Blocking Thrown Stones

“Whore!” an old man called from the crowd lining the path to the building.

Richard had gone through the gauntlet once before, but this was the first time he walked through the hostile gathering for someone he didn’t know.  Delilah came up to the middle of Richard’s chest, her brown curls falling to her shoulders.  If Richard hadn’t been told that she was twenty-one, six years younger than him, he would’ve assumed that she was in high school.  She reminded him much of his little sister, the girl that always came to him for help.

They met only a half-hour before in a parking lot just down the street from the clinic.  Delilah was in a blue sundress giving her pale skin a sickly cast.  Her eyes, chocolate brown like her hair, were empty like she had no energy.  She felt even smaller than her stature when they stood between their cars.

“I’m Richard.”

“Delilah,” she said with no joy in her voice.

“I don’t know what you’ve been told,” Richard said opening the passenger door to his car.

Delilah sat in the seat and closed the door before Richard could aid her.  After he climbed into the driver’s seat, they started the short ride to the clinic.  “They said there might be a crowd,” she said after a minute.

“That’s an understatement,” Richard said before remembering that his job involved reassurance.  Everything was going to be alright.  They weren’t going to have any trouble.  “They’re going to yell and scream and call you names.  Don’t worry, though.  No one’s going to touch you.”

“Good,” Delilah said with a sigh.

Richard drew a deep breath himself and braced for the response to his next question.  “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”

Delilah glanced at Richard before looking down at her pale feet in black flip-flops.  “It was about two months ago.  I work at the grocery store just up the street from here.  I was walking out to my car.  I never saw the guy before he grabbed me.  He pulled me over some bushes, ripped off my underwear…”

“Okay,” Richard said noticing a tear running down her cheek.  “I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t do it,” Delilah snapped, her jaw clenching.

“My girlfriend was raped, too.”

Delilah’s shoulders sagged, and she wiped her cheek.  “What happened to her?”

Richard remembered that call from the hospital, the call that was the beginning of the end of his relationship with her.  “She was on campus late quite a bit back in college.  One night, I just couldn’t keep up with her.  I told her to call me when she was ready to come home, and I’d come back.  When the phone rang at two in the morning, I thought she was finally finished.”

“It wasn’t her, was it?”

“No,” Richard said shaking his head.  “It was somebody at the hospital telling me that she had been attacked and that I should get there as soon as I can.  She asked a classmate to take her home instead of waking me.  He took her to a quiet place on campus instead.”

“Oh god,” Delilah said rubbing her head.

“I felt horrible.  She told me she didn’t blame me, but if I had just stayed awake—”

“You can’t do that,” Delilah said quickly.  “That’s the kind of thinking that destroys relationships.”

Richard laughed bitterly.  “Too late.  We broke up last year.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I escorted her here when she realized she was pregnant.  The people were here then.”

“What caused you to volunteer for this?” Delilah asked.

“Dr. Hargrove needed someone,” Richard said.  “He called me, and I said yes.”

Delilah glanced at him with a grin on her face.  “Do you make it a habit to volunteer to take abuse?”

Richard smirked and shook his head.  “I don’t think anybody deserves what those people say and do there.  If I’m available, I’ll help.  I told Dr. Hargrove that a long time ago.  This is the first time he’s called.”

They made the turn into the parking lot of the clinic, and, for the first time, they saw the crowd along the path to the door.  Eight people waited for them, all holding Bibles.  The man closest to the door held a large wooden cross and was loudly reading a passage from his book.  Richard parked under a large oak tree across the parking lot from the door and looked over his shoulder at the group.

Delilah took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around her body.  “I don’t know if I can do this.”

Richard’s mind flashed on his conversation with Dr. Hargrove when they spoke about the things that might happen.  This was discussed, and Dr. Hargrove gave Richard very simple instructions.  “Okay.”

“Okay?” Delilah asked shooting a surprised look at Richard.

“If you’ve changed your mind, that’s fine.  I’ll take you back to your car.”

“That easy?”

“I can’t make you go in there,” Richard said.  “I just hope those people out there aren’t making your decision for you.”

Delilah turned in her seat and stared at Richard for a moment.  “Maybe,” she said sheepishly.  “I’m afraid.”

“That’s understandable,” Richard said.  “It would be understandable without those people out there.”

“I’m not ready for a baby,” Delilah said sinking into the seat.  “I’m afraid of what I’d do, how I’d react to this kid.”

“I know,” Richard said softly.  “So, what do you want to do?”

Delilah stared down at her feet for a few minutes then looked up at the people waiting along the walkway to the front door of the clinic.  “Let’s go.”

“You’re sure?”

“I am,” she said with a nod.

They stood at the end of the path with people yelling at them, fire and anger in their eyes. 

“Whore!”

“You’re going to hell!”

“Turn around and go home!”

“Ready?” Richard asked putting his arm around her shoulders.

Delilah nodded.  “I’m ready.”