A Not So Sweet Fairytale

I could tell Billie Joe, Tre`, and Jeffrey were feeling a tad awkward after my little correction and single tear. I also saw Jeffrey wipe a tear from his eye and figured he wished he had a father who would comfort him, rather than kill his mother in front of him and I felt bad for taking my father for granted so far. We ate in silence while the other three conversed. At long last the three began to question us, “Do you want that?” “Are you going to finish that?” and simply taking the food and eating it in a single bite.

Within five minutes, there wasn’t a crumb of food left on the table, but we were all still hungry. So after Mike took care of the bill along with a very generous tip, we went out to find the ice cream parlor Jeffrey refused to shut up about. So, eventually we found it and ate to our hearts content. This time it was apparently Tre`s turn to pay for it. He also gave them a nice tip and we slowly walked back to the hotel, stuffed full with our stomachs having trouble digesting the ridiculous amount of food we’d all eaten. When we finally reached the hotel it was, once again, well past midnight, so we hopped in the elevator and started off to our rooms.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” I asked, turning to Mike, Billie Joe, and Tre`.

“Well, we’ve got a show at six, so we can eat before hand and you could come along I s’pose,” Billie Joe muttered, rubbing his stomach. Mike and Tre` nodded and I saw a new excitement cross Jeffrey’s face and I knew he was excited to be going to another Green Day concert, the second one in less than a week.

Silently, we filed into our rooms. As soon as my head hit the soft fluffy pillow I went straight to sleep.

***

The next morning I woke up, this time before Jeffrey. However, there was something bugging me in the back of my mind, so I got up and got dressed and left Jeffrey a note that read:

Went to get breakfast. Be back soon.
Talk to you later ~Torrie.
With that I wandered down the silent halls, not even recognizing the rumbling noise my stomach was making as I marched down the stairs and into the lobby. I saw Mike, Billie Joe, and Tre` walking out of the hotel as inconspicuously as they could, each with a heavy jacket to protect them from the whipping wind. I ran over to them.

“Hey. Mike, would you mind lending me twenty bucks so I can… go get breakfast for Jeffrey and I?” I asked him.

“I told you she wasn’t a dream,” Tre` informed them and put out his hand in which Billie Joe pressed a twenty in his palm.

“Sure. Here’s forty, some for lunch too. Oh, can I have your number so I can call you later to meet up before the show?”

“I don’t have a cell, but just call the room and we’ll set up a meeting spot or something,” I muttered and grabbed the cash.

They went into their waiting limo and were off while I tried hailing a cab unsuccessfully, so I instead started walking down the street in search of the nearest drug store. About an hour later I found it, purchased what I’d wanted, and ran through the Denny’s I’d passed on the way to get a little bit of food for Jeffrey and I. I trudged back up the street with the two bags in hand and was welcomed back into the hotel by the doorman, then took the elevator for once, since I was in a real hurry to get back to the room. When I opened the door, I found Jeffrey sitting up in bed, watching TV. As soon as he spotted the Denny’s bag, he jumped up and grabbed it. Though he also happened to see the drug store bag and looked at me cautiously.

“What did you get?”

“Pancakes, syrup, and eggs,” I informed him.

“And…”

“Oh this,” I said clenching the bag closed tighter. “Just a little something for me.”

“Oh come on. It’s not that hard, just tell me already. I swear I won’t laugh,” he said, really wanting to know.

I knew I’d never be able to get him to let go of it, so I decided to tell him.

“Look, there’s something I’ve neglected to tell you since I’ve met you.”

“And that would be...” he prompted, sensing my hesitation.

“About a week before my mother committed suicide, I… well I got raped,” I told him unsure and he looked at me with the most sincerely sympathetic look on his face.

“Oh hun. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Did you go to the police?” I shook my head, and slumped onto the bed and Jeffrey sat next to me giving me a prolonged hug, letting me cry as much as I wanted on his shoulder.

“There’s something else,” I stated, holding up the brown paper bag from the drug store.

“I think I understand. Go ahead and get it over with. I’m here no matter what,” he reassured me, and helped my into the bathroom, then went back to watching the TV

I opened up the box and then unwrapped the baggie the test was in and took it. I sat on the toilet silently waiting, then decided to go and wait with Jeffrey with the TV as a distraction for the remaining ten minutes. Jeffrey gave me a questioning look as I sat down, but figured I was waiting for it to set, and said nothing. Ten minutes later I started to get up, and Jeffrey went with me into the bathroom. I couldn’t look at it so I asked Jeffrey to. Though when he saw it, he didn’t need to say a thing. His fallen face said it all.

“Shit,” I muttered to no one in particular.

“Yup. It’s positive. You’re pregnant,” he announced.

He led me to the bed and made me sit down and tell him whatever I wanted to about the night I’d been raped. When my anecdote was finally completed he was silent for a long while.

“Have you told anyone?” He asked solemnly.

“Only my mom, and the next day she committed suicide,” I told him, sighing.

“What are you going to do now?” He asked.

“What can I do? I’m thousands of miles from the bastard and-”

“I meant about the kid…,” he amended.

“Oh. I dunno. I’m gonna have to sleep on it. I’ll think about it tonight,” I muttered, thoroughly confused as to what I was going to do.

"What do you want me to do with the test?” He asked.

“Wrap it up and throw it away… I guess in the guy’s bathroom. I’d throw it away, but I haven’t been able to go into a bathroom since-” I stopped, then sighed. "I have a feeling Mike may go through the room just to make sure I really am who I say I am and… well, I don’t want him knowing about this just yet.”

“Alright. You gonna be okay?” He asked, with a sad look on his face.

“I dunno,” I said, the simple but whole truth. Right then the bedside telephone began to chime and I figured it was Mike. I cleared my throat and wiped my eyes and tried to smile since they say you can tell if someone is smiling or frowning by simple talking to them on the phone. But then again, who is 'they' and how does everyone know about them?

“Hello?” I asked in what I hoped to be an even voice.

“Hey. Billie Joe and Tre` are hungry already… go figure. Wanna meet us for lunch?” Mike asked awkwardly enough.

“Oh. Sure. Where at?” I asked, hoping it would be close enough that I wouldn't have too hard of a time finding it.

“The steak place down the street. About three blocks to your left when you leave the front door,” he told me and I smiled, at least I'd be able to find it.

“Alrighty. See you in a while,” I said and hung up promptly.

“Where are we going?” Jeffrey asked who’d been looking out he window, trying to make it seem he hadn’t been listening in, but his question gave his listening ear away.

“A steak shop apparently,” I informed him.

“I thought one or two of them are vegetarians,” he commented questioningly.

“Yeah… Mike and Billie Joe. I dunno why a steak shop… Maybe they have a secret vegetarian menu,” I reasoned.

“Ah who knows. Are you up for it?” He asked carefully.

I nodded. “Lemme just see if I brought along any makeup. I don’t feel like going there with splotchy cheeks from crying and the barrage of questions bound to follow.”

“Fair enough. While you’re doing that, I’ll watch some more TV,” he told me.

“Alrighty… and thanks for listening to me. You have no idea how much it meant to me,” I told him, giving him a quick hug before getting up.

With that I left to the bathroom and found my mini makeup kit, which felt awkward in my hand since I hadn’t worn any for so long. Though, since I was focusing mostly around my eyes, I was done in about three minutes. When I finished, I found Jeffrey fully dressed and apparently ready to go. He draped his arm around my shoulders and guided me down the stairs until we reached the door to the lobby. He removed his arm and opened the door, ushering me through. We walked out into the lobby and I looked up. You could see the glass backed elevator taking people to their floors, which were circular so you could see each and every one of them. Although, without any numbers or other identification, it was impossible to tell which floor was which unless you had a long time on your hands.

“Hang on a minute… I gotta run to the bathroom,” Jeffrey muttered, pointing to a welcoming couch.

It hit me as he was walked to the restroom what he was really doing. He was throwing away the EPT for me. As I sat down into the chair, I sunk about six inches and by the time Jeffrey got back, I’d sunk almost a foot. Jeffrey had to pull me up a bit so that I could get out.

“Are you gonna tell Mike?” Jeffrey asked suddenly, but I could tell it had been a question that had been burning a hole in him since he’d found out I was pregnant, as he walked bedside me through the front doors.

I shrugged. “Depends on how well we get along… And if I decide to keep it. I mean there’d be no point telling him about it if I didn’t keep it,” I reasoned.

“True. Just make sure that you pick the right time to tell him, he seems like a pretty tough guy to figure out,” he told me sincerely.

“That he is,” I agreed as we walked down the street.