Prodigal Daughter
She bit her lip. She
crossed her toes. Her eyes were closed
tight against the fear percolating underneath her skin - a fear that could
capsize her entire life.
Had the egg timer gone off?
She hadn't heard it - now she wondered if she had turned the knob all
the way to sixty minutes. Aunt Peg said
it tended to get stuck at the five minute mark if you didn't wind it far
enough...She pulled out the second test, guessing it would be worth getting
grossed out if she could have an immediate answer to her problem. She read the instructions speedily, disposed
of the old test and took the second one, but didn't attempt to move after it
was completed, watching the chicken-shaped egg timer with the foccused determination of a brainwashing victim. Her mind went back through the months leading
up to this day, to the night she met Lucky in her Uncle Hank's driveway.
The science behind the biology that had drawn them together
eluded her - as usual, she only knew what felt right, and how to react to
it. In the blink of an eye everything
she had worked so hard to gain - her job, her education - fell by the wayside
and she became just another big-haired, overly made up Arlenian
female.
Or was it Arlenite? She could never remember...
Either way, she was screwed.
Her health insurance had run out when she stopped working for Luly's - her employer at the barber shop didn't have the
money to offer her coverage, and every bit of her meager salary went to Lucky
anyway. The final result of these
changes in her life had led to the discontinuation of her birth control pills,
the advent of the condom in her relationship with Lucky, and the horrifying
realization that condoms could break under the right circumstances.
And that some men were too lazy and ignorant to care if they
did - especially if they didn't have to empty the trash afterwards.
Deep down, Luanne had always believed that her relationship
with Lucky had been a mistake - he was a step backward from boys like
Buckley. Then again, Buckley had always
treated her emotions like trash...
"Luanne! What'chall doin'? And
where's the egg timer?"
Horrified, Luanne could only let out a squeak of dismay as
Lucky burst into the bathroom. He took
one look at her guilty face, another at the trash, a third at the plastic fob
on the sink and the ticking egg timer standing guard behind it and his features
settled into a mask of wide-eyed fear.
"Oh." he uttered.
Then the bell rang.
***
"I can get you the best suite at the Arlen Women's
Clinic."
Luanne looked up at Lucky through the blurry distortion of
her tears. He seemed to be trying to
gauge her reaction, putting her to a test he knew she'd fail. "No.
No 'bortions."
"You ain't thinkin' of
keeping it, are you?"
She crossed her arm protectively over her still-flat,
still-bare navel. "Why
not? It's half-mine, and I got a say in what happens to him or her. 'Sides, I could be a great mamma!"
"Yeah, that's powerful true. But I would make a bad pappa."
Sniffling, she tried to give him a smile. "Naw. You like Bobby - he's more of a baby than
this kid, and it's not born yet."
"Havin' a kid ain't like
hanging around with a full-grown boy.
You gotta consider the world we're livin' in, Luanne. I
ain't good with babies - don't like the crying.
You and I ain't dealin' on some mutual
exclusivity. I think you should abort
it."
"I thought we..."
"Now, I'm willin' to pay for
the proceedings - then we can go on like we was before, if you don't try to
make a big thing of it."
"I thought you loved me, Lucky. Or maybe that you liked
me."
"Well hell, of course I like you - but I ain't gonna like you much if you get all round and fat."
She sniffled.
"How can you say that? I
can't help it if I get fat - that's what pregnant ladies do..."
"So what you're sayin' is
that you want to break up, and thereby absolving me of all responsibility to
your youngling."
She nodded her head slowly, sadly.
"We had a great ride, baby, but you can't tie Ol' Lucky down."
There was a subtle menace in his voice that disturbed her. "I'm gonna
send Duke by your place to pick up my things in a day or two."
Luanne shut down, tears flowing down her face.
"I best be going," he
said. And then he was gone.
***
Peggy Hill sighed in relief as she washed the breakfast dishes - which was a prime excuse to wash her hands. Lucky had emerged from Luanne's room, shook
Peggy's hand, said it had been a pleasure knowing her, and walked to his
truck. Alone. Completely alone.
It was all Peggy could do to keep herself from bursting into
an Alleluia chorus. Lucky gave a bad
name to the word 'redneck' - he was worthless, without ambition, and lacked the
skills to protect her niece. He had
encouraged Luanne to settle, and for that alone Peggy despised him - though
that was an apparently moot point now.
Carefully re-arranging her features to those of a concerned
parental figure, she entered Luanne's bedroom.
The sobbing blond girl lay curled in the middle of her bed, clutching a
pillow to her breast.
"Oh, Luanne, I'm so sorry, so, so sorry..."
"I thought he - he he,"
Luanne's words were lost in an inarticulate wail.
"Aww, there, there
baby..."
"What'm I gonna
do, Aunt Peg? I don't even have a place
of my own anymore!"
"Don't be absurd!
Your Uncle and I aren't going to throw you out, just because you broke
up with Lucky..."
"Not 'cause of that!" She
wailed.
A knot of dread settled in Peggy's stomach. "Why did you break up with Lucky?"
"He broke up with me!"
"What?! He seemed happy as a pig in slop to be around
you! Why in the world would he leave
you?"
"'Cause I'm pregnant!"Next