Cory awoke Saturday morning to an excruciating headache. That wasn’t all, either. There were also the back pains. Maybe she slept badly on the tiny single bed in the room. It was only when she had to rush off the bed and dart into the bathroom to throw up, did she realize it was a hangover.
She knew there was a reason she didn’t drink scotch. But that was the only alcohol in the apartment yesterday. And she had so desperately needed something to ease her pain. Now she was sick with an upset stomach and a banging headache. Cory didn’t know why she was having the back pains, however. She needed some more sleep but the vomiting didn’t want to end.
Miss Millie passed her throwing up in the bathroom sink. “Morning, sweetie. I brought you some soup.”
“Good morning,” Cory managed to get in over the sink before another mouthful of the fried chicken she ate the night before came gushing through her mouth in liquid form. She remained by the sink hugging it until she felt assured her stomach was completely emptied of all its contents.
“Eat some of this, you’ll feel better,” her grandmother coaxed her.
“Soup for breakfast?” Cory asked, puzzled. “Gran, I don’t think I could get anything down my throat right now,” she admitted. “I had too much to drink yesterday.”
“You mean all of this is just from a hangover?” Miss Millie asked with concern in her voice.
“Yes, Gran! What else would it be?”
Miss Millie flashed a knowing look at her. “By the way, it’s almost lunch time, sweetie. So eat up.”
She left Cory to herself to try the soup. After only three spoonfuls of the steaming but delicious Tobago concoction, Cory couldn’t have anymore. There was something riding her mind. At this point she had no other choice. She had to do it. She grabbed her handbag and started rummaging through it. She found what she was looking for and went into the bathroom again. This time she locked the door behind her.
Cory opened the box of the pregnancy test and read the instructions. She had bought it weeks ago when she missed her last period. She had been too nervous to even look at it since. She never bothered to tell Adrian because she didn’t know how he would have reacted. She didn’t even know how he felt about having kids because they never discussed it. She was planning to bring the subject up when they were at the beach today. Cory only now realized that they were supposed to be at Maracas this very moment, relaxing and enjoying the day. If only things didn’t take such a drastic turn for the worse yesterday.
Cory paced the bedroom floor as she waited for the results. What an extremely bad time for her to be taking a pregnancy test, she thought. She didn’t know how she was going to deal with a positive result. It would be so cruel of her to bring an innocent baby into this whole mess. Her marriage was in shambles. Everyone was probably mad with her in her family. Her friends. Jay. The only one she had on her side at the moment was her grandmother. Cory prayed to God for it to be a negative outcome.
When she finally mustered enough courage to look at the test result, she picked it up off the bed and read it. All her feelings and emotions instantly got the better of her. Relief and somewhat of a happy feeling of finally knowing coursed through her as she once again sank to the bed and sobbed.
Cory must have cried herself to sleep again, because when she turned and opened her eyes, her grandmother was sitting at the foot of the bed intently watching her. The pregnancy test was still in her hand but luckily for her, safely hidden under the pillow.
“Okay, Cory since you’re up now, we need to talk, young lady,” her grandmother had a stern look on her face this time. “I think I gave you enough time. So tell me what’s wrong, sweetie.”
This reminded Cory of being reprimanded as a child and that wasn’t a nice thing. “Gran, nothing’s wrong,” she weakly muttered.
“So explain to me then, why you suddenly show up at my house in the middle of the night, wearing sunglasses. You practically slept through the entire day. You haven’t eaten a thing,” Miss Millie’s eyes instantly darted to the now cold soup still sitting on the bed-side table. “Look at your eyes, they’re swollen and puffy,” she continued. “I may be old, Cory Mendez, but I’m no fool. And since you haven’t mentioned your husband’s name once since you’ve been here, I know this is all about him,” she softened. “So did you two have a fight?”
“Yes, Gran,” Cory quietly answered. “But it was a little more than that.” She couldn’t lie to her grandmother anymore.
“Well, I’m listening. I’ve nowhere else to go, sugar.”
Cory took a deep breath as she sat up on the bed. She left the test hidden under her pillow. “Gran, what I’m about to tell you would be very disturbing and shocking to you. All I ask is that you please don’t hate me for it.”
“Cory, I’ll never hate you for anything. I don’t care what you did. Just tell me the truth,” her grandmother said. “Okay?”
She began to tell her grandmother everything that happened as she knew it. From two nights before when Adrian was working on his computer game to when she showed up in Tobago last night. Miss Millie remained silent on the bed through the entire thing. She was visibly shaken and in shock after.
“Oh my Lord,” was all she could manage to say, clutching her chest.
“Gran, are you okay?” It was Cory’s turn to be concerned when she was finished talking.
“Yes. Don’t worry, sweetie. We’re going to be just fine.” She gave Cory one last reassuring hug and got up to leave.
“Where’re you going, Gran?” Cory asked.
“I need to think about all what you just told me here.”
“Gran, I’m so sorry for all this.”
“Sorry for what? Cory, this isn’t your fault.”
“Dad will hate me for this, though,” she blurted out.
“No! I wouldn’t let him,” Miss Millie said indignantly. “Sweetie, why don’t you go for a walk on the beach? Try to clear your head? It’s such a lovely evening. Go get some fresh air, you’ll feel much better.”
“I think I’ll do that, Gran,” Cory announced as she climbed out of bed. She had been holed up in the house all day. She could really do with taking a walk and stretching her legs a bit now.