“I can’t stand you,” said Brielle, fiercely. Kyzie stuck out her tongue.
“Cut it out, you two,” said Sammie, stepping between them. She grabbed each of them by the arm and steered them towards the bookstore. “You are worse than my brothers. Next thing, you’ll be rolling around on the mall floor, fighting. The mall rent a cops will come and take you to jail. That would be so ghetto.”
Kyzie and Brielle laughed.
“I demand that we get some Christmas spirit,” said Sammie, mock frowning at both of them in turn. Her eye lit up as she spotted a display inside the store. “Oh look, they have those yummy Godiva chocolate truffles.” Hostilities ceased as they entered Barnes and Nobles.
Later, Brielle found the perfect book for Damon, a collection of books by Ernest Gaines. At the jewelry counter of Macy’s she found a nice sterling silver serpentine chain that was on sale and had just enough money to buy it. Satisfied with her purchases, she said to the other girls, “This is going to be the best Christmas, ever.”
Damon
Damon waited in the car, blowing into his hands to keep them warm. School had been over for a couple of hours and the parking lot was deserted. He’d taken his finals; fortunately, he could do school work in his sleep. Studying had kept his mind engaged. Finals had kept his thoughts from skittering around like a hamster running from cat.
Everyone was gone for the Christmas holidays, except a few teachers and Damon waited patiently, parked next to Mr. Tally’s car. He needed to talk to someone and the only person he could think of was the Vice Principle. He’d called his mother and told her that he was going to work on some more scholarships and she’d said okay. Finally, he saw Mr. Tally emerge from the building and trudge through the snow, shoulders slumped in weariness. Damon waited until he walked up to the car and then rolled down his window.
“Can I help you, Damon?” asked Mr. Tally. “Is there something wrong with your car?”
“No, sir,” said Damon. “I, um, I just, uh, could I talk to you?” Mr. Tally gave him a long look.
“I just locked up the building, Damon,” said Mr. Tally. Damon’s shoulders slumped. Mr. Tally eyed him. Then he squared his bulky shoulders and relented.
“Look, I’m starving and exhausted. Follow me. We’ll grab a burger and you can tell me what this is about, okay.”
“Yes, sir,” said Damon. Once they were seated, Mr. Tally made Damon call home and talked to Mrs. Hamilton, to make certain she knew where Damon was.
“So,” said Mr. Tally, “What’s up?”
“I need to withdraw my application for the Bill Gates Scholarship,” said Damon.
“Why?” asked Mr. Tally.
Damon explained. “So, I won’t be going away for school.” His voice was harsh with unshed tears.
“The Bill Gates scholarship can be used at any school,” said Mr. Tally. “So even if you stay home and go to, say, Michigan State, you can still use it.”
“Yeah, but I think I’ll just work and take care of the baby,” said Damon.
Mr. Tally cut a piece of steak and put it into his mouth. He chewed for a long time and then swallowed.
“Have you talked to your parents about this, Mr. Hamilton?”
“No sir,” said Damon. “I haven’t told them yet. I needed to get stuff straight in my head, first. They are going to be so mad when I tell them.” He hung his head over his plate.
“You know Mr. Hamilton,” said Mr. Tally. “You are not the first young man this has happened to and you will not be the last. This doesn’t have to ruin your whole life.”
“You don’t know anything about it,” said Damon.
“Tell me about it then.”
“I don’t want a baby.”
“Most teenagers don’t,” said Mr. Tally. “Did you lay down with the young lady?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you use protection every single time?”
“Most of the time,” said Damon, shamefaced.
“Figures,” said Mr. Tally. “Teenagers are so damned careless.”
“Yes, sir, I was,” said Damon.
“Are you sure it’s your baby?”
“Pretty sure,” said Damon. “The dates sound right.”
“Then what you want is irrelevant,” said Mr. Tally. “Baby is on the way.”
“Why couldn’t she have gotten an abortion?”
“She could have,” said Mr. Tally. “Would that solve your problem?”
Damon stared at the man who, puzzled.
“I wouldn’t be having a baby at seventeen. It’s not fair that she gets to make a decision that is going to affect the rest of my life,” he said.
“And your decision to lay down with her is a decision that is going to affect the rest of her life,” said Mr. Tally, firmly. “An abortion would not make your feelings go away. It would not solve your problems.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you’re a deep thinker, Damon. Whether you admit it or not, you care about this girl and about this pregnancy. Right now you’re in a panic, but you do care.”
“I don’t love Sasha.”
“No, maybe not,” said Mr. Tally. “But from what you said, you stopped having sex with her because you didn’t return her feelings. So you do at least have that much respect for her, right?”
“Yes,” admitted Damon. “But, she was too needy.”
“Because she wanted you to return her feelings and you knew that you didn’t. It was mature of you to stop having sex with her under those circumstances. Continuing to use her would have been wrong and you realized that. Unfortunately, you didn’t think about that beforehand, but you are just as stupid as all sixteen year olds are, so here we are.”
“You don’t understand,” said Damon.
“Yeah, I do,” said Mr. Tally. “I was a lot younger once.”
“I’ll bet you weren’t this stupid when you were sixteen or seventeen.”
“You’d lose that bet, Damon,” said Mr. Tally.
“Yeah but,-”
“What, you thought I came into
