He blinked stupidly. “Huh? What’s wrong?”
“You’re panting like a dog.”
“You turn me on.” “A knothole would turn you on.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I want to talk,” she said.
“Talk?”
“People do, you know. They talk before they screw.”
He stared at her for a moment, then sighed and said, “All right.
What do you want to talk about?” “It’s not what I want to talk about,”
she said. “It’s what we haue to talk about.”
“You aren’t making sense, baby. What is this– a riddle or something”
She took a deep breath and blurted out the bad news: “I’m pregnant.”
For a few seconds the night was so perfectly still that she could hear
the soft gurgling of the river washing along the shore twenty feet
away. A frog croaked.
Ys this a joke?” Jerry asked at last.
“You’re really pregnant?” ayes.
“Oh, shit.” “Ah,” she said sarcastically, “what an eloquent summary of
the situation.” “Did you miss your period or what?” “I missed it last
month. And I’m overdue this month again.” “You been to a doctor?”
“Maybe you aren’t.” “I am.” “You aren’t getting big.” “It’s too
early to show.”
He was silent for a while, staring out at the trees and the black, oily
river beyond. Then: “How could you do this to me?”
His question stunned her. She gaped at him, and when she saw he was
serious, she laughed bitterly. “Maybe I wasn’t paying much attention
in biology class, but the way I understand it, you did it to me, not
the other way around. And don’t try to blame it on parthenogenesis
either.” aPartho-what?” “Parthenogenesis. That’s when the female
gets pregnant without having to find a male to fertilize her egg.”
With a note of hope in his voice, he said, “Hey, is that possible?”
God, he was a dolt. Why had she ever given herself to him? They had
nothing in common. She was artistically inclined, she played the
flute, and she liked to draw. Jerry had no interest whatsoever in the
arts. He liked cars and sports, and Amy had little tolerance for
conversation about either of those things.
She liked to read, he thought books were for girls and sissies.
Except for sex, cars, and football, no subject could engage him for
more than ten minutes, he had a child’s attention span. So why had she
given herself to him?
Why?
“Oh, sure,” she said in answer to his question. “Sure, parthenogenesis
might be possible–if I was an insect. Or a certain kind of plant.”
“You’re sure it can’t happen to people?” he asked.
“God, Jerry, you can’t really be that dumb. You’re putting me on,
aren’t you?” “Hell, I never listened to old Amoeba Face Peterson in
biology,” Jerry said defensively. “That stuff always bored my ass
off.” He was silent for a minute, and she waited, and finally he said,
so what are you going to do?” “I’ll get an abortion,” she said.
He brightened up immediately. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s the best thing.
It really is. That’s smart. That’s the best thing for both of us. I
mean, you know, we’re too young to be tied down with a kid.” aWe’ll
cut school on Monday,” she said. aWe’ll find a doctor and set up an
appointment to have it done.” “You mean you want me to go with you?”
“of course.” Why?
“For Christ’s sake, Jerry, I don’t want to go by myself. I don’t want
to face it alone.” “There’s nothing to be scared of,” he said. “You
can handle it. I know you can.”
She glared at him. “You’re coming with me. You’ve got to. For one
thing, you’ll have to approve the doctor’s fee. Maybe we’ll have to
shop around for the best price.” She shuddered. “That’s up to you.”
“You mean . . . you want me to pay for the abortion?” “I think that’s
fair.” “How much?” “I don’t know. Probably a few hundred.” “I
can’t,” he said.
“What?” “I can’t pay for it, Amy.” “You’ve had a real good job the
past two summers. And you work weekends most of the year.” “Stocking
shelves in a grocery store doesn’t pay a whole hell of a lot, you