A Soldier's Heart

Pa Talks to Bo's Parents (Beth)

That evening when Pa came home, he sat me down in the living room.

"Now, girl, I want you to tell me exactly what that boy did."

I was horrified. I twisted my skirt in my hands and tried to think how to tell him that wouldn't sound as bad as it was. Pa kept looking at me.

"Go on, girl."

After the first few words, the telling got a bit easier. I told Pa how Bo took me out of town and was kissing me, and I liked that, but then he ripped my panties and wouldn't quit when I tried to push him away. I said Bo got on top of me and forced himself inside me. And then he brought me home.

"Did you bleed?" Pa asked.

"Yes," I said, embarrassed as heck.

Pa nodded. "That means no other boy got there first." The he said something that surprised the heck out of me. "It weren't your fault, girl. Not much, anyway. You just shouldn't of went there with him. Boys always try to go as far as they can, and sometimes it's too far."

After supper, Pa and me went to Bo's house. Bo must not of told his parents, cause they were surprised to see us. They invited us in, though, real nice, and Bo's Ma brought coffee and cookies into the living room when we sat down.

Pa didn't waste no time getting down to business.

"Your boy got my girl pregnant, and he's going to do right by her."

Bo's Ma gasped and his Pa called for Bo to come down from his room. When he came in, his Pa repeated what my Pa said, and asked him if it was true.

Bo shrugged and said it could be. It seemed to me he expected his Ma and Pa to take his part.

"Well you gotta marry her, boy," Pa said.

"Oh, not!" Bo's Ma said. "Bo can't get married. He's got to finish school and then we want him to go to college. He can't do that if he's trying to support a wife and family."

"See, it's like this," Pa said. "Either he marries her or I'm goin' to have to get him arrested for rape."

Bo's Ma gasped again. "Oh! Surely not! My boy wouldn't do something like that!"

Bo's Pa got out of his chair and gave Bo a look that would of meant I was going to get a beating if my Pa looked at me that way.

"Did you rape her?"

Bo looked down at his feet. Anyone could see he was guilty.

"Answer me, Bob."

Bo shot me a look of pure hatred. "She wanted it, Dad. She liked what I was doing."

I could feel my face getting hot because that was a little bit true, but not all true.

"I told you to stop and you wouldn't. You held me down and forced it in."

Bo's Ma fanned her face with her hand and looked about ready to faint. His Pa turned to me and said, "Maybe you could go away and have the baby. I'd be happy to pay all the expenses."

That sounded a lot better to me than marrying Bo, but my Pa weren't having none of that.

"No. He's going to marry her or he's going to jail for rape."

Bo's Ma gave a little moan and his Pa looked grim. "If he's charged with rape, it will destroy any chance he has of getting on in life."

"Guess he should of thought about that before he done it," Pa said.

Bo's Pa turned to him. "What do you say, Bob? Which way do you want to go? Whichever you decide, we'll help all we can."

"I guess I'll marry the bitch," Bo said. "Then I can stick it in her whenever I want and she can't say 'boo'."

Bo's Ma gasped. Bo's face wore a grin that looked more like a snarl and I had a feeling things were going to get a lot worse for me. The adults started talking about the wedding and the baby and all I could think of was I was goin' to be stuck with Bo the rest of my life.

They decided we would get married at town hall as soon as we could get a license, and Bo and me would keep going to school as long as we could. Bo's Ma said she wouldn't mind taking care of the baby so we could at least finish out the year, but after that Bo would have to get a job, or maybe I could. That part was kind of vague. I think Bo's parents still hoped he could go to college and it didn't matter much what happened to me. They said I could live with them, sharing Bo's room after we were married. Believe it or not, I would rather have stayed with Pa and let Bo stay with his folks, but Pa said no one would believe we were married if we did that, and he didn't want anyone heaping shame on me. I think he really meant heaping shame on him, but I was past caring.