“Jesus, I give up,” he said with a glance at the ceiling. He stripped off his clothes and collapsed on his bed, sighing, wondering what to do.
After a while the phone rang, and Dodd answered it without turning on the video pickup. “Yo, Dodd. Where are you? I can’t see you.” It was Toby, seeming to peer in at Dodd through the screen.
“I’m in a state of undress,” Dodd told him wearily.
“Ah, I see. I’ve got some bad news. We are not going to be able to make it to your dinner party tomorrow night.”
“Why not?”
“Something very bad has happened. I’m afraid my daughter’s been raped.”
“What?”
“I don’t know when it happened, but the boy turned himself in. He saw the error in his ways.”
“When did all this happen?”
“I just got the call from the police today. We have to take Savina in tomorrow afternoon for a pregnancy test.”
“Oh no.”
“It is a sad thing.”
“What’s going to happen if she’s pregnant?”
“They’ll have to abort it. She’s underage, and who’s going to pay for a rape-child anyway?”
“They won’t sterilize her, will they?”
“They have to, it’s part of the abortion.”
“No, they don’t have to! It’s not necessary, and it’s not fair – not if she was raped! Why punish her?”
“It’s the law. What can we do?”
“We can fight it!”
“We can’t fight it.” Toby shook his head, a troubled expression on his face.
“You can do something, make some sort of appeal – go to the church, maybe they can help.”
“No. They told us to take her to the Medical Authority Building tomorrow at five. To do anything else would be to break the law.”
Dodd was at a loss. “I’ll be off by then. Do you want me to go with you?”
“No, it would not be appropriate.”
“No?”
“I appreciate the concern, but no.”
“Okay.”
Toby nodded. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” He rang off.
12. ROBOT
“I’m not going. I wasn’t raped. I already know that I’m pregnant and I want to keep it. I don’t care what the law says, I am not going to let them take it from me. This is my decision, and it is final.” Savina’s face was full of firm resolution as she gazed at herself in the mirror. Her parents were downstairs watching a sermon while they readied themselves to go. Monotone voices drifted up to Savina from the television, chanting the Beatitudes from the United Church Bible: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the Universe.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be fed.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will meet God.
A hymn burst forth from a choir, The Celebration of the Homecoming, a hundred blessed voices accompanied by the popular beat-feet beat. It was a hymn to which people could slam dance if they so chose. Savina thought it was ridiculous.
There were footsteps coming up the stairs. Savina turned and faced the door, her heart pounding loud in her ears. The door opened and her mom stepped into the room. “Are you ready to go, child?”
“I am not … I am not going,” she said in an unsteady voice. “I wasn’t raped and I am not … and I already know I’m pregnant and I don’t care … I don’t care what the law says, I am not going to let them take it from me. This is my decision, and I am not going to back down.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Why did not you tell us this before?”
“I … I was thinking of how to break it to you.”
“And why now has this boy turned himself in for raping you?”
“I don’t know. I guess he thought maybe it would help. Help take the blame.”
“Ah now.” Her mother sighed. “I’ll tell this to you straight out Savina. You cannot have this baby. It is not right, it is not ethical, and it is not possible. Do you understand?”
“Well … I’m not backing down, Mom.”
“Is that so?”
Savina nodded.
“Child, you are too young to have a baby.”
“Mom I’ll never have a baby if you take me to the M.A.!”
“That is nonsense, Savina.”
“Mom!”
“They do not sterilize you unless it is a voluntary abortion.”
“Where did you hear this?”
“I just happen to know it.”
“You’re lying, Mom. That’s a cruel lie.”
“Sterilization is the penalty for giving up a child you do not want, Savina. That is what the sterilization is for. They do not punish people with medical problems or young girls who are not making the decision for themselves.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, now you get ready to go.” She turned and left the room, and Savina heard her calling her father’s name.
Savina didn’t know what hurt more: her mother out-and-out lying to her like this, or the possibility that her mother knew something that everyone else didn’t. Even if they weren’t going to sterilize her, she didn’t want to give up the child. She had never once thought about getting it aborted, she had concentrated all her energy on finding a way to keep it. It was strange, she already loved the child. The realization brought on a wave of sadness, and Savina sat on her bed and cried.
There were heavy footsteps coming up the stairs, her father coming to visit. Savina rolled herself in blankets and hid her head under pillows. She didn’t want him to see her crying, she couldn’t stand the thought, but it only made her cry harder. She heard him enter the room, felt him sit on the bed beside her. “I love you,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
Savina remained hidden.
He pulled the pillows away, caressed her cheeks. “We have to go,” he told her. “If we don’t go, they’ll come here and get you.
We can’t have that, now.”
She opened her eyes and saw his sad face, saw her mother behind him. “Let’s pray,” her mom said. Mother and Father bowed their heads, closed their eyes and were silent.
Savina felt angry that they were praying. If they wanted to help her, they’d help her, and not submit meekly to the Medical Authorities. Praying would accomplish about as much as sleeping as far as she was concerned.
“Come on now it’s time to go.” Her father pulled Savina to her feet. He had to shove her out the door and drag her down the steps. Savina was determined not to go willingly. When they had herded her outside she had to squint to see; to Savina’s amazement it was a bright, beautiful blue-sky day.
They walked several blocks to the subway station, then stood on the platform for ten minutes waiting for the train. On one of the walls of the station was a large advertisement: JESUS IS COMING!
There was a realistic painting under the words showing Jesus smiling with His arms spread out in greetings, His head outlined by a colorful halo. Under the poster the caption read: “Watch His glorious return live on JTV!”
There was a warm rush of air and their train came hissing out of the tunnel; it slid to a smooth stop and opened its doors.
Since the rush didn’t start for another hour there were empty seats available. Her parents guided her into the train and down the aisle to a seat away from the exits. She sat down and stared at her hands as they lie numbly in her lap. They had put her next to a window, blocking her in with their bodies. It was like they expected her to make a break for it. Savina hadn’t even thought about it. There was a long hissing sound and the train slid forward, accelerating into the dark of the tunnel.
The train ran underground for nearly an hour, the only sense of motion being produced by the occasional light flashing past only inches outside the window. Then the train emerged on the outskirts of the Depopulated Zone, raising up to race across the open valley on a concrete trestle. Savina gazed out at the open farmland that passed in the distance, and the square miles of green crops dotted with autonomic farm machinery, and found herself wishing she was out there, out away from the endless city and all the people and all the public surveillance cameras. The Depopulated Zone seemed to go on forever; it was the largest area of reclaimed farmland in the region, certainly the largest in California. It passed out of sight as they reentered the city and the train dipped back below the surface of the earth. In the tunnel Savina felt worse than ever. She felt trapped. I can’t just let this happen, she thought. I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to get away.