Page 69 of Without You, Scotch and Sammy 2

“She aborted his baby,” Marc snarls. “They talked it out. They made plans. They were gonna be okay, and if anyone can take care of his girl and baby, it would have been Scotch. But she snuck off, aborted, then ditched town like all she stole was his iPod.”

“Okay, I hear you, Marc. But abortion is a very personal choice. Women don’t make it lightly--”

“No!” He slams his guitar down by his feet. “You don’t get to defend her!”

Tink broadens her chest, like a man stepping into a boxing ring. “Sounds to me like someone needs to.”

“Are you saying you’d abort a kid? Really? Mom of the year, mother of twins, woman who tried for years to get knocked up. After all that struggle, you’re still okay with her choice?”

“The thing is, it doesn’t matter if I’m okay with it. It’s her choice, and her choice alone. That’s her body. Her life. Her future. We don’t get to treat her like shit just because she made a choice that was personal to her.”

“I can’t believe this bullshit--”

“I considered aborting once.” She continues on, shocking Marc’s gaze back to hers. “Back when Jon and I weren’t in a good place. It was only a momentary thought and I don’t think I would’ve gone through with it, but it was there. We just weren’t ready.”

I wait for her gaze to come back to mine. “When?”

“A long time ago. A long time before you and I met. But that night, the night he came in here and hit you… that was the night I told him about it. The difference is, the choice was taken out of my hands before I could decide one way or the other.”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean, I lost my baby. It wasn’t my fault. It’s just one of those things that happens way more than people think. And in the days and weeks after it all went down, when I was so alone I could cry for days and no one would even notice… well, that might have been the worst time of my life.”

“This is different,” Marc snaps. “Sammy didn’t lose her baby. She threw it away.”

I turn on him, angry with his callous words. Even if I’m working through my anger with Sammy, even if I’m no longer tearing her down every chance I get, I don’t need him throwing such cold words around. I’m still hurting, even if I’m starting to accept what happened.

“My point is,” Tink continues. “I still considered it at the time. And I was older than Sammy, and I had more life experience. I wasn’t a scared teenager. To carry a baby, or not, is a decision some women are forced to make, and no matter which way they go, it’s not easy. So instead of condemning the grown-up version of her, maybe you should ask the teenage version if she’s okay.”

“Nobody asked you,” Marc snaps. “Go back to work, so we can too.”

She shrugs. “Whatever, dude. I’m not saying she’s out of the shit. But I am saying that if Britt attacked her today because the chick had an abortion more than a decade ago, then Britt and I need to talk. Girls are supposed to look out for each other. There’s already enough shit going on in this world. Judging each other on how we use our wombs isn’t up there on my list of shit to do.”

She lifts her box of bottles again and walks away, and Marc mutters nonsensically about how girls always stick together and it’s a load of shit.

“Alright, whatever.” I rub my hands over my face. “Let’s just practice. I have shit to do before we’re back here tonight.”

“Anybody else notice how Jules kept this giant bombshell close to her chest?” Luc asks. “She knew Sammy would eventually come back here, but she didn’t say anything.”

I shrug. I’m not even mad. “Family or not, she can’t just gossip about her work. She could lose her entire career.”

“She could have warned you, at least.”

“Legally, no, she couldn’t. But, she still nearly ripped my shoulder off at my birthday. She hinted that something was going down. She called me Sam. That should have been my first clue. Next thing I knew, Ricci was at my door.”

“Ricci?”

I groan.

“You’re calling her Ricci again? Just like that, it’s all better?”

“Marc, enough--”

“Jesus, she must really give a good blowjob.” He looks at me in disgust, then bending over, he picks up his guitar. “You guys can stay here and learn all the new love songs about Sammy, but I’m not doing it. Not today. I’ll be back for our set tonight, but I’m out of here for now.”

“Marc--”

He jumps down off the stage, then pausing, he turns back to me. “I love you, and that’ll never change. But I don’t agree with this. When you’ve got nothing else in the whole world but common decency and loyalty to your name, then it becomes a pretty valuable asset. I’ll be back later.”

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