Life on Banana Street
Heart Attack
I looked at him. I did love him. “I’m sorry, but I’m just not ready. I hope you’ll understand.”
He hung his head. “Yeah. I understand perfectly.”
“Good. You’re not mad are you?”
“No, I would never pressure you into something you’re not ready to do.”
“Ok, because I don’t want to make you mad. It’s not like I don’t want to marry you-”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t want to pressure you. I love you and I respect you.” We talked about college for the rest of the dinner. When we got back home, we were sitting on the couch watching gay movies that came on. “Babe, you mind if I go visit Billie tomorrow, just to say hi.”
“Yeah of course. Do what you want. Just don’t get pregnant,” he joked.
“Never! Only from you.”
“Are you suggesting something?” He gave me the eyebrow.
“Nope.” He twisted his mouth at me.
“Nuh uh boy.”
“Man, I gotta get you away from that college because you’re talking ghetto.”
I laughed. “All because of Compton Ass Terry.”
“Who?”
“Oh, just this guy I met.”
“You don’t mean met like…You’re leaving me do you?”
“No! He’s just my friend.”
“That better be the truth.”
“It is, you can trust me.” I put my head of his shoulder as he kissed the top of my head.
“Babe?” I said.
“Yeah, what is it?”
“I think it’s time we…”
He sat up straight. “You’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting are you?”
“Well that depends. What are you suggesting?”
“No, you tell me what you were going to say.”
“That we break up.” I stared at him from across the room.
“I can’t believe this, Addie.”
“Well Gabe! I don’t have time for you right now.”
“That’s the whole reason you came here isn’t it? To have sex with me then break up. You’re pathetic. You’re a cold heartless bitch.”
“Gabe, it’s not like that. I have…an issue.”
“What kind of issue?”
“A REALLY big one.”
“Well tell me.”
“I’m not sure I’m the one who should tell you.”
“Just tell me, damnit.”
“Well…” I was stalling. “There’s no use of you sitting down because you’ll just stand right back up.”
“Ok…”
“Ok. So you know what happened this morning?”
“Yep. We shot fireworks.”
I gave him a weird look. “Anyway…To make a long story short, I’m pregnant.”
“Are you serious? How did you find out?”
“Uh duh! Home pregnancy test!”
“Honey! That’s great! Why would you wanna break up?”
“Because, I don’t want a kid right now.”
“You were going to get an abortion?” I stared solemnly at him and nodded.
“But why would you want to break up for that?”
“Because I didn’t want you to find out. I was going to go to college and when it got noticeable, I was going to get rid of it and you didn’t know anything at all.”
He stared wide eyed at me. “Why would you do something like that? Putting your education before your family. Which do you care most about? Me or college.”
“Is this a trick question? If I pick you do I have to drop out of college and if I choose college do I have to break up with you?”
“Yeah pretty much. If you pick that fucking education over me I’m outta here.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I can’t have both?”
“Nope. One or the other. Life is tough.” I sat down, crossed my legs, and put my head on my arm that was in a fist on my leg.
“Well…”
“Shh! I’m thinking…”
“This is a breakthrough.” After a few minutes, I had finally made up my mind. Gabe had gone into the bedroom to watch TV.I walked into the bedroom and he was almost asleep. I jumped up on the bed and sat on his back. “Is that a yes?” He said muffled into the pillow. I laid on top of him and kissed his neck. “That’s a yes.” He rolled over and sat me on his stomach and started tickling me. Soon, that led to you know what…A pillow fight. I smacked Gabe in the face hard that one side of his face was red. We were fools in love. Everything was perfect, that is, until the next morning.
“OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?” I screamed over the toilet with Gabe holding my hair back.
“It’s ok, babe. We’ll make it through this.”
“DON’T TRY TO COMFORT ME IT’S NOT GONNA WORK!” I threw up again and he was rubbing my back. I could tell he was gagging by what sounded like cat coughs. When I was done with it all, I stood up next to him and I hugged him. “Baby, I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to have a kid right now.”
“I know it, Ads, but we can’t afford this right now.”
“I thought you said we had enough.” I pulled back from him but our hands still touched.
“Yeah, I did say that, but I just wanted you to have your dream to go to college.”
“What? We spent all of our money on me going to college? I never would have gone if I knew we didn’t have enough.”
“But I wanted you to have what you wanted.”
“That’s sweet, but you should have told the truth.”
“I’m sorry, babe.”
“Well, I have to go see Billie then I’m off ok? I have to be back at school tomorrow.”
“Ok. I’m going to miss you.” We kissed for a final time and I walked across town to Billie’s house. Man, that hurt. I knocked on the door and he greeted me warmly.
“Addie! What are you doing here?”
“Just thought I’d drop in. I was in town for the weekend, but I can’t stay long. I have to catch my plane.”
“Oh, well you didn’t have to come over.”
“But I wanted to.” He smiled at me. He was so cute with his crooked teeth. We talked for a while and I finally brought up the subject. “Billie, do you have like 500 bucks?”
“Yeah I have it in my weed stash,” he said sarcastically.
“No, seriously, do you have it? Because I have no money to get back to Texas.”
“Yeah. I think I do.” He left the room and I looked around and saw the weirdest collection of nick knacks. He came back and handed me a stack of 5 100 dollar bills.
“Thank you. You don’t know what this means to me.”
“No problem. You’re my first love…I’d do anything for you.” The more he was nice to me, the more I wanted to be with him. Gabe wasn’t my style anymore. “So Addie, how’s school?”
“It’s pretty good. Jeff’s there.” He looked away, pissed. “Oh sorry, I forgot you didn’t like him.”
“It’s not that I don’t like him, it’s that he was always so close to you, and I wasn’t.”
“Well, I have known him the longest. We were born together.” Which reminds me. Jeff and I had always had our birthdays together. Back when my mom actually had a job and was proud of me. I don’t know what happened to her. My dad doesn’t care about me either. The only people I could turn to were Billie and Jeff. I never liked going to any girl’s house. I was more comfortable with a guy. I wanted to forget about my mom. And just appreciate the moment that I’m not around her, but at a place I’ve always enjoyed going to. “Billie, there’s something I have to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“I’m pregnant.” He stared at me with his mouth wide opened.
“You? Pregnant? Are you going to get married?”
“I think so. I don’t remember. I mean, HELLO! It was last night.” He gave me a confused look.
“Yeah I don’t know either.” After a while, I was having a good time talking to him and everything went wrong. The glass of water I was holding broke in my hands. My hair got stuck in Billie’s jagged tooth. And this is where it went really bad. I couldn’t feel anything except something squeezing my head. I could hear faint voices. The room was spinning until finally, it turned black. The room came back into view, except it wasn’t Billie’s house. It was a white room. A clean white room. Where the hell was I? Am I dead? I felt someone’s hand touch my arm and I screamed. “Oh good. Addie, you’re alive!”
“What happened?”
“You had a heart attack.”
He hung his head. “Yeah. I understand perfectly.”
“Good. You’re not mad are you?”
“No, I would never pressure you into something you’re not ready to do.”
“Ok, because I don’t want to make you mad. It’s not like I don’t want to marry you-”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t want to pressure you. I love you and I respect you.” We talked about college for the rest of the dinner. When we got back home, we were sitting on the couch watching gay movies that came on. “Babe, you mind if I go visit Billie tomorrow, just to say hi.”
“Yeah of course. Do what you want. Just don’t get pregnant,” he joked.
“Never! Only from you.”
“Are you suggesting something?” He gave me the eyebrow.
“Nope.” He twisted his mouth at me.
“Nuh uh boy.”
“Man, I gotta get you away from that college because you’re talking ghetto.”
I laughed. “All because of Compton Ass Terry.”
“Who?”
“Oh, just this guy I met.”
“You don’t mean met like…You’re leaving me do you?”
“No! He’s just my friend.”
“That better be the truth.”
“It is, you can trust me.” I put my head of his shoulder as he kissed the top of my head.
“Babe?” I said.
“Yeah, what is it?”
“I think it’s time we…”
He sat up straight. “You’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting are you?”
“Well that depends. What are you suggesting?”
“No, you tell me what you were going to say.”
“That we break up.” I stared at him from across the room.
“I can’t believe this, Addie.”
“Well Gabe! I don’t have time for you right now.”
“That’s the whole reason you came here isn’t it? To have sex with me then break up. You’re pathetic. You’re a cold heartless bitch.”
“Gabe, it’s not like that. I have…an issue.”
“What kind of issue?”
“A REALLY big one.”
“Well tell me.”
“I’m not sure I’m the one who should tell you.”
“Just tell me, damnit.”
“Well…” I was stalling. “There’s no use of you sitting down because you’ll just stand right back up.”
“Ok…”
“Ok. So you know what happened this morning?”
“Yep. We shot fireworks.”
I gave him a weird look. “Anyway…To make a long story short, I’m pregnant.”
“Are you serious? How did you find out?”
“Uh duh! Home pregnancy test!”
“Honey! That’s great! Why would you wanna break up?”
“Because, I don’t want a kid right now.”
“You were going to get an abortion?” I stared solemnly at him and nodded.
“But why would you want to break up for that?”
“Because I didn’t want you to find out. I was going to go to college and when it got noticeable, I was going to get rid of it and you didn’t know anything at all.”
He stared wide eyed at me. “Why would you do something like that? Putting your education before your family. Which do you care most about? Me or college.”
“Is this a trick question? If I pick you do I have to drop out of college and if I choose college do I have to break up with you?”
“Yeah pretty much. If you pick that fucking education over me I’m outta here.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I can’t have both?”
“Nope. One or the other. Life is tough.” I sat down, crossed my legs, and put my head on my arm that was in a fist on my leg.
“Well…”
“Shh! I’m thinking…”
“This is a breakthrough.” After a few minutes, I had finally made up my mind. Gabe had gone into the bedroom to watch TV.I walked into the bedroom and he was almost asleep. I jumped up on the bed and sat on his back. “Is that a yes?” He said muffled into the pillow. I laid on top of him and kissed his neck. “That’s a yes.” He rolled over and sat me on his stomach and started tickling me. Soon, that led to you know what…A pillow fight. I smacked Gabe in the face hard that one side of his face was red. We were fools in love. Everything was perfect, that is, until the next morning.
“OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?” I screamed over the toilet with Gabe holding my hair back.
“It’s ok, babe. We’ll make it through this.”
“DON’T TRY TO COMFORT ME IT’S NOT GONNA WORK!” I threw up again and he was rubbing my back. I could tell he was gagging by what sounded like cat coughs. When I was done with it all, I stood up next to him and I hugged him. “Baby, I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to have a kid right now.”
“I know it, Ads, but we can’t afford this right now.”
“I thought you said we had enough.” I pulled back from him but our hands still touched.
“Yeah, I did say that, but I just wanted you to have your dream to go to college.”
“What? We spent all of our money on me going to college? I never would have gone if I knew we didn’t have enough.”
“But I wanted you to have what you wanted.”
“That’s sweet, but you should have told the truth.”
“I’m sorry, babe.”
“Well, I have to go see Billie then I’m off ok? I have to be back at school tomorrow.”
“Ok. I’m going to miss you.” We kissed for a final time and I walked across town to Billie’s house. Man, that hurt. I knocked on the door and he greeted me warmly.
“Addie! What are you doing here?”
“Just thought I’d drop in. I was in town for the weekend, but I can’t stay long. I have to catch my plane.”
“Oh, well you didn’t have to come over.”
“But I wanted to.” He smiled at me. He was so cute with his crooked teeth. We talked for a while and I finally brought up the subject. “Billie, do you have like 500 bucks?”
“Yeah I have it in my weed stash,” he said sarcastically.
“No, seriously, do you have it? Because I have no money to get back to Texas.”
“Yeah. I think I do.” He left the room and I looked around and saw the weirdest collection of nick knacks. He came back and handed me a stack of 5 100 dollar bills.
“Thank you. You don’t know what this means to me.”
“No problem. You’re my first love…I’d do anything for you.” The more he was nice to me, the more I wanted to be with him. Gabe wasn’t my style anymore. “So Addie, how’s school?”
“It’s pretty good. Jeff’s there.” He looked away, pissed. “Oh sorry, I forgot you didn’t like him.”
“It’s not that I don’t like him, it’s that he was always so close to you, and I wasn’t.”
“Well, I have known him the longest. We were born together.” Which reminds me. Jeff and I had always had our birthdays together. Back when my mom actually had a job and was proud of me. I don’t know what happened to her. My dad doesn’t care about me either. The only people I could turn to were Billie and Jeff. I never liked going to any girl’s house. I was more comfortable with a guy. I wanted to forget about my mom. And just appreciate the moment that I’m not around her, but at a place I’ve always enjoyed going to. “Billie, there’s something I have to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“I’m pregnant.” He stared at me with his mouth wide opened.
“You? Pregnant? Are you going to get married?”
“I think so. I don’t remember. I mean, HELLO! It was last night.” He gave me a confused look.
“Yeah I don’t know either.” After a while, I was having a good time talking to him and everything went wrong. The glass of water I was holding broke in my hands. My hair got stuck in Billie’s jagged tooth. And this is where it went really bad. I couldn’t feel anything except something squeezing my head. I could hear faint voices. The room was spinning until finally, it turned black. The room came back into view, except it wasn’t Billie’s house. It was a white room. A clean white room. Where the hell was I? Am I dead? I felt someone’s hand touch my arm and I screamed. “Oh good. Addie, you’re alive!”
“What happened?”
“You had a heart attack.”