A Soldier's Heart

Pa Finds Out (Beth)

Pa was real surprised to get the note.

"Are you in trouble at school?" he asked.

"Not exactly."

"Well, what then? Why does your teacher want to see me?"

I chickened out. "I guess she'll have to tell you," I mumbled.

I served up dinner, but all the time we were eating, Pa was looking at me funny. I tried not to look at him. I was sure if I did, he would know my secret.

The next night Pa fixed himself up a bit to go see Mrs. Wilson. He looked as nervous as I felt.

Mrs. Wilson asked us both to sit down. There was just the desks to sit at. It was funny to see Pa sitting at one beside me, but I couldn't laugh. My heart was beating real fast and I thought I might faint, I was so scared.

"Mr. Jones, I called you in to discuss Beth's situation."

Pa looked real confused. He looked at me, then back at Mrs. Wilson.

"What situation?"

"Beth is pregnant, Mr. Jones."

Pa got red in the face and he looked at me, glaring.

"That right, Beth?"

"Yes, Pa." I could barely whisper. My throat was all closed up.

Pa closed his eyes for a minute and when he opened them, his mouth worked for a bit before any words came out.

"Who done it? Was it that minister's son?"

"No, Pa." The expression on his face said he didn't believe me.

Mrs. Wilson interrupted. "The important question is, how can we help Beth get through this? Now we have a few options. She could adopt the baby out after it's born. She could keep it and raise it. I think it's probably too late for the third option, and that is, to have the baby surgically removed."

"You mean, an abortion," I whispered. That was a horrible thought. I couldn't do that, kill an innocent baby just because its parents weren't married.

"You forgot the easiest one," Pa said. "She could marry the SOB that done this to her."

I gasped. I should have expected that, but I didn't. I just couldn't imagine marrying Bo. I was so thankful when Mrs. Wilson answered him.

"Beth is too young to marry. Most teenage marriages fail. Young people have enough other problems, without trying to cope with marriage and a baby. They just aren't ready. No, the best solution is for her to adopt it out. But it's her decision to make. What do you think, Beth?"

Before I could answer, Pa shouted out. "No! The best solution is to make the boy that done this face up to it. I don't want no grandchildren being raised by strangers. And I don't want people pointing fingers at my girl and calling her a slut. Even if she is."

He glared at me when he said it, and I just wanted to fall down on the floor and die. He was right. I was a slut for letting Bo do that.

Pa got up out of the seat. "Thank you for telling me about this, ma'am. Now I'll handle it the best I know how."

He grabbed my arm and dragged me out to his truck. He didn't say a word on the way home. When we got there, he said, "Get in the house." He followed me.

He put his hand on his belt buckle and I was sure he was going to take off his belt and beat me with it, but he didn't. He pushed me down onto the couch and stood glaring at me.

"Who done it, Beth?" His voice was real quiet, like he was holding himself back. That was scarier than when he yelled.

"It ... it was Bo. I didn't want to. I tried to make him stop, but he wouldn't."

Pa clenched his teeth as well as his fists. "All the more reason why he needs to marry you. Where does he live?"

I knew he would of gone straight over to Bo's house, but I didn't know where he lived.

"All right, then," Pa said. "I'll find him at school tomorrow."

The next day, Pa didn't go to work. He drove me to school and parked his truck in a teacher's spot. I didn't want to make him madder, so I didn't point that out.

We went into the school. Pa was looking around at all the kids, looking for Bo. I saw him first. He was down the hall a ways, and as usual he licked his lips and grinned when he saw me. Then he saw Pa beside me and his grin disappeared. Pa saw him and walked real fast straight up to him.

"You!" he said, pulling me forward and pushing me at Bo. "You got my girl pregnant and you're going to do right by her."

I wanted to die. All the kids were staring at us, not talking and laughing any more, just watching to see what would happen.

Bo tried to tough it out. "I bet she did it with a bunch of guys. Especially Travis. I bet she did it a lot with him."

I was so mad I was shaking. "I never done it with no one but you, and you know it."

One of the kids must of went for the principal, 'cause there he was, asking what was going on. Pa explained that he was going to make that SOB marry me cause he ruint me. The principal made all of us go to his office. As we walked down the hall, the kids started talking again behind us. It wasn't nice, what they were saying.

The principal shut the door to his office and said to Bo, "Is it true? Did you have sex with this young lady?"

"She's not ..." Bo started, but at the look on the principal's face he stammered a bit and then said "Yes".

The principal turned to me. "Beth, are you sure he's the one that got you pregnant?"

I was real mad. What he was really asking was, is he the only one you had sex with.

"I'm sure," I said.

"See?" Pa was shouting again. "Now he's going to make an honest woman out of her."

The principal tried to calm him down, but Pa wouldn't settle down until he got Bo's address. He said we would go over and see his parents that night. Finally the principal sent us out. Pa went to work, and Bo and I went to class.

Travis looked up when we came in. He had a frown on his face. I knew he had heard all about the scene in the hall. I put my head down so I couldn't see how upset he was.

At lunchtime, Travis asked me if it was true. I hung my head, ashamed. I nodded. Travis was real quiet after that, and so was I. When we got to my yard, he stopped and turned me to face him.

"You could have told me, Beth," he said. "I would have understood." He put his arms around me and hugged me, and kissed the top of my head. I hugged him back, loving him even more than I already did, because he didn't think I was bad or dirty. Tears came to my eyes and I sniffed them back. I loved him so much, and I was going to have to marry Bo.

Travis didn't know what the tears were from. I guessed he thought it was because of the baby. He hugged me tighter.

"Why don't you have lunch at my place?" he asked. "My mom won't mind."

I shook my head. Sometimes I though his Ma could see right inside my head, and I didn't want her to know what I was thinking. And his Pa being a minister and all, he'd probably want to pray over me or something. And he wouldn't pray for the same things I would pray for.

"OK." Travis kissed my forehead and walked down the street. I watched him go. He looked all blurry.