Chapter 15

"Trent, what's going on?" my mom asked. "Julie's mother called three times looking for you."

"She did?" I hadn't even taken off my shoes yet, but only stood inside the kitchen doorway wondering how I'd explain that.

"And Bambi called twice."

"Bambi?" I swallowed hard, using the cranky zipper on my jacket as an excuse not to look at her. It liked to get stuck.

"Lisa's mother," she reminded me, as if I could ever forget. "Why would they be calling you?"

"Uhhh..." I shrugged. "What did they say?"

"Nothing!" Mom snapped, and that's probably what irked her the most. "They didn't tell me a thing."

"I don't know, uh..." I cleared my throat and peeled off my jacket. "Maybe..."

"Maybe what?" She tilted her head so that a lock of blonde hair fell across her ice blue eyes.

My mom looked beautiful, as always, and that only made it worse. She'd been in such a good mood earlier. Me too. My life had been perfect, except for the part about going to see Angie and Stacy's dad, but he hadn't even been home. Nobody knew the twins were pregnant and I'd fucked them again. Twice. Each. And now, only six hours later, the world was falling apart. Molly probably hated me and Mom wanted to know about Mrs. Collins and Bambi. Sometimes I wished I'd never been born, or at least not gotten out of bed that morning.

"I want an answer, Trent."

"I know. Yeah." I nodded quickly, trying to think of one. "I heard Julie's kinda sick, maybe her mom just wanted to tell me not to come over."

"She's sick?" Mom narrowed her eyes.

A few days before, I'd used the excuse of working on a school project with Randy in order to see Mrs. Collins. In order to try and knock her up, specifically, and I knew my mom was still suspicious about that. I'd come home smelling like, well ... Like Mrs. Collins. Except Mom had thought I'd been having sex with Julie, so maybe I shouldn't have mentioned her at all.

"That's just what I heard," I said, innocently.

"Oh my God." Mom blinked at me.

"What?" Did you ever get the feeling like there's a piano hanging over your head? I didn't, not once in my whole life, until that moment.

"She's pregnant," Mom decided. It wasn't a question, not even a guess. It was a fact and the look on my face told her everything. Almost.

"Maybe," I said, wanting to look anywhere but into my mom's eyes.

"You knocked her up? Trent! What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know," I replied truthfully. "It was an accident, sorta, but it's okay."

"What do you mean it's okay?" she asked, almost smiling at my stupidity.

I hadn't meant to say that, but there was no turning back and I have to say, I really wanted to tell my mom everything. It's hard work keeping secrets and I felt exhausted by them. Maybe other people feel the same way, I'm not sure. If there was one person in the world I could confess to, uh ... Actually, it wouldn't be my mom. Unfortunately, I'd already said too much and trying to lie my way out of it would only make the consequences that much more painful later.

"Mrs. Collins is going to say it's her baby," I said, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

There wasn't any reason to stand there and I wanted to lean on my elbows, like I didn't have an ounce of strength in my body. After a moment, Mom sat down beside me.

"How is she going to do that?"

"She's pregnant too," I explained. "I mean, she's trying to get pregnant, and then she'll say she had twins."

"What?" Mom did smile then, but only because it sounded kind of silly.

She hadn't seen the look in Mrs. Collins' eyes, though. Mom hadn't heard the conviction in her voice and I spent a few minutes explaining how Jules would be home schooled and all that. Basically, Jules would be grounded from whenever she started to show until she delivered the baby. Five months? Maybe six, since she wasn't a very big girl at all.

"And so Carol is just going to let you off the hook?" Mom asked. "What's the catch?"

"Huh" I blinked at her.

"She must want something in return," she said. "It's your baby, right? Does Julie have any other boyfriends?"

"No. Just me."

"So?" Mom held out her hands. "What is she getting out of this?"

"She's getting a baby," I sighed, but my mom didn't understand right away.

"Besides the baby," she said.

"No, um ... That's the deal," I said. "See, Mr. Collins can't, uh ... His sperm stuff isn't very good or something, and ... Um..."

"You're making Carol pregnant?" Mom stood up. I mean, she practically jumped out of her chair. "You're just a boy!"

She didn't mean that, I didn't think. She meant I was her boy. My mom knew better than anyone that I could make a baby. I mean, I'd knocked her up and she hadn't said, "Hold on! You're just a boy!" She sorta liked the idea, or so I believed, because if she hadn't, my mom could have gotten an abortion easily enough. Except we were catholic and she hated abortion. Anyway, I'm just saying that my mom didn't want me seeing Mrs. Collins anymore.

"You're not going to see those people anymore," she said. "You're not even going to talk to them. Not a word, understand me?"

"But..."

"No buts!" She tapped the table with her finger, making her point. "You're fifteen, Trent. She could go to jail for what she's doing."

So could you, I wanted to say, but I wasn't that retarded. I just never imagined my mom could be a hypocrite. She never had been before, if anything she could be painfully scrupulously, but I suppose this was a rather unique situation. None of us were acting normally, but Mom seemed awfully desperate to try. I probably should have been glad of that. Fucking Mrs. Collins had been sort of fun, but definitely weird and I really wouldn't miss her very much.

"She's going to get mad though," I said. "She really wants a baby."

"Don't worry," Mom said. "I'll talk to her. In fact..." she glanced at her watch. "I think I'll pay her a visit right now."

"You're going to her house?"

"You stay here," she said, pointing her finger at me. "I don't want you to leave the house, Trent."

"I'm grounded?" I blinked at her. "For what? How long?"

"Because I said so," Mom told me, and that was all the answer I got, but at least she'd forgotten about Bambi. Thank God for small favors, eh?

"Hello?" Molly answered her phone and my heart skipped a beat.

"Hi. It's me," I said. "Trent. Hello? Molly?"

I stared at the phone and turned it off. She'd hung up on me and I guess Shannon had given her older sister the news.

Ten minutes later I tried again. I'd told myself to give Molly half an hour, but I couldn't wait that long. I felt sick, but in my heart, not in my gut. The phone rang ten times before she answered and she didn't even say hello.

"Stop calling me," Molly said, real calmly.

"Wait! Molly? Don't hang up!" But it was too late and the line was dead.

I managed to wait fifteen minutes, pacing my room at first, then walking down the hallway and back. I went up and down the stairs. I walked around the house, aimless and pumped up and scared that I'd never see her again. When I called the third time, her phone didn't even ring.

"The subscriber you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please check the number and try your call again later."

My mom had been gone for a half an hour. I didn't know what she would tell Mrs. Collins, or what Julie's mom might tell her. It couldn't be good whatever they said and I knew I'd never get to be with Jules again. I liked Molly better anyway. I mean, I loved Molly more, but I didn't know why. A few weeks ago I couldn't even imagine having feelings for anyone else. Julie had been the center of the universe. When had that changed? When I'd met Molly, or before then? I didn't know and it bothered me.

I thought about not seeing Julie again, never kissing her or just holding her hand, and ... I don't know. It was strange. I felt sad, but not terrible. I thought about the baby and even knowing I'd made Jules pregnant didn't give me the same sense of urgency I'd felt before. The baby was abstract. Like a hypothetical concept or whatever. Maybe when I saw her getting bigger it would become more real, but for the moment I felt kind of numb. Not good or bad, not even excited.

Only Molly could make me feel something and right then, as I sat on my parents' bed holding the phone, rubbing my forehead ... I felt pain.

Ring! ... I almost dropped it, but I didn't.

"Molly?"

"Who?" Bambi's voice killed my hopes instantly. "I've been waiting all day for you, Trent."

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "I just, um..."

"Just what?" she wondered, not masking her annoyance at all.

"I've got a girlfriend," I said, although I'd really meant to make up some excuse. I should have been my same old self, lying and hiding, promising her anything ... But what if I wasn't?

"Excuse me?"

"A real one," I said, clearing my throat. "So, um ... I can't come over anymore."

Oh man! I felt like I was facing down a bully at school. Like a fight, you know? My hands were practically shaking and I felt a tingly emptiness in my stomach. What was I doing?

"Are you breaking up with me?" Bambi asked, giggling. "Don't be silly, Trent. Come over here now. We'll talk about it."

"No," I said, knowing that would be a bad idea even if I wasn't grounded. "No, no no ... I can't. I have to stay here. I like you, but..."

"You love me," she said. "That's what you told me. Remember?"

"Yeah, but ... I'm sorry," I told her. "I don't love you anymore."

"What?" Bambi's voice changed, and she sounded like the teacher she was. "That's not the right answer. You come here, right now. I want to see you."

"I can't." I shook my head and wanted to hang up the phone so badly, but I didn't dare. I could barely keep saying no.

"I still have pictures of your little girlfriend," she reminded me. "Do you want to see Julie hurt just because you're confused?"

That felt like a kick in the balls. I'd believed her threat before and I believed her now, sort of. Would she really do something like that? Would she send pictures to everyone Julie and her family knew just to get even with me?

"I told my mom about you," I said. "She knows everything."

Bambi didn't say anything.

"Are you still there?" I wondered.

"You told her everything?" she asked, softly.

"Yeah." I nodded, even though she couldn't see it. "I think my mom wants to talk to you about it."

"You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, huh?" Bambi said, and her voice dripped with venomous anger. It made me wince. "After everything I did for you?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"Well, fuck you very much, Trent."

"I'm sorry," I repeated, but she'd already hung up.

I didn't know what to feel. Exhilarated? Kind of hurt because she'd been so angry, but ... I was free? What if she used the pictures? Maybe I wasn't free. I'd broken up with Bambi! God! I grinned. I couldn't believe it! I'd really done it. I started jumping up and down on the bed like a little kid. Laughing kinda crazily. I'd dumped Bambi, the hottest MILF in the galaxy! The sexiest teacher in the known universe! I'd fucked her and dumped her and I'd never see her again.

Fuck.

That kinda sucked. I fell on the mattress, landing on my butt. I had to be insane. I thought I'd loved her, but even at the time I'd known better than that. I did feel bad though. The adrenalin was going away, the excitement wearing off, and I felt like I had a hole inside me. The place where Bambi used to be and everything seemed ... Unfinished. I had to do something, but I didn't know what. Bambi was out there, angry with me, disappointed maybe, and probably worried. She could go to jail, I realized, if anyone ever found out about her little sex parties.

I didn't hate her. I'd never tell anyone about Bambi, as long as she never tried to hurt me or Julie with those stupid pictures. Let her worry for a few days and when nothing happened, when my mom didn't knock on her door, or most especially when the police didn't break it down, Bambi would know she was safe. I wasn't sure I owed her anything, but I wanted to give her that much. Maybe it was the wrong thing to do, I dunno. Maybe I should have turned her in. No. I'd known what I was doing the whole time, just like I knew what I was doing now.

The phone rang three times and I expected Angie to answer, or maybe Stacy. Not that I'd know the difference without seeing them naked. Someone else answered though.

"Hello?"

"Hi, um ... Are you Angie's mom?" I narrowed my eyes. Wasn't she supposed to be in Miami? I sort of hoped I'd dialed the wrong number, because then I could change my mind.

"Yes," she replied. "Who is this?"

"Uh ... Trent." I cleared my throat. "We met like last month? When I was at your house?"

"Oh. I remember, um ... Hold on, I think the twins are upstairs."

"No!" I said quickly, and I had to do this fast or I'd chicken out. "I kinda need to talk to you."

"You do?" She sounded pleasantly confused. "What about?"

"Angie and Stacy," I said. "Um ... They said, uh well ... They kinda told me, um..."

I couldn't say it. I closed my eyes and winced, searched my knotted stomach for one tiny shred of courage. I was so tired of being a wimp all the time and if I wanted Molly back ... Molly. Yeah, I thought about her. Like the finish line at a race. I could do it, if she was waiting for me. I didn't know if she was or not though, but if there was even a chance she'd forgive me and love me and be my girlfriend again, I had to break up with the twins. Or make them break up with me, I should say, and there was only one way to do that.

"They told me I made them pregnant," I said, and my parents were going to kill me.

"What did you just say?" the woman asked. "Is this a joke?"

"No," I replied. Now that I'd said it, I felt relieved. "I saw them today and they said that they're pregnant and I just ... I'm the one who, uh ... did it."

"They're not pregnant," she said. "Why would they tell you that?"

"What? They're not?" I blinked rapidly. "Are you sure?"

"They just had their periods last week," she replied. "Now why would they tell you that they're pregnant?"

"Because, um..." I couldn't even think straight.

"Yes?"

"They want me to break up with my girlfriend," I answered, dumbly. "They lied to me?"

"They lie to everyone," she sighed. "How old are you, Trent?"

"Fifteen," I said, wondering what that had to do with anything.

"Alright," she said. "I suggest you don't see my daughters anymore."

"Yeah, um ... Okay."

"I mean it. You say you have a girlfriend? Stay with her and leave Angie and Stacy alone."

"Yes ma'am," I agreed, because she sounded very serious saying that. I suppose any mother would, finding out her thirteen-year-old daughters were having sex.

"And Trent?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for telling me." she said, softening somewhat. "Good-bye."

"Alright. Bye."

I hung up the phone and I should have known they weren't pregnant. Angie and Stacy lied more than anyone else I'd ever met in my life. They even lied about who they were! Yeah. God! And I called their mom? Jeeze! I had to be crazy, but that had been the plan and it had worked even better than I'd imagined. I figured I'd tell their dad and he'd want to come over, and we would talk, their parents and mine, and I'd end up mowing lawns the rest of my life to pay for diapers.

They weren't even pregnant! I wasn't in trouble! I'd broken up with Bambi and now the twins, Lisa was gone to her grandmother's house, Jules was giving her baby to her mom and ... I was free! I'd only knocked up two girls, not four! or three, actually, I'd kind of forgotten about my mom, but that was a secret that would never come out and Dad thought the baby was his anyway.

Never, ever would I have more than one girlfriend again, I told myself. No more falling in love. No more trying to knock up girls just because I could. No more sex parties and hot blonde sandwiches and skipping school. Just me and Molly forever!

Except she wasn't answering the phone. I got that same stupid recording and I knew what it meant -- She'd turned off her celphone. Okay. Fine. I was on a roll. A guy couldn't be unlucky forever, right?

"Directory Assistance. What city, please?"

"Seattle," I said, hoping beyond hope they had a listed phone number. "I'm looking for Carpenter, um ... On Rosewood Circle."

"Thank you." The line went dead for a second and then I got another recording. "The number is..." I had a pen handy! This was definitely the luckiest day of my life.

"Hello?" a man answered, and I drew a deep breath. "Hello?"

"Hi, is Molly there?" I wondered.

"May I ask who's calling?"

"Trent, um ... But can you just tell her I didn't buy any ice skates?"

"Say what?" He chuckled.

"I didn't get ice skates and, um ... Molly can call me, uh ... if she wants to, I mean."

"You don't want to tell her yourself?"

"She's kinda mad at me," I admitted.

"Oh, I see," he said, sounding more like he didn't understand at all. "I'll give her the message."

"Thanks."

"Sure thing. Good-bye, Trent."

"Bye." I hung up the phone.

I thought for sure Molly would call me right away, but she didn't. Maybe my idea had been a stupid one. At the time it had seemed pretty good, but as the minutes passed, I began to have serious doubts. None of my plans had ever been very good where girls were concerned, but I'd sorta hoped I'd been on a lucky streak. The thing with Bambi and then the twins, that had boosted my confidence. Too much? Probably. I frowned at the phone and picked it up, just to hear the dial-tone and make sure it hadn't gotten broken somehow.

Mom seemed to be taking a long time and I wondered about that. How long does it take to read the riot act? I knew that's what she was doing. I mean, if Mom didn't want me to see Jules, she sure as heck wouldn't want me seeing Julie's mother! Five minutes there, five minutes back, that left nearly 45 minutes for talking and my mom didn't waste a lot of time with chit-chat. She liked to get to the point. What were they talking about? Besides me, I mean.

And where was my dad? I figured he'd be home already, since it was getting past the afternoon and into the early evening. He went golfing every Saturday, out of the house by nine back by four usually. Not that I kept close track of his whereabouts, I didn't, but I'd been up and down so many times that day that anything out of the ordinary seemed suspicious. I kinda wanted to talk him, you know? Not about Mrs. Collins, that would be sorta embarrassing and Mom would doubtless tell him anyway. That was another shoe waiting to drop and I had no idea what Dad would think about it. Probably whatever Mom told him to, so I could look forward to a father-son chat about not fucking my girlfriends' mothers.

Maybe all teenage boys suffer that one, but I doubted it.

No, I wanted to talk to my dad about Molly. I'd heard stories, short and edited anecdotes about how my dad had chased my mom, trying to get her to date and eventually marry him. He'd always seemed sort of proud that it hadn't been easy, which made me wonder how many other girls he'd dated. Easy ones, I mean, like the twins and Lisa and even Julie, maybe. They had all been amazingly easy, but Molly would be a real challenge. Like my mom, probably. Not to get her panties down, I don't mean that. I didn't even want to have sex with her, although I sorta did. I mean, Molly was the kind of girl who would give a guy one chance and if he screwed it up...

Dad would have some good advice, I was sure. Except he wasn't home.

"Trent?" Mom called out from downstairs. She was back and I had to straighten up her bed after all that jumping earlier.

"I'm up here, Mom," I yelled back.

"Would you come downstairs, please?"

Oh man! I knew that tone of voice. The cool, polite, uber-patient lilt of a woman speaking to her wayward child. Like she wanted me to understand and even agree with her reluctant, but necessary decision to punish me. Actually, my mom sorta sounded like that all the time.

"Coming," I said, glancing over my shoulder at the phone on my way out of the bedroom.

Why hadn't Molly called me yet? Maybe I should be asking Mom for advice, since they had so much in common. As if that would be a good idea? Yeah, right! I'd probably be grounded for the rest of my life for knocking up Julie. It wouldn't matter if Molly called me or not.

"Mom?" I walked into the kitchen, the heart and soul of our house, and suddenly froze. "Oh!"

"Hello Trent," Mrs. Collins said, sitting at the table and smiling as if everything was normal.

"I'm making tea," Mom told me, standing near the stove where the kettle was already warming. "Would you like some hot chocolate?"

"Uhhh..." I didn't know what I wanted. I just blinked at her.

"Maybe you'd better sit down," Mrs. Collins suggested. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Exactly! I was looking at a ghost. Why was Mrs. Collins sitting in our kitchen? What happened to never seeing those people again? My mom had been pissed. I took a seat, having little choice in the matter. I wanted to ask why she was there, but obviously, I couldn't do that. I couldn't say anything, really. I had to wait and the explanation wasn't long in coming.

"We had a nice little talk," Mom told me, "and I've agreed to let you give Carol a baby."

"What?" I stared at her. "You mean, you want me to, uh..."

"We had a deal, Trent," Mrs. Collins said. "I missed you this morning."

"It's either you make her pregnant," my mom explained, "or you end up supporting Julie's baby. We discussed other options and Julie wants to keep the baby. We'd have to insist on a paternity test, of course..."

Mrs. Collins offered me a slight nod at that, but we all knew I had to be the father. Jules wasn't a slut.

" ... and if necessary, Julie's parents will file a paternity suit against us," Mom continued. "Babies are expensive, Trent."

"We really don't want to do that," Mrs. Collins said. "We've always liked you, Trent."

My mom the banker. She had an MBA, but I didn't need one of those to understand the deal. Knock up Mrs. Collins and I wouldn't have to pay for knocking up her daughter. If I didn't do it, they'd take me to court, or my parents actually, since I wasn't even sixteen. We'd end up paying half of everything. Medical bills, baby food, diapers, college tuition. It was a good deal and my mom was the world's most practical woman.