She climbed into bed and under the cover without speaking to Nannie or Tillie, but she felt Tillie staring. Betty glanced at her mother and Tillie averted her gaze.
“I’ll go down and wait for the doctor,” Tillie said. “Unless you want me to stay.”
Betty shook her head and Tillie left, her footsteps out of the bedroom followed by her footsteps down the stairs.
“I know you’re disappointed,” Nannie said. “And I know it’s hard to believe, but you’ll get over him.”
Disappointed? Was Nannie serious? Betty was heartbroken. Bereft. Confused. Nauseated. Terrified.
“Once you’re feeling better . . .”
“You’ll let me phone him? I promise not to stay on too long.”
“No, that’s not what I was going to say. Before you leave, you’re going to apologize to Mrs. Bookbinder for your behavior.” Nannie spit her words as if she couldn’t get them out fast enough.
Betty had fainted and gotten sick and this was what Nannie cared about?
Dr. Silver stepped into the room. Joe walked to Betty and kissed her on the forehead. Betty turned her head away.
Why did her parents even bother?
Dr. Silver pulled Betty’s vanity stool next to her bed and sat. “I heard you had a little fainting spell. And some nausea.”
Betty nodded. “I didn’t eat breakfast.”
“Let’s just make sure there’s no infection.” He pulled a tongue depressor out of his shirt pocket. “Say aah.”
Betty opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue, though she was becoming more certain that that was not how he’d find out what they needed to know.
Dr. Silver turned to her family. “Betty’s eighteen now; we’ll need some privacy. I’ll let you know what I find.”
The doctor wasn’t rushing to any diagnosis; neither should Betty. The ambiguous nature of his black medical bag and the stethoscope around his neck eased her worries.
Nannie shooed the others out the door.
“You too, Yetta,” Dr. Silver said. “No exceptions.”
Nannie argued, but the doctor did not relent. Nannie closed the door behind her, and Betty hoped she wasn’t right outside eavesdropping.
Dr. Silver looked, listened, tapped, and pressed. Did her heart sound different now that it had been stomped on by her grandmother and possibly abandoned by Abe?
The doctor leaned toward Betty and furrowed his brows. It looked like he wore a giant caterpillar across his forehead.
“Tell me,” Dr. Silver said. “When was your last cycle?”
Betty felt sobs gathering inside her. He knew. He couldn’t know. “I don’t really keep track. June, maybe? The end of May?” She fanned through the weeks in her head, needing to figure this out. “Maybe the middle of June?”
“Betty, could you be pregnant?”
“No!” She covered her face with her hands as her empty stomach turned somersaults.
“I don’t mean to upset you. I’m going to ask you another personal and very specific question and it’s important that you answer honestly. Even if it’s embarrassing. Do you understand?”
Betty nodded. What could be more embarrassing than asking about the timing of her monthlies?
“Have you had sexual relations in the past few months?”
Betty uncovered her face and bolted upright. She wanted to say no, preserving her reputation, and she wanted to say yes, validating her and Abe’s love—but in that moment she knew her words didn’t matter. If it were true, she wouldn’t be able to deny it for long.
Betty had heard whispers about what happened to girls who got into trouble. She had paid little mind except to roll her eyes and giggle. Illegitimate babies were more of a concept than a reality. One day a girl was in school, the next she wasn’t. No one asked questions.
Then the girl was back in school six months later or the next term. No one mentioned a baby.
This shanda had never touched her circle of family or friends. Well, not that she knew of. Not until now. But as soon as Abe knew, he would come.
Dr. Silver cleared his throat. “We’ll confirm with a blood test, of course.”
“I can’t tell my grandparents.”
“They have to be told. Keeping this kind of secret won’t be good for you or the baby.”
Betty had never even told Nannie she’d kissed a boy; now she had to tell her this? Could anything be worse? “Will you tell them, Dr. Silver?”
He nodded without any hesitation, and Betty realized he’d likely done this before. At least now Nannie would have no choice but to let her telephone Abe.
Someone tapped on the door. Betty’s heart pounded and she shuddered. She wasn’t ready—not for any of this but certainly not to face Nannie.
“Betty, it’s us. We can come back if you’d rather.” Georgia’s voice was light and summery, as if she hadn’t a care in the world. Which she hadn’t.
“Don’t leave!”
The door opened and it was as if Betty’s personal fairy godmothers had appeared by magic. The light in the hall shrouded Georgia and Doris in the shimmery glow of dancing dust particles.
“We passed Dr. Silver on the stairs. He says you need your rest. Your grandmother said you’re suffering from exhaustion and sunstroke. Is that true?” Georgia said. She grabbed Betty’s arm and lay fingers on her wrist to take her pulse, not that it would mean anything. Betty knew one day, it would.
“It’s not exactly exhaustion,” Betty said, wiggling her arm from Georgia’s hold.
“You’re scaring us,” Doris said.
“That makes three of us.” Or was that four? Betty needed to say it aloud. Her heart thumped so loudly she couldn’t hear her own voice inside her head. “I think I’m having a baby.”
Georgia and Doris gasped. “No!”
“Yes.”
“You had sex?” Doris asked.
“Obviously,” Georgia said. She reached her arms around Betty and held on tight. “What do you need me to do?”
Exactly that, Betty thought. She leaned into Georgia, who rocked her. Back and forth, back and forth.
“What are you going to do?” Doris clasped her hands in front of her as if to blockade herself, then she opened her arms and leaned onto Georgia for a group hug.
“I’m going to tell Abe,” Betty said.
They broke apart the
