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Chevon
Despite the fact that Jason was still an annoying jock who had no answers for her, Chevon was in a better mood when he dropped her off than she’d been when he’d picked her up. She hoped this was the effect of going to church and not the effect of just being around Jason for a few hours. She knew she had some weird feelings for him, but she told herself they were only hormonal and would go away when the pregnancy went away.
Her good mood faded as she went up the front steps to her house. A foreboding settled in her stomach. She had a feeling that something bad was going to happen, which was stupid because something bad had already happened, and now she was home, and home was a safe place.
The house was quiet, and she closed the door behind her wondering why.
“Chevon?” her mom called. “We’re in the living room.”
Did that mean that they wanted her to join them? Her dread deepened. They knew. She didn’t know how they knew, but they knew. She forced her feet to carry her to the living room. Her dad stood with his elbow resting on the mantelpiece, his face as red as fire. Her mom sat on the couch and patted the seat beside her. “Come, sit, honey.”
Chevon didn’t want to sit but she knew it wouldn’t do any good to run away. She sat.
“I don’t know which part of this makes me the angriest,” her father said evenly.
“Phil! Let’s not start off with the anger.” Her mom looked at her. “We love you, we’re here for you, and we will help. We’re a little overwhelmed, as I’m sure you can understand. But what matters is that you know that we love you, we are here for you, and we will help. But first we need to ask if it’s even true.”
Chevon burst into tears and buried her face in her mother’s chest. Her mom wrapped her arms around her and squeezed. She kissed her on the top of her head. “Oh, honey, I wish you had told us. How long have you been carrying this around all alone?”
Chevon shook her head. She’d lost track. “A few weeks,” she mumbled.
“And Jason DeGrave is the father?” her father asked.
Chevon sat up and wiped her eyes, nodding.
“How long have you been sleeping with Jason DeGrave?” He said his name with hatred.
“Phil!” her mother scolded.
“What?” he barked. “I didn’t even know she was sexually active! Pardon my shock to find out she’s sleeping with some other girl’s boyfriend!”
“I thought you liked Jason,” Chevon muttered.
“I don’t anymore! Answer my question!”
Chevon had forgotten what the question was. She looked at her mother for help.
“I asked how long you’ve been sleeping with him.”
“I only did it once,” Chevon cried. She had never wanted to rewind her life so badly. She wished she could go back to that night and run like the wind. She wished she could never see Jason DeGrave again. She wished she’d never met him.
“You only did it once with him or you only did it once?”
“Phil! Would you please take it easy? This is your daughter!”
“Is it? I’m not so sure!”
“Phil! Stop!” Her mother took both her hands into her own. “First thing tomorrow morning, I will call to make you an appointment. I will go with you. It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t even hurt. Everything will be back to normal soon.”
Her father guffawed. “Back to normal? Everyone in town knows that she slept with somebody else’s boyfriend. Do you know what they’re saying about her?”
Despite her suffocating guilt, Chevon rolled her eyes. “Dad, everybody sleeps with everybody. The rumors are the least of my worries.”
“Oh, how nice for you!” he screamed. “Well, they’re certainly concerning to me! I seem to be the only one who cares about this family’s reputation!”
It wasn’t that she didn’t care about the family’s reputation, but it was pretty far down on her list of priorities.
He started out of the room. “Don’t leave this house, but I need a break. It’s hard for me to look at you right now.”
Chevon watched him go. She couldn’t believe it. She’d known that he would be angry, but she hadn’t known he was capable of this kind of anger. This was all going worse than she’d ever imagined. But at least now she would get the help she needed. This was a tremendous relief. And then she could get on with her life. She sniffed. “Will I miss any basketball?”
“No.” Her mom rubbed her knee. “You sure won’t. Anything I can do for you, honey? Do you want some lunch?”
She was hungry, but she was desperate to get into her bedroom and shut the door. She shook her head. “I just want to go to my room.”
“Okay, go ahead. But please, I am here for you. Please don’t shut me out.”
“Thank you, Mom.”
Chevon dragged herself up her stairs and into her bedroom, shut the door, and collapsed on her bed facedown. Sobs exploded out of her, and she let them come until she was all emptied out. Then she thought of Jason. Did the whole town really know? If so, how? And while she didn’t really care about what people said, she knew the opposite was true of Jason. She sat up, a new panic in her gut, and pulled her phone out of her pocket.
She texted him, “Everybody knows.”
He answered immediately. “I know.”
He texted again. “My phone is blowing up.”
“I’m sorry,” she wrote even though she didn’t know if she was the one who had leaked it. “But we can chill now. My mom will make an appointment. Don’t worry. You’re off the hook. It’s all over.”
