Monday, December 29, 2008

Who's sin was it?

I knew this girl who I will call B most of my life. We played soccer together since we were just little kids. I loved B. She was so much fun and was very creative and completely an individual. B's parents were divorced. Her dad lived a walking distance from my house. Our mom's were friends and took some college classes together. When we were sophomore's in high school B's mom married a wealthy lawyer. They moved into THE elite neighborhood. B was a little confused. She had always been lower middle class, like myself, and all the sudden she had money and a college future ahead. She had always dated "ghetto thugs" and now her mom was telling her she shouldn't.
One afternoon I went over to B's new house and was so impressed with the beauty of it. She had always shared a room with her little sister and now we could hang out alone in her room. I was so enchanted by her new life. We were talking about her boyfriend of about a year, who was very much ghetto. She then told me something that I would remember forever.
"Can you keep a secret?" To which I replied, "hello, of course."
B had gotten pregnant about six months earlier. She had wanted to keep the baby and try to raise it even though she was young. Her boyfriend supported this idea. Her father had even said he would help her. Her mother was a different story however. Telling B that her stepfather's elusive career could not be tarnished by a teen pregnancy she had to get an abortion. B, raised fairly strict catholic never thought her mother would even suggest this. She thought her mother would be for adoption never abortion. B cried for days saying she didn't want to do it. She wanted to keep the baby inside of her. Her boyfriend said they would get married. B's mother stayed firm and commanded she do it or they would not pay for college and cut her off completely. In the end B had the abortion.
I was floored to hear this story. Had I really not payed enough attention to see what had happened to my friend and all that she had gone through? What had I been so busy with six months ago that my friend had gone through this alone? How could her mother who I adored and had on separate occasions wished had been my own, make her do such a horrible, traumatising event? I sat on B bedroom floor stone silent. There was nothing I could say to her. I didn't know what she went through, I couldn't imagine.
The story end that B did in fact go away to a prestigious college. Her stepfather paid for all of it. He also paid for the lifetime supply of counseling and antidepressants that shadowed over her the rest of her life.

1 comment:

J said...

Wow, that is indeed a sad story. I'm sad to say that someone very close to me actually chose to get an abortion. She was 5 months along when she had the procedure done. During the ultrasound you could see the baby's arms, legs, skull, everything. But she chose to get rid of it anyway. I often ask myself the same question. How did I overlook something like that. Obviously I knew that the person close to me was going through some depression, but I had no idea it was because of the abortion. I still get sick to my stomach thinking about it. I'm even more sad she didn't come to me and tell me she was pregnant. I wished I could've been there for here and perhaps I could've convinced her that she should keep it or give it up for adoption. It breaks my heart, because I thought we were VERY close. But she didn't tell me until after the fact, when it was too late.