Jada had given her the present and said, “I told him I’d give it to you but I wouldn’t take anything from him. I know he’s my brother but he is being such a punk.”
“It’s okay,” said Brielle.
“I never wanted him to go out with you in the first place,” said Jada. “I told him this was going to happen.”
“That he’d break up with me?” asked Brielle. “You didn’t think I was good enough for your brother?” The hurt sounded in her voice.
“Don’t be stupid,” said Jada. “I meant that I knew he was going to hurt your feelings. And it was going to wreck my friendship with you.”
“I don’t blame you for what he did,” said Brielle.
“Good,” said Jada. “Because I’d hate him forever if he ruined us.”
Brielle hugged Jada, “Deb sisters and friends forever.”
“Right,” said Jada, returning the hug.
The two struggled for a few awkward days to make sure that their friendship was sustained and finally settled on the tactic of not talking about Damon at all. Brielle tried to call him a few times, to see if he’d tell her what had happened. She didn’t want to ask Jada and Jada hadn’t volunteered any information. But he didn’t call her or return her calls. So she’d stopped calling.
Brielle had put the charm bracelet and her gifts to him in the farthest corner of her chest of drawers, under layers of clothes. Kyzie said she was crazy not to return his gifts to the store and get her money back, but Brielle didn’t care about the money. She’d wanted to throw the charm bracelet out, but at the last minute couldn’t bring herself to do so. She’d read the note he sent over and then ripped it up because she still didn’t know what had happened and he didn’t explain. The contents of the note still burned in her brain.
‘Bri,
I’m sorry about this whole thing. My whole life is crazy right now. But I want you to know that I’ll always love you even though we can’t be together.
D.
“Why would he tell me that he was through with Sasha and then keep messing with her? Why would he lie to me like that?” she asked in a pain filled voice, when she was back in her room talking to Sammie and Kyzie.
“Jada said that Sasha’s like eight months pregnant and the baby is Damon’s,” said Kyzie. “Jada said her parents are really mad, but trying not to show it because Damon is moping around like the walking dead.”
“Oh, wow,” said Sammie, eyes big. “So he didn’t lie.”
“He also didn’t tell me the truth,” said Brielle, voice hardening. “I would have understood.”
“Would you really?” asked Sammie.
“Maybe I would have been mad at first,” admitted Brielle. “But I would have forgiven him. It happened last school year if she is eight months pregnant. He told me about them. Maybe he could have given me the chance.”
“Oh, how scary,” said Sammie. She lay down on the bed. “Damon is seventeen and he is going to have a baby. Oh my God. My parents would freak straight out if that happened to one of us.”
“Right now it’s just Sasha’s baby,” said Brielle. “What’s he going to do? Marry her? He’s still in high school.”
“True,” said Sammie, nodding. “God, Bri, what if it was you?”
“It’s not me,” said Brielle in a tone of voice neither of the other girls had ever heard. They both turned to her in surprise at the glacial tone. “I’ll never be so stupid over a boy. Not ever again.”
“You can’t forgive him?” asked Kyzie.
“I hate him,” said Brielle, voice hard and unyielding.
“Why?” asked Sammie.
“He dumped me over the phone,” said Brielle, simply. “Like I was trash. He dumped me and didn’t tell me why.”
“But now you know why,” said Kyzie. “I did hate him, but now I understand. He doesn’t have time to have a girlfriend if he has to take care of a baby. You hate him because he got another girl pregnant?”
“No,” said Brielle. “It’s stupid and careless but it could happen.”
“You’re mad at him for not telling you the truth?” asked Sammie.
“Somewhat, but that’s not why I hate him,” said Brielle.
“Then why?” asked Kyzie.
“Because, he knew how I felt about him,” said Brielle. “He knew how I felt and he let me think that something was wrong with me, instead of respecting me enough to tell me what happened.”
Sasha
For Christmas Sasha’s mother bought baby furniture. She bought clothes and boxes of diapers for the baby. Sasha got a couple of outfits that she wouldn’t be able to fit until after the baby. Sasha thanked her mother solemnly and went back to her room. Her father sent her $300.00 in cash and a card. Sasha ripped the card up and thought to send the money back, but kept it instead. Who knew when her mother might go off the deep end again and throw Sasha out in the snow?
Sasha’s best friend Gabby had called and left Sasha messages that she was home from college and wanted to get together, but Sasha deleted the messages. She didn’t want anybody to see her like this. Her mother had asked her to attend church but Sash balked, and surprisingly, her mother had not pushed it. The only place Sash went was to the doctor’s office for her prenatal visits, which were uneventful. She felt the baby kick and she could never get comfortable at night. The queasiness had finally passed; now that she was eating her mother’s cooking regularly and resting in her own bed. She
