The Dear One by Woodson Jacqueline

Author:Woodson, Jacqueline
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PENGUIN group
Published: 2010-10-20T04:00:00+00:00

Twelve

“YOU KNOW WHAT DITES DO TOGETHER?” REBECCA whispered loudly. She was closest to the window now, and I had to look past the outline of her stomach to see into the night, the attic smell of the mattress wafting up around me.

Downstairs, I heard Ma’s key in the door, then the sound of her heels clicking toward the den.

“I don’t care,” I said.

“You know what anybody does together?”

“I don’t care.”

“You ever been with a boy?”

“You’re so damned nosy. Why don’t you go to sleep already? Isn’t your baby tired?”

“No, he’s not tired, and I’m telling your mother you cursed if you don’t answer my questions.”

“I don’t care if you tell my mother,” I lied.

“You too embarrassed to talk about it,” Rebecca said.

“I don’t want to talk about it with you. If anybody, I’d talk to Caesar.”

“Who’s Caesar? Your boyfriend?”

“Caesar’s a girl. She’s my best friend.”

“Who’d name their girl Caesar?”

“Her parents.”

“That’s a boy’s name. Where do rich people get these names from . . . Feni, Caesar . . .”

“She was named after somebody way down the line somewhere. Her dad said it’s a strong name so she’d grow up to be strong.”

“I want to meet her,” Rebecca said.

“No.”

“Why not? You embarrassed to have a pregnant girl in your house?”

“No. Caesar just doesn’t come here, that’s all.”

“I’ll bet you she comes here when she finds out about me.”

“Bet you she won’t.”

“Hah!” Rebecca said smugly.

I turned away from Rebecca and changed the subject back. “I know what Marion and Bernadette do together. They love each other.”

“Bernadette’s that lady who’s taking me to the doctor, right?”

“Yeah. She’s going to be tutoring you too.”

“Is Seton like Greenwich Village or something?”

“What’s Greenwich Village?”

“This place in New York where a whole lot of gay people are.”

“There’re gay people everywhere.”

“Well, I’ve met more here in one day than I met in New York in my whole life!”

“And you say I’m sheltered.”

Rebecca was quiet for a moment. “So you think they really love each other?”

“They love each other more than my mother and dad. Marion and Bernadette are still together.”

“You ever been with a boy?” she asked again.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to be!”

“You ever been with a girl?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Same reason. I’m twelve! It’s not a race!”

“Nobody said it was a race. I was just wondering. You saying I’m fast?”

“You said it. I didn’t.”

“You saying I shouldn’t have done it?”

“I don’t even know you. I don’t care what you do.”

“I think I shouldn’t have gotten pregnant. I’m scared, you know. Scared to have this baby.”

Outside, the wind whistled past the window and rattled the pane. Rebecca moved and her bedsprings squealed.

When my grandmother was a teenager, her best friend got pregnant. She kept the pregnancy hidden from everyone until it was time for the baby to come. Grandma was with her on the night the baby was born. But Grandma said that because her friend was so young, there were a lot of problems. And the baby died. I shivered and pulled the covers up over me. I knew what Rebecca was afraid of.

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