Less Children

“You see, though Hitler prided himself on his fully Arian descent, there is believable evidence that one of his grandmothers might have been Jewish. Of course-“ was where the History teacher’s speech was interrupted by a knock on the door and a mousy little freshman coming in. She whispered a few words to the teacher and left as suddenly as she had come.

“Miss Leigh, you are requested in the principal’s office.”

Sophia stood up, bewildered and knowing herself innocent, yet she looked around, confused, trying to find, somehow, a rescue. Sage lifted her shoulders in confusion and motioned her “go”.
“Come on Miss Leigh, I do have a class to teach, you know” hurried Mr. Smith in his nice voice.
She eventually exited the class and rather reluctantly walked to the principal’s office where she discovered the principal, her parents and a police officer she remembered to have seen right after she was raped.
“Come in honey. It’s okay,” her dad said, as he offered her his seat opposite the police man and next to her mother. The principal, Mr. Turner, muttered a few words and left, to give the family and the officer some privacy.
“What’s wrong? What’s so urgent?” Sophia asked, looking from her parents to the police man, whose name, M. Rivers, was sown upon his uniform. Jack Leigh reassuringly put his hands on his daughter’s small shoulders.
“Miss Leigh, we have news for you about the man who has assaulted you.”
“Oh. I hope he hasn’t done anything to someone else again, I wouldn’t want anybody to go through what I have-“she tried to say, but was interrupted.
“Actually, he did do it again. He assaulted and raped a 22-year-old woman a few months ago and a 14-year-old girl, a few days ago. But that was not why I came, Miss Leigh. I came to assure you that you will never have to have a worry about that man, especially since I knew about the child you’re baring. I won’t say his name, as your parents have asked, but I though you should know that he has been shot by a police officer after he refused to stop when summoned, and has died. It’s over. “

A feeling of strange, powerful relief came over Sophia’s heart. This, though it was news of death, was most clearly her key to the previously closed door to freedom. She could now fulfill her dream, not to tell her child about how he/she had been conceived. For the first time, she could feel like she was free to forget al about it, all about what had happened. The monster had been killed, but not before making other victims.

“Are you okay, Sophia?” her tender father asked, seeing her color leave her face and suddenly return.
“Yes, of course. I am just so… relieved. I can now truly move on and forget all about it and welcome my baby properly, as that moment is so close, within, who knows, no more than a month!” she said, smiling at the calendar that showed November 18th. Monica Leigh smiled and laughed: “Your due date is early January, the baby is close indeed.”

Further on, that day, nothing qualified for remembering, perhaps except for the faces of her worried friends and their reaction to the news, how they all hugged her and overdid themselves in showing how much they cherished her kind, good ways.