Page 13 of Gunner

“Who’s the girl walkin’ down there?” he asks, pointing over his shoulder.

“Nat. From the party a few months ago.”

“She came back?”

“Yeah. She needed to talk to me,” I tell him.

“About what? Didn’t you just meet that night?”

“Yeah. She’s uh … she’s pregnant.” Hodge’s mouth falls open as he looks at me and back down the driveway and back.

“It’s yours?”

“I didn’t use anything, so it looks that way,” I admit.

“Shit, Dad. What the fuck were you thinkin’?”

“I wasn’t, obviously.”

“So now what?”

“I don’t know. I told her it’s up to her,” I say.

“She wants to keep it? Are you ready for another baby?”

“Hell no. I raised my kids, Hodge. That would be startin’ over. I don’t know if I can do that,” I admit to him.

“Fuck, man. I don’t know either,” he adds.

“She’s young too. I might have just fucked her whole life up.”

“Don’t think about it like that.”

“She’s homeless, Hodge. I offered her a place here, but she refused.”

“What the hell do you mean she’s homeless?”

“Just what I said. She has nothin’, Hodge.”

“And you let her walk the fuck outta here carryin’ your baby?” He sounds pissed off, and I get it.

“I couldn’t stop her. She wanted to leave.”

“Then go get her ass, Dad. You can’t let her live on the street knowin’ she’s pregnant.”

“She didn’t want to stay, Hodge. I can’t do shit about that,” I protest.

“You could have gone all caveman on her ass! Forced her to stay.”

“You think that’s what’s best in this situation?”

“What situation?” I hear Kiki behind me. She comes to stand next to me, and my stomach drops.

“Shit!” I roar as she looks between me and Hodge.

“What’s happening?”

“Dad got some girl pregnant,” Hodge tells her. Her head whips around to look at me, and I nod. That’s all I can do.

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