What Can You Not Buy With Money?

I was full of shame and terror when I went to go buy my pregnancy tests. When I realized that I was running late on my period, I had quickly broke free from Burgess with the lame excuse that I had ‘laundry’ to do. I had to leave him with that renewed suspicious stare on his face and quickly sprinted out, desperately calling the only woman I could trust. Lucy.

“Lucy, I might be pregnant.” I was careful to quietly murmur into the phone as I was in the taxi. I was thankful that the man was on his phone as well, shutting me out completely.

“What? By Ben?” Lucy sounded surprisingly calm, but her tone had gone serious. In the background, a sound of heavy machinery helped disguise her side of the conversation. “Wasn’t he wearing a damn raincoat?”

“No… I,” I inhaled sharply as I pulled my hair back frustrated. “I was stupid. I just wasn’t thinking and jumped the gun.”

I heard almost a smirk on the phone, but then Lucy paused as she realized the severity of it. “Oh, crap. I forgot you’re only eighteen. All right, I can’t get out of work right now but here’s what you need to do. First, go to a pharmacy—make sure it’s not the grocery store near our place, or Walker’ll freak—and buy at least three pregnancy tests. At least. Then get to our apartment and test yourself. Drink a shitload of water and make sure each stick is pissed on at different bathroom breaks. It’ll take a few hours. If any of them are positive… shit… call me again and I’ll be right over. Okay?”

“Yeah… thanks and I’m sorry.”

“For what? You should say sorry to yourself. I’m guessing you’re not ready for a kid. And I doubt your boy billionaire is emotionally ready for a little boy of his own.”

“All right.” The taxi stopped at a CVS. I quickly paid and entered, sulking to the pregnancy test aisle. There were enough brands to make you wonder which one to trust, but I decided that this was one of the few times I’d let a few extra dollars slide. I chose the most expensive brand. And five boxes. They felt surprisingly heavy, as though the burden of parenthood was already weighing itself upon me.

When I arrived at my apartment, I was surprised to see Walker walking down the hall.

“Mary, hey! Glad I caught you. I’ve got this idea for—”

“Sorry, Walker—I have to go to the bathroom. Hold on a second!” I quickly unlocked my door, leaving it open so he’d come inside as well.

Walker laughed, carefree and not noticing the plastic pharmacy bag in my shaking hand. “No problem. I’ll just keep talking, you mind?”

“A little, it’s hard to pee when I know you’re listening,” I answered as I quickly closed and locked the bathroom door. As I shakily fidgeted with one of the boxes, I tore it open and read the crumpled instructions. My fingers were like firecrackers as I quickly did my business while my heart raced at the speed of light.

The instructions said to wait for about two minutes until the answer was determined.

Those two minutes were perhaps the longest in my life.

As the time ticked away, I heard a shuffle in the living room, where Walker was turning on the television. If he knew, he’d probably blow a blood vessel. Not because I slept with Burgess—but because I wasn’t careful. Or maybe it was me just being paranoid.

I was mentally slapping myself over and over again; praying to everything for the test to show negative. I couldn’t handle the stress of a kid. What had I been thinking, just taking my pants off and screwing Ben like a rabbit in heat.

Negative.

I was never so happy to see a blue minus sign in my life. I fell to my knees and sighed, relief and the soothing wave of comfort fixed over my temples. I had four more tests to use, just to be safe. But just that one had promised me that everything would be better.

Throughout the rest of the day, I took part in drinking enough water to drain the ocean and peeing on plastic sticks left and right. They all came back negative.

After that ordeal, I promised myself I wouldn’t do anything so stupid again. I was lucky to have a second chance. It was a real wakeup call for me, for I saw myself and decided I wanted to take better care of my body.

I never told Ben about that terrible fear, feeling it was a burden he didn’t need to bear. Walker never knew found out either, as Lucy promised to keep it mum.

When Lucy went off work that night and heard the good news, she hugged me. She congratulated me, ironically, for not getting pregnant, and took me out to a trip to the mall.

And there, I got my ears pierced. But all that relief and peace wouldn't last forever. Because within that week, there was a storm that I never saw coming. Lucy's family reunion.

>

“Hola,” the elderly man which was introduced to me as Lucy’s father shook my hand warmly. “It’s always a pleasure to meet friends of my hija. Ah, and Walker,” the man turned to the other guests, “You look healthier. That is good. And this must be Vern,” Mr. Norton examined Vern Karlsson up and down, “I’ve heard a great deal about you. I expect you to treat my daughter well.” He grabbed the poor man’s hands, swallowing his thin fingers up in his large and burly grip. The typical paternal warnings glowed in the man’s aged eyes.

“Yes sir,” Vern squeaked, “You’ve got a firm grip.”

A roar of laughter was Vern’s reward. “You’re all right, son.”

“Padre,” Lucy kissed her dad on the cheek. “Be nice, okay?”

I still couldn’t get over the change Lucy faced. When we all met up at the downstairs lobby of the apartment complex, she wore a dress, her short hair neatly combed and little hair clips were neatly placed to hold her hair back from her face. She looked lovely, but it seemed like looking at an entirely different person. Her façade as the perfect girl made me wonder about the complexities of her family. Walker’s unsettling body gestures signaled me to be cautious, but so far the Nortons seemed normal.

“Lucy!” Marcie greeted her cousin warmly, Adelmo Bohr smiling happily in the background. He waved at us, his eyes glimmering from being buzzed. He had a glass of mojito, and he was the eye candy of Lucy’s female relatives.

“So, let me introduce you to the family,” Lucy guided me and Vern through the crowd. Walker had already met them all, but he loyally stuck with us and played the perfect guest. He smiled, occasionally laughed at a joke and his laid back posture made me follow suit. I never went to a family reunion before, but it was like a small party. Many people who resembled each other were all partaking in small banter, hugging, and photo taking.

As Lucy gave me a biography of her family tree, I noticed how she had her voice at a higher pitch; her fluid body movements seemed less brash and bold. It was like she wasn’t Lucy Norton any longer but an alien with her face.

“…And this—is,” Lucy hesitated to the lone man who was smiling down at us. He was almost as tall as Ben Burgess, but lacked in the attractive features. He had a dark grin that didn’t make me smile back. It was cold, as though he was just being polite.

“Michael Norton,” the man shook my hand, forcing mine to be underneath his. He had a strong and dominating handshake, and the muscles in his palm warned me to be wary of him. He seemed like the guy to be violent. “Lucy’s brother.”

Immediately I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up; I remembered the time Lucy came home with a black eye, mentioning that her brother was the perpetrator. Walker, too, changed his stance and folded his arms and glared at the relative.

“Yes,” Lucy’s teeth were clenched and her eyes were wide in attention. I never saw her afraid before, but her face was pulled back in worried attention. “Michael, this is my roommate, Mary Hall. And my… friend Vern Karlsson. You know Walker.”

I threw Walker a questioned glance when she referred Vern as just a friend. Why was she afraid to tell her brother she was dating him? The only answer I could think of was Michael tended to be overprotective. Which I really doubted.

“That dress suits you, Lucy. You look like the perfect housewife.” There was a sneer on Michael’s face as his eyes probed Lucy.

My eyes widened and a rush of anger flooded my veins. I thought Lucy was going to castrate the fucker right there, but instead—Lucy just forced a smile, her eyes glistening under the bright lights.

“Thank you,” she choked, her voice sounding patronizing but submissive.

I almost fell over in shock at how she said it. This wasn’t Lucy. I wanted to ask her who she was. To take her aside and ask if she was high or even coherent.

The reunion was bitter, though I tried to keep a friendly face. But my mind was smothered in thoughts of Lucy and her disgusting piece of work of a brother. Now I understood Lucy a little more, and felt compassion for my friend.

It was two in the morning when I felt like I was ready to pass out. I was on the couch, alone and quietly staring off into space. I made sure I was sober, just in case anything happened. And happened, it did.

“Where’s Lucy?” Walker was back from the bathroom, his head spun around worriedly. I sat up straight, looked around and shrugged. Walker stared at me, and he quickly went insane. “Shit. I thought you were keeping an eye on her!”

“I thought she was fine,” I defended but being worried is contagious. I began to look around wildly as well, and then I saw her small figure being pulled roughly into a room, the door closed behind her. “She’s in that room. I guess she and Vern are getting some,” I joked but when Walker didn’t share in the humor I became a giant ball of seriousness.

“Vern is being grilled by Mr. Norton right over there,” Walker pointed to the corner where Vern was in a small chair as he was being interrogated by Lucy’s father. He looked like he was going to shrink out of existence, he was that intimidated. “Shit. Where’s Michael?”

I looked around but I didn’t recognize any person that made me want to retch out of disgust. Michael Norton wasn’t around.

“Come on,” Walker ordered as he flung to the door where Lucy was behind. He quickly grabbed the door knob, but it was locked. He angrily slapped his hand on the wood, then slamming his shoulder against it with all his might. It cracked just slightly, and I quickly turned to see that some of the relatives were staring at us in confusion. “Shit,” Walker swore again and quickly pounded on the door. “Lucy! Can you hear me?”

I pressed my ear against the crack of the door, and I could barely hear a cry followed by a muffled sob that unleashed the protective spirit in me. I quickly pounded on the door, joining in as we tried to break the door down.

But Walker and I were too weak to just use brute force to break in. But Walker pulled out the switch blade Lucy bought him for Christmas, and he quickly unscrewed the door’s handle set, the cheap brass flinging to the carpet. Once this was done, Walker pulled the door roughly, and we rushed inside.

Lucy was on the bed, her dress torn and exposing a great deal of her chest. Her brother was on top of her, but he was looking at us outraged at being interrupted. “What do you think you’re doing?” He demanded and got off of her.

Lucy looked at us with drying tears caked on her face. She was wiping her eyes but the shame couldn’t be cleaned from her face. She had a trembling look and couldn’t look me in the eye. All the pride and fiery passion that was always in her expression was gone.

Seeing her like that caused me to snap. I finally realized what Lucy had gone through. That bastard had been touching her with his filthy hands. It was already sick, but what made it worse was it was her brother. And I couldn't even begin trying to wrap my mind around how he could do something like that to anyone.

Walker took a step forward to do the honors, but I grabbed the nearest thing that I could find which was a lamp propped on a dresser in the bedroom. I pulled it free and used it as a bat to strike the pig on the temple. His head snapped back but it wasn’t strong enough to knock him out cold.

He stood up, dazed but still able to fight. But I wasn’t going to hold back. I threw the lamp with all my might, but he ducked out of the way. The lamp crumpled on the floor, a giant dent in the metal.

“Get away from her!” I screamed and I ran up to grab him. I held his collar and yanked him down. He could still easily hurt me but I didn’t care—he was going to pay for hurting Lucy that way. “You touch her again—you talk at her again—you come near her—you even look at her again, I’m going to make you eat your own balls.”

Michael Norton let out a roar of laughter. “What are you going to do, bitch?”

I pulled my fist back to hit him, but I felt a hand clasp over me. I turned to yell at the person for interrupting me, but I was greeted by Vern’s dark face. He shook his head and pulled me away with enough strength to cause me to lose my footing.

Walker caught me, putting his blade away as he watched Vern and Michael. He looked ready to interfere if Michael was winning, but he put his arms around me protectively. He dragged me to Lucy’s side and we pulled her away from her attacker.

“Well, what have we here? You think you’ve got what it takes to take me?” Michael roared with laughter, and his eyes flashed to the growing crowd.

Lucy’s relatives had begun to look inside the bedroom, confusion and appall on their faces. They must not have known what their own kin were doing to each other.

I heard a crunch, and my eyes diverted to the sudden attack that Vern inflicted upon Michael. I never knew Vern was capable of throwing a punch with enough force to break a nose, but Michael was living proof.

“You’re pathetic,” Vern spat, “You’re never going to hurt Lucy again, you sick fuck.”

The pig was hunched over, clutching his face as blood rushed out of his face. He looked up at everyone, breathing heavily but then quickly pushed his way from the crowd as he fled.

The family was in shock; unable to realize that a criminal was getting away. I quickly put my arm around Lucy and held her tightly, whispering, “It’s okay. We’re here; he’s not coming back.”

Walker sat on her other side, his face pained. “They finally know, Lucy.” He looked up at Lucy’s father, who was at the front of the crowd of speculators. His eyes were bloodshot, and his tanned skin had turned a very pale shade. He shivered, covered his mouth, and suddenly retched on the carpet.

Lucy’s eyes glistened and she jumped up and quickly pushed her way from the crowd. They just stood there transfixed, discomfort and uncertainty the only show in the house. None seemed to even comprehend what had just happened. They stood there like statues, not stretching their hands out to help their relative in need.

“What’s wrong with you all?” I angrily yelled at the group as we followed Lucy quickly. She was already out the house, holding the top of her dress up to cover her breasts. “Lucy!” I was the first to reach her, and I stopped a foot at her back.

Lucy stopped where she stood, her arm limp as she stared at the sidewalk. “No one was to find out. Not them. Never them.” She was whispering, her entire body convulsing from disgust. “It was my shit. I had to deal.”

“Not anymore. You don’t have to face it alone. We’re here for you.”

Lucy spun around. “Oh? How can I trust anyone? When your own family doesn’t protect you—do you know how alone you really are? The world is selfish.” She was beginning to cry again, but the fury in her face and how she clenched her fists resembled the Lucy Norton I cared for.

“Yes, it is—but there are people here. Good people. Look at you, you’re a good person.”

“No I’m not,” Lucy gritted her teeth and choked, “I let him—always.”

“Lucy, we’re good people too. Walker, he’s been your friend and there for you all the time. Vern—he wants to give you everything. And I…” I was out of breath and I grabbed her arms gently. “I’d be miserable without you. You provided me with a home, your friendship, your support. I love you. We love you.” I was beginning to shed tears, but I smiled pitifully as I threw my arms around her, kissing her and squeezing her as gently but compassionately as my heart could.

“We’ll never abandon you,” Walker joined and rubbed Lucy’s head affectionately. “I love you.”

“You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met,” Vern pried inside, and I released Lucy so he would have her all to himself. “You’re intelligent and have the deepest heart. I love you.” Vern leaned and pressed his lips against her, and her eyes eventually closed. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

I brushed my eyes dry, and I felt an arm around my shoulder. Walker was watching the scene, blinking as Lucy and Vern held each other. I was worrying myself that Walker was hurt by the display, but he merely smiled happily. My heart fluttered knowing that Walker had indeed moved on, his heart no longer in pain at seeing Lucy with another man.

“Come on,” Vern broke free, his eyes soft and kind. “Let’s get out of here.”

Feeling like a colony of bees were in my brain, I was silent as we drove back to the condos. Vern and Lucy went in our home, doing who knows what. Despite being left out, I felt Lucy needed some peace and quiet.

I was at Walker’s apartment, sitting on his couch while he took some medicine as he had gotten wheezy due to the 'musty' air in the Nortons’ house.

I hugged myself, trying to think straight as I obsessed over Lucy. She, that bold and daring girl, was treated in such a horrible way. I hated myself for not seeing it—I truly did. What kind of person was I for not realizing it? I grabbed my temples, gnashing my teeth and wanting to punish myself. How could I be called a friend if I couldn't even tell what my friends were going through?

“I didn’t know until I walked in on Lucy when she used to live across town,” Walker had left the kitchen with two mugs of hot chocolate in his hands. He was a mind reader, able to tell where my anguish was permeating from. “She hadn’t answered my phone calls, so I felt something was wrong that night. I went to the small house she was renting; the door was unlocked. She had been unconscious that time… he had beat her that bad.” Walker sat down, sipping his drink and his eyes like green fire that glinted in the damp light. “I scared him off, but he said he’d kill her next time. I called an ambulance and the police, but they wouldn’t listen to me until after she had awoken. It was a day later when she came to. I was the first to speak to her, and she had me promise not to tell. I…” Walker pressed his fingers to his lips as he pursed them frustrated. “…I agreed, but on the condition that she moved and not tell anyone else where she was going. I brought her here, and she managed to get a job as a mechanic downstairs. I only saw Michael whenever she had to go to family outings, but I thought she was free from him. She didn’t want him to go to jail, she told me. She… was scared and ashamed. And I fell for her, promising to do whatever she wished. But I should have just done what was right.” He looked like he was in agony, his face winced as he quietly sobbed.

I hugged Walker. “She’s okay now. She’s saved and you’ve done the best you could protecting her. And Vern… he has a pretty rough right hook. I think she’s really free now.”

“Not until that bastard’s in custody.” Walker scowled, shaking his head. “The next time I see him, I’m going to make sure he’s in jail.”

I nodded, and we were silent for the rest of that early morning. Life was a strange thing. But I felt like the world was finally turning to the better. It seemed solid and stable.

What mattered was we were alive and well. I decided then and there I wouldn’t ever leave or give up on Lucy Norton. It was that night that I had her etched inside my heart, knowing all too well that she was a friend for life. I could never turn her away.