The Choice (8 page)

Sandy knew that eventually her father wouldn't be able to resist her mother's will. “It's my life,” she said, then braced herself for her mother's reaction.

“Yes, it is,” her mother replied simply. “And you're going to have to live with whatever decision you make.”

The unexpected shifting of responsibility to her shoulders caused Sandy to step back.

“You're not going to make me do something?” she asked in surprise.

“No,” her mother replied. “I'm not.”

SIX

A
couple of hours later, the front doorbell chimed. Football practice wasn't over yet, so Sandy knew it couldn't be Brad. She ran downstairs and peeked through the sidelight. It was Jessica. Sandy opened the door. Jessica came in and gave her a long hug.

“I missed you today,” her friend said. “When are you coming back to school?”

“Let's go up to my room.”

The two girls had spent countless hours in Sandy's bedroom talking, giggling, sharing secrets, and staying up late. They sat opposite each other on the floor. Sandy told Jessica she wasn't going back to Rutland High and went over her educational options.

“The place in Atlanta sounds scary,” Jessica said.

“Yeah, I can't believe my mom is pushing it. My parents say they aren't kicking me out of the house, but that's what it feels like to me.” Sandy took a deep breath before continuing. “I just want to work things out between me and Brad.”

Jessica glanced down at the floor.

“What?” Sandy asked.

“I don't know,” Jessica replied without looking up. “It may not be anything.”

“What are you talking about?” Sandy asked in alarm. “Tell me.”

Jessica sighed. “I saw Brad talking to Crystal Bradshaw at her locker after second period. I didn't think anything about it until sixth-period study hall. I had to get a book for that research paper I'm writing on Clara Barton for American history. When I went to the biography section against the back wall, Brad and Crystal were together again, talking and laughing. As soon as Brad saw me, he put his arm around Crystal's waist, and they moved away. Everybody knows Crystal is a terrible flirt, so it was probably all her fault. I mean, she calls guys on the phone to try to get them to ask her out. Nobody does that.”

Sandy felt the color drain from her face.

“He put his arm around her waist?”

“Yeah.”

“How did he look at her?”

“I don't know. He seemed uncomfortable.”

“Was that before or after he saw you?”

“Uh, after, I guess.” Jessica ran her fingers through her hair. “Hey, I shouldn't have said anything about it. You've got enough going on without me making it worse.”

“No,” Sandy said, trying to regain her composure. “I need to know what's going on so I can ask Brad about it. I'm not there at school to keep track of stuff myself. I'm sure he has a good reason for talking to Crystal. You know, I can't expect him to ignore everyone except me.”

“Yeah, you like to joke around with Barry Maxwell.”

“Barry and I have been friends since kindergarten. There's never been a bit of romance between us. He's not my type.”

“And Crystal isn't Brad's type. I mean, why would he be interested in her if someone like you is willing to date him?”

“I guess so,” Sandy said without much confidence in her voice.

Shortly before supper, Sandy's pink phone rang. It was Brad.

“Hey,” he said. “I missed you today.”

“I missed you too. It was super lonely here.” Sandy paused. It didn't feel right to immediately bring up Crystal.

“I want to see you tonight,” Brad said. “I've got a plan.”

Sandy's heart skipped a beat.

“What kind of plan?”

“Tell your mom that you'll go to the grocery store to pick up something for her. Before you leave the house, call me and we'll meet up.”

“Then what?”

“We'll drive to the overlook. It should be deserted on a weekday evening.”

“I don't know . . .” Sandy hesitated.

“I have to see you. It's driving me nuts being apart.”

“And then I'll come back home?”

Brad was silent for a moment, then laughed.

“What's funny?” Sandy asked.

“We're not running off to get married tonight, but we do need to work out the plan.”

Sandy felt embarrassed.

“Okay, but I'll need to come up with more of a trip than to the grocery store. What are you going to tell your parents when you leave?”

“Nothing. They won't care. Call me and I'll meet you.”

Sandy helped her mother set the table for supper.

“Where are the paper napkins?” Sandy asked after checking the usual place.

“We must be out. Use the cloth ones, and I'll wash them later.”

“Do you want me to go to the store after supper and pick some up?” Sandy asked, trying to sound nonchalant. “I've been cooped up in the house all day and need to get out.”

“That's not necessary, but if you want to go out, you could take a peach pie I baked this afternoon to the nursing home where Mrs. Belhaven is staying. I told the administrator I wanted to donate a dessert as a prize for their bingo tournament later in the week. It would also be good if you could stick your head in for a minute and say hi to Mrs. Belhaven.”

Sandy smiled. “Sure.”

Each time during supper that Sandy thought about her rendezvous with Brad, her heart beat a little bit faster. Her brothers wolfed down their food in between monosyllabic responses to their mother's questions about school.

“When is Sandy going back to school?” Jack asked. “It's not fair that she gets to stay at home.”

“We're not sure,” Sandy's mother responded. “But while she was home, she washed and folded your dirty clothes.”

“That's why I couldn't find my brown shorts,” Ben said.

“They're in the third drawer of your dresser,” Sandy replied.

“I'd moved them to the second drawer,” Ben said. “The third drawer is where I keep stuff that I don't wear too much.”

After supper, Sandy didn't stay in the kitchen to clean up. She went directly upstairs to her bedroom, closed the door, and called Brad.

“Perfect,” he said when she told him about the nursing home. “Great idea. When are you leaving the house?”

“In about ten minutes.”

“See you in the parking lot at the nursing home. I'll park on the opposite side of the building from the main entrance.”

“But we won't have time to go to the overlook. The nursing home parking lot will be private enough.”

“Not for what I have in mind.”

“No,” Sandy replied emphatically. “We need to talk, not—”

“Relax, baby,” Brad interrupted. “See you there.”

The peach pie was covered with clear plastic wrap. Sandy could see a few places where the juice had seeped through the top of the brown crust. Her mother had perfected the art of flaky crusts and knew exactly how much sugar to add to fresh peaches without ruining their slight tartness.

“I'm leaving with the pie!” she called down the hallway to her parents' room.

“Thanks. Don't go anywhere else!” her mother answered.

Sandy didn't reply. She carried the pie out of the house and carefully positioned it on the floorboard of the car.

The nursing home was about two miles away. The one-story building was constructed in the shape of a T. There was no sign of Brad's car when Sandy parked on the right-hand side of the building.

She delivered the pie to a woman on duty in the administrator's office, then went down the hallway to Mrs. Belhaven's room. The door was closed, and Sandy cracked it open. The elderly woman was asleep on her back with her mouth open. Sandy tiptoed into the room and wrote a short note on a pad to let her know that she'd stopped by.

When she left the building, Sandy saw Brad's car. He'd backed into a space beside her VW. Sandy looked both ways as she crossed the parking lot. No one was in sight. Brad was wearing a Rutland High baseball cap. He leaned over and unlocked the passenger door of his car as she approached.

As soon as she got in the car, Brad leaned over, put his hand behind her head, and gave her a kiss. Sandy responded for a moment, then pulled back.

“What's wrong?” Brad asked.

“It feels weird kissing in the parking lot of the nursing home.”

“That's why we should go to the overlook.”

Sandy shook her head. “Not tonight. I can't stay out long.”

Brad shrugged. “Pretty soon we'll be kissing whenever and wherever we want.” He took a sheet of paper from his pocket. “During study hall I wrote down some stuff we need to talk about.”

“Was that before or after you hung out with Crystal Bradshaw?”

Brad's eyes narrowed. “I knew Jessica would tattle to you about that and turn it into a big deal. Look, Crystal is a cool girl, but there's nothing between us. She knows what we're going through and was decent enough to call me and tell me everything is going to be okay. That's way better than the people who are talking behind our backs and running us down.”

“She called you at home?”

“Yeah.”

“How many times?”

“Not that many. Come on, Sandy. I didn't want to get together with you to talk about Crystal.”

“Okay,” Sandy replied defensively. “But not being at school makes me worry about things—”

“That you shouldn't worry about.” Brad glanced down at the sheet of paper. “I've written down the name, phone number, and address of the clinic in Atlanta. I talked to the lady again this afternoon, and she says there's no reason for you to wait until after we're married to have the abortion. That makes sense to me. Then we can get married, and have an awesome honeymoon. It would be weird being together and knowing you're pregnant. After we were married, I thought we could call our parents and tell them we're going to the mountains for a few days. They have these honeymoon cabins in Gatlinburg—”

“Please,” Sandy interrupted. “You're going too fast.”

“Hey, it's my job as the man to plan our future.”

“But I haven't decided if I'm going to have an abortion.”

Brad's mouth dropped open. “Why not?”

Sandy told him about the sleeping pill incident.

“So?” Brad replied. “You were half asleep. That's not the best time to make a big decision.”

Sandy placed her hand on her stomach.

“I just can't think about the baby as a glob of cells.”

“But that's what it is. The woman at the clinic told me they use a vacuum cleaner sort of thing that sucks it out in a few seconds.”

Sandy felt suddenly nauseated. She put her hand to her mouth.

Brad spoke slowly. “I told you in the school parking lot that I wasn't ready to be a father. Bringing a kid into our lives makes no sense.” He pointed at Sandy's abdomen. “You're going to have to choose between me and it.”