Don't Get Angry

56- Dalta: Overthinking

I sat on Betty's aunt's couch letting out a sigh. I blinked twice and inhaled the smell of the pie being baked in the kitchen. The yellow walls were calming and everything about the house felt warm...like home. Betty sat on the couch across from me rubbing her belly. She smiled at me then looked at Otis as he sat beside me. He rested his open hand on my knee. I held his hand and smirked then looked at Betty. She flashed another smile at me. "I'm loving the cornrows, Otis."

Otis nodded. "Dalta did them."

"Of course she did," Betty smiled and winked at me.

I blushed leaning closer to Otis.

"Never expected you two to date," she giggled then bit her bottom lip.

I shrugged and looked at Otis. "Me either." I looked at her. "I never expected any of this."

Her smile fell. She nodded.

"You left...without telling me that you were leaving. You didn't tell me anything and you left me so worried-"

"I'm sorry, Dalta... It's just that you're not the best person to tell things to."

"What are you talking about? I'm your best friend since, like...forever."

"And you still are. You've never stopped caring. You drove all the way out here to get me."

"I went out of my way for you even though I didn't know about the abuse or anything you've gone through."

Her eyes widened. "How'd you-"

"Peter and Ethan... They went through so much worse for you."

"What do you mean?... Did they..." She looked at the kitchen behind us, then back at me. "Did they try to rob the gas station again?"

Otis squeezed my hand. "You weren't in on it?"

"No," Betty denied, holding her chest and shaking her head. "Never. I told them that that was a stupid idea."

"We walked into the gas station when it was happening," I said, shaking my head.

"They told me that. Ethan drove to my house right after they tried it. Told me the cops nearly caught him. After that, I asked him to drive me out of town... I was coming here."

"They made it seem like you'd ran away."

"I did." She frowned rubbing her stomach. "I wasn't going to stay at home. Not after all the trouble I'd caused-"

"What trouble? Betty, none of this is on you-"

"You would say that. But it's my fault I'm pregnant. It's my fault that Chad's the guy I'm pregnant for..." She shook her head. "You think you know what it's like to be me, Dalta. But you don't —"

"I know I don't, but-"

Otis squeezed my hand. "Just let her speak," he whispered.

I sighed.

Betty's eyes remained glued to the floor. "I never had a chance with my dad... I never had a chance at our school... The only place that people actually treated me with kindness was at church. And they were only nice to me because I was the pastor's daughter... My dad didn't care about my mother, any god or me... He cared about his image. And all he wanted was for me to keep him looking good to everyone else, because if I screwed up, he screwed up. And he couldn't have that."

I watched her eyes well up with tears.

"So, when the rumors started going around that I was being promiscuous in school, he got upset. And you know that people started talking at church, because their kids started telling them about it." She looked at me and giggled, wiping her cheek. "The funny thing about it, was that it wasn't even me. It was some other Betty."