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Danielle
On Friday, Danielle went home after a long day at work, ready for dinner and a hot bath. Renee was due in tomorrow and she needed all the rest she could get. Her home girl suffered from adult Attention Deficit Disorder with symptoms so obvious it was enough to drive another person crazy. But not me, she thought with a smile. Renee, although loud and callous at times, always managed to bring a smile to her face even if it was at someone else’s expense. The weekend ahead was going to be loads of fun.
As she pulled into the driveway behind her Chevy Impala, a frown wrinkled her forehead. The car that she paid for, but Ron helped her pick out, had twenty-inch rims, tinted windows, and a sound system that could be heard a mile away. Now that he was gone, the vehicle would be a constant reminder of what could have been between them. As soon as she could get her garage cleaned out, she would put the car inside. Portia would be taking driver’s education in the fall, and if her daughter ever learned how to drive, maybe she would consider giving the vehicle to her. Although the way she’d been acting lately, she would be better off making her get a job and buy her own car. Danielle turned off her Durango and frowned. Knowing her parents, they would go behind her back and buy Portia a car anyway.
While climbing out of the SUV, she thought about how much her parents spoiled Portia and it pissed her off. Since the day of the alleged rape, her mother had been dropping by every evening bearing gifts that Danielle refused to let her daughter have. Her daughter would then stomp off to her room, muttering under her breath. Portia didn’t act like a rape victim; instead, she had been acting like a spoiled brat.
With a deep sigh, she stuck the key in the lock and went into the house. Her temper rose as she noticed that the vacuum cleaner was still in the living room in the exact spot she’d left it this morning, which meant when Portia got home from school, she had not bothered to do her chores. Moving into the kitchen, she found dishes piled in the sink and the trash waiting to be emptied. School was officially out for the summer and Portia obviously thought she was going to spend her vacation doing nothing. Angrily, Danielle lowered her purse to the counter and went to remove the trash from the can when she noticed a discarded Tony’s Pizza box and two crushed beer cans in the trash.
What the hell? “Portia!” she yelled.
The house phone rang, and she hastily went over to answer it, hoping it was one of Portia’s hot-ass friends so she could have the pleasure of telling them not to call again. Portia had lost her cell phone privileges so they weren’t about to start calling the house.
“Hello.”
“Portia Patterson, please.”
Hearing the grown man’s voice on the other line, Danielle quickly became suspicious. “This is her mother. Who’s calling?”
“This is Dr. Henric from Boone Hospital.”
“Is this regarding her lab results?”
He hesitated. “Ma’am, I’m not at liberty to share that information. Your daughter’s results are confidential.”
“Then I guess you better go check her file because I know the law. My daughter is only sixteen. I’m the one who brought her to the ER.”
He paused. “Just a moment.”
While he went to check her file, Danielle cupped the mouthpiece and yelled upstairs again. “Portia!” After more silence, she was growing angrier by the second. Portia was either asleep or had her headphones on her ears. She paced impatiently across the kitchen floor. First thing tomorrow, she was getting a cordless phone for the kitchen. Being confined to one space when she’d rather be upstairs choking the shit out of her daughter was driving her crazy.
“Ms. Brooks?”
“Yes,” she said impatiently.
“Sorry about that. I just had to make sure you had accompanied your daughter. I hope you understand that legally the hospital would be in a world of trouble.”
She rolled her eyes heavenward. He must be a medical student.
“Your daughter’s tested negative for sexually transmitted diseases.”
Her shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank God.”
“Ummm ... however, her pregnancy test came back positive.”
Danielle felt herself sway and tried to support her body with a wooden chair. “Did you say my daughter is pregnant?”
“Yes, ma’am. As soon as possible, she needs to see an obstetrician.”
“But the nurse dipped her urine while we were there.”
“These things happen sometimes.”
She barely heard another word as the phone hung loosely on her ear. As soon as Dr. Henric ended the call, she put the phone down on the cradle, then stood there for the longest time, stunned.
Oh, no! This can’t be happening to me.
A baby? Portia was still a baby herself. The last thing in the world she needed was to be raising another child. Her heart raced. Lowering her eyes, Danielle took a moment to try and pull it together. What in the world were they going to do? Portia was too young and immature to be a mother. The burden would fall on her own shoulders.
Hearing movement upstairs, her head jerked up towards the ceiling before she stormed through the living room and up the stairs. She passed her bedroom and the guest room before reaching Portia’s door. Not bothering to knock, she barged into the room and found Portia lying on her bed naked from the waist down with a vibrator between her legs.
Danielle froze, completely stunned by what she saw. Portia had her headphones on. Her eyes were closed. She was moaning as her hips bucked against the fat, twelve-inch device. The way she sounded she was obviously only seconds away from finishing. Good Lord, Danielle thought, the one she kept in her bottom drawer wasn’t anywhere near as big as that thing.
Portia was in the middle of an orgasm when her head lolled to the side and her eyes opened. As soon as she spotted her mother, she jumped up and the vibrator went flying across the floor. “Mama!” she screamed.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Danielle said sarcastically. “Put some clothes on yo’ naked ass and meet me in my room.” Furiously, she turned and walked into her room and took a seat on the end of her bed. Shaking her head, she couldn’t believe she had actually found her daughter fucking a vibrator. She actually felt like laughing. If the vibrator was the only issue, she probably would have. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
Danielle slipped her Reeboks from her feet. She carried them to her closet just as she heard her daughter come down the hall. Turning around, she spotted her standing just inside the door with her head hung low.
“Why is it that I get home, and nothing has been done?”
“I was going to get to it.”
“When? After you got done getting some? What? Don’t get shy on me now. You want to be grown, then start acting grown. You’ve been here since noon and I come home to find you haven’t done a damn thang.”
“I was fin to do it.”
“I just bet you were.” Danielle pursed her lips and propped a hand to her hip. “The hospital called. Is there somethin’ you need to be telling me?”
Portia gave her a puzzled look, then shook her head. “Not that I can think of.”
“You’re pregnant.”
She looked stunned and then started crying.
Watching her, Danielle felt herself softening. This was one moment she hoped never to have experienced with her daughter. She sat on the bed and patted the mattress beside her. “Come over here and have a seat.” Dragging her feet, Portia moved to the bed. Instinctively, Danielle draped an arm around her, and Portia rested her head on her shoulder. “Did you get yo’ Depo shot last month?”
Her body was shaking, and she was crying so hard it took her a while to answer. “I forgot.”
“You for...” Danielle allowed her voice to trail off and took a deep breath. Too late now to point the blame. As a parent, it was her job to make sure her daughter got her birth control shot every three months instead of relying on an irresponsible teenager to get it done on her own. Portia continued to cry, and Danielle stroked a soothing hand down her hair and across her back. Despite all the drama Portia put her through, she was still her little girl. “We’ll get through this. I’ll support whatever decision you decide to make about the baby.” She dropped her lips to her hair. “Do you know who the father is?”
Portia hesitated, then shook her head.
Danielle closed her eyes and took a deep breath and remembered what her mother had always said when things got rough. The Lord doesn’t give you any more than he thinks you can handle. Well, she definitely had been delivered a truckload. Her parents had raised four children together and she couldn’t even manage to raise one. Where had she gone wrong?
