Crystal, the student at DePaul University wrote this short short story in Winter 2008 for my Creative Writing class.
Toy sat and watched the roach on the wall lay still. She knew it was trying not to be noticed and she wished she too could descent into obscurity. Toy knew her mother would cry when she gave her the news. A year earlier she'd done the same thing. Waited until it was almost too late. Wishing it would just go away.
"I need some money Momma!" said Toy later that evening. "For what?" replied Janice. Toy hesitated and eventually blurted out, "I'm pregnant." Just as she'd predicted her mother began to cry. What she did not predict was the screaming match that ensued and Janice yelling, "You keepin' this one!" Janice's words were final. Even through the crack-filled haze she was often in, Janice never surrendered her authority to be the final decision maker in the household.
With these words Toy thought her only options were to prostitute herself or become a parent at fifteen. She'd thought of getting the money from the baby's father but wasn't really sure who that was.
No comments:
Post a Comment