stopped in his tracks, the look in his eyes going from a fiery rage to a fiery disdain.

"Oh so you been out here opening your legs to just anybody then huh? Now look at you, 18 and pregnant. You couldn't even wait until you were graduated and out my house before you made a fool out of yourself and this family!" he bellowed, "Have you lost your mind?! How could you be so irresponsible?!"

(He's yelling, but I'm not about to capitalize all them words. He's yelling at her, not us)

"Who's the father? Do you even know who it is?!" he asked and I got angry.