Page 17 of Happenstance
“Don’t you ‘hi Nan’ me, Missy.” We were getting dangerously close to spoon talk here. “You are going to sit your butt down and stop lying to me.”
Staring into her deep brown eyes, I broke. All the emotions I’d been holding back came bursting out at once. My chin started to quiver as hot tears flowed down my face.
“I’m sorry, Nan,” I blubbered and glanced down at my belly, “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“Good lord, child, is that what you’re so worked up about?” She released a relieved breath and waved her hand through the air. “I know about that. A baby is a blessing, Lana.”
I stared at her for a second with wet streaks rolling down my cheeks. “You knew?”
“Of course I knew.”
All I could say was, “How?”
“I do have some experience.” Nan cocked her brow again. “Do you think your mother just appeared out of thin air? Because let me tell you, that woman came into being through twenty-seven hours of hard labor and a lot of cussing. I was beginning to think you were going to wait until that baby came out before you told me.”
With just a few words, Nan managed to do what Harper never could. She shut me up. For the first time in my life, I was speechless. My mouth kept opening, but nothing came out. She knew all this time and didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure if I should be mad, or relieved.
“Have been to see the doctor yet?”
I shook my head. That was the one thing I couldn’t do. The second I found out the conception date, the happy illusion I was hiding behind might shatter. I wasn’t ready to let that go.
“Well,” Nan stood up and smoothed her skirt down, “I’ll make an appointment tomorrow.”
I couldn’t let her take me to the doctor. “Doctors cost money, Nan.”
“So do babies, child.” She opened the door and looked over her shoulder at me. “The father can help with that. Now get your stuff. It’s time for school.”
“I can’t–”
“A baby changes nothing. If I have to raise that baby myself, you will get an education, Lana.” Her serious gaze locked with mine, “Do you understand me?”
I licked my lips and nodded. It wasn’t my education I was worried about.
For the firsttime in years, I hated walking through the halls of Ashworth. Don’t get me wrong, things were never great. Harper and I were prime targets for the popular crowd. The only part of that that bothered me, was the cruel treatment my best friend lived through every day. The names and stupid pranks that Naomi and Mason played on me were just that, stupid. Naomi’s idea of taunting was reminding me of the labels on my clothes and my unattached status. Neither of which I particularly cared about. Would I argue a Gucci dress? No. Did I need it? Also no.
Besides, I had other things on my mind. Like the appointment Nan already had booked in the ten minutes it took me to get out to the car. Why did she have to be so efficient? Not only that, but she had a meeting arranged with the principal next week, to discuss my situation. Or, as Nan put it, “They are not kicking my baby girl out.” Ashworth wasn’t prepared for my Nan. Last year, when Severson said something about the elderly needing assistance in his store, she decided to show him just how capable a woman her age was. Ten minutes later, the entire senior’s center, and her church group, were swarming his store.
It didn’t matter what the issue was, Nan would stand up for it. Even the ones she didn’t agree with. Homosexuality was a prime example of that. She called it ungodly love, yet she was the first to fight for some guy’s right to suck dick.
She even took on Lillianna Whitley and her Nationalist group. With the whole five other African American families in town. There used to be seven, but Parker’s mother chased the other two away. There was a heavy Latin population in Ashen Springs, all of whom were more than happy to back Nan when it came to the Whitley witch. It was kind of ironic that I hoped the baby I was carrying had the same last name as the woman Nan had been fighting for years.
I tried to put her latest call to arms out of my head, and spent the first part of my morning focusing on my classes. It worked, for the most part. I was actually enjoying the conversation I was having with Harper. It was nice to feel normal again.
“Mr. Saddler wants to pair us up for our history project.”
I didn’t need to look at Harper to see her apprehension. History was one of the few classes we didn’t have together, and Harper didn’t do well with people. Sometimes she didn’t do well with me.
“Ask Shelby to partner with you,” I suggested.
“The project requires a female and male point of view.”
Shit. Normally I’d tell her to ask Brandon, but with stuff like this, Mr. Saddler often assigned partners in alphabetical order. It helped avoid boys or girls picking someone for the wrong reasons. Last year, Logan had ten girls in the class fighting to be his partner. Literally fighting. I saw more broken fingernails, hair and bleeding noses that day than I had thought possible.
“So, that means…”
“Silas,” she whispered in a shaky voice.
Of course. Creswell and Callaghan. Silas himself wasn’t so bad. That wasn’t what had Harper shaking like a leaf. If you hung around Silas, there was one person you were guaranteed to run into. Mason.
