Chapter 9: A Mother Knows

A Chapter by Tina Bee

When I got to English class everyone was looking at me. I handed my note to Mrs. Quinn and took my seat. Again there were whispers, but I ignored them. We all filed out when the bell rang and in my next class I was more than happy to see Celia flirting with some junior named Marv who occasionally came to the house for parties.

After school I was picked up by mom and I didn't say a word to her. In the evening right before bed there was a knock on my door, it was Sonny.

"Thanks," I told him before he could speak.

"So, did they expel you?" Sonny asked me.

"No, in home suspension," I answered him and he looked a little relieved.

"That b***h won't mess with you anymore, I made sure of that," Sonny said to me.

"Ok," I answered him.

He stood there oddly for a few more seconds, but then just closed the door. After that I went to sleep. I didn't want to face the next two days, but I knew it was inevitable.

By Friday evening I was starved for attention. Having no contact with my friends had put a strain on my mind. I'd had too much time to think about my life and I was scaring myself.

I sat on my bed with the laptop open talking to Greg who sat at my desk.

"So today you're twelve weeks," Greg started.

"Twelve weeks and two days," I corrected him.

"Yea, and so no one at Graham knows, right?" Greg asked me.

"Not a soul," I said to him leaving out that terrible experience with Pete.

I was on MySpace reading bulletins from different members of The Crew. Apparently while Violetta, Amber, Jimmy, and I were in school life was happening fast for Cameron, Scott, Robbie, Crystal, Nick, and Dom.

Cameron was already planning on heading out of town for a Halloween concert and anyone interested needed to leave him a comment.

I switched over to Crystal's page and I was amazed by the changes to her page.

"Oh wow there's baby crap all over her MySpace," I said and Greg quickly came over.

Crystal's background said, 'mommy to be' and all her glitter graphics followed suit. She had three different pregnancy tickers on her About Me section. I read her expected due date and gasped.

"What?" Greg asked me squinting at the screen.

"She's three days ahead of me," I said to him and his eyebrows went up in shock.

"Well now you two can talk about your symptoms together in case your nervous about things," Greg said sounding encouraged.

"I don't want to tell any of them that I'm pregnant, ever," I replied.

"Why not?" Greg asked me as he took a seat on my bed facing me.

"It's nothing to be excited over. I'm not married, I'm not in a relationship, and I'm so young," I said listing off all my reasons.

"You've got me. Just tell them the truth and they'll understand. They know me," Greg said, but I wasn't convinced.

"No, I can't," I said shaking my head and exiting off MySpace without leaving Crystal a congratulations.

"If that's what you think then you're wrong," Greg said to me.

He placed his hand over mine, but I snatched it away from him.

"So how's Cadence?" I asked and he moved away from me.

"She's fine," he spat at me facing the wall.

"And you wonder why I won't tell them I'm pregnant," I said closing the laptop and lying down in bed.

"How's Jimmy?" Greg asked whipping around to face me.

"He's doing well. The coach asked him to join the football team at Graham and so far the ladies love him," I answered without flinching and Greg seethed.

"I bet you're one of those ladies," Greg mumbled under his breath.

My cell phone started buzzing before I could react to Greg's comment. It was Violetta and I answered.

"Hello," I said turning away from Greg.

"Hey, a bunch of us are going to for tacos tonight and we were wondering if you'd like to join?" Violetta asked me.

"Yea, sure. What time?" I asked her.

"Um, about eight ish. Crystal and Robbie are coming and she's making a big deal about her pregnancy so I'm warning you ahead of time," Violetta said and I chuckled.

"Ok," I answered her as I looked out toward my window.

"Cameron will pick you up in front of your house, see you then," Violetta said.

"Alright," I said hanging up.

Greg was busy gathering his books and bag from my chair.

"I heard your conversation and I'll see you later. I have a chemistry project I have to get started on," Greg said with his back turned to me.

"Call me later," I called out to him as he opened and closed my door.

It was already seven thirty PM and I needed to get ready. My appetite was roaring and all I could think about was a big fat juicy taco.

"So we had our first ultrasound yesterday," Crystal gushed, "they said the baby is very healthy and we even heard her heartbeat."

"It's a girl?" Amber asked with her eyes wide open.

"We don't know yet, Crystal is just guessing," Robbie answered.

"Oh, but a mother knows," Crystal said to us all.

Every member of The Crew was present. It was ninety-nine cent taco night at the new Mexican restaurant that had opened on the north side of the city. I sat next to Violetta who would gently kick my foot and roll her eyes at me whenever Crystal announced something else about her pregnancy.

"Well here's to a happy and healthy nine months," Dom said lifting up his glass of beer.

Dom had gone through a growth sprout over the summer. He was now taller than me with a full on mustache. The waitress never asked to see his ID so this caused Scott and Nick to order a round of tequila shots for everyone, but Cameron who was the designated driver.

"Aren't you going to drink your shot, Myra?" Jimmy asked me from across the table.

All eyes went to me and my face turned red.

"No, I'm ok," I answered and then took a huge bite out of my fourth taco of the night.

"I'll drink it!" Violetta said right before she grabbed my shot and chugged it down.

We all laughed and then the conversation went on to Jimmy's football season.

"First game is next Friday and I want everyone to be there. Yea it costs five bucks to get in, but with the way I play you'll be getting your moneys worth," Jimmy boasted.

"Oh and you can all come watch me cheer too," Violetta said slurrying her words a little in the process.

"It's hard to imagine Jimmy on a football team and Violetta cheering. Just the other day we were all talking about how much we hated school and now it's so different," Crystal commented.

I noticed that she was barely eating any food. Since we were about the same length through our pregnancies I wondered why she wasn't gobbling at her food like I was.

"Time changes everything," Scott said and everyone, excluding Crystal, Cameron and I, lifted up their shot glass and drank to that.

At about ten PM we filed out to the parking lot to discuss where we'd be going next.

"Well we have to get home, Crystal is exhausted," Robbie said under the hollowy light of the lamp post above him.

"Yes, this baby drains all my energy," Crystal said with one hand on her stomach.

"My parents are out of town for the weekend," Jimmy started, "we can go watch movies and play video games at my house."

"Alright, but I'm spending the night at your place then because I want to get hammered," Cameron said and all the boys agreed.

"I don't know," Violetta started, "I have practice very early in the morning and I need to get some sleep."

"I'll drop you off along with Crystal and Robbie," Cameron said.

"I'm in for a night of drinking, all that studying has gotten me tightly wound," Amber chimed in and she looked at me.

"So am I, but no drinking," I said and I could feel the stares on me specifically from Crystal.

"Let's go," Cameron said to us all as he hopped into the drivers seat.

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