Chapter 12

Well, it seems there were some good people in district administration. Apparently Mr. Ramirez didn’t have to do a whole lot of talking to convince them to let his pregnant niece stay in school. The district’s official policy was to allow it, though unofficially they tried to discourage it. Maria found out why they discouraged it over the following months as her pregnancy started to show.

Maria’s classes weren’t our classes so we weren’t in a good position to stop the taunts between classes. Most kids who disapproved of her being there just smirked or shook their heads. There were a few who taunted her — slut, whore, and bitch in heat were just some of the names she was called. There was one fewer person taunting her after Rick Jenson did it in front of Alex. Alex got a suspension for fighting but from what we heard it wasn’t much of a fight — Alex hit him hard without saying a word, taking Jenson completely by surprise.

When one of Maria’s teachers was overheard saying that ‘sluts like her’ shouldn’t be allowed in school Mr. Ramirez came uncorked. So did Mrs. Nelson, Mr. & Mrs. Larson and Mr. & Mrs. Reynolds. The teacher wasn’t fired, but he was officially disciplined.

Each day after school we still got together for our study group at Jodi’s place. We sometimes spent the first half hour or so comforting the mother-to-be but no one begrudged her that.

One day early in the semester as she tried to understand Chemistry Jodi said, “Damn! If I didn’t want to be a vet I don’t think it’d be worth the effort trying to understand this stuff.”

Trish’s head popped up at her declaration. I had to stop and think about it but I didn’t remember her ever mentioning what she wanted to do with her life so I asked about when she’d decided on being a veterinarian.

“A couple of years ago. I like animals and that seems to be the best way to help them. What about you, Jeff? Are you going to be a scientist or something? You sure seem to do well at that sort of stuff.”

“Nope! Have you seen how much trouble I’m having with Chemistry? After all of our study sessions I’ve decided that I want to teach. I’ll probably try to do junior high or high school — something where I could specialize a bit. I’d like to teach math and some of the sciences, just not Chemistry!”

“Wow!” Maria exclaimed. “I want to be living somewhere near you so my kids,” here she patted her tummy, “can have you for a teacher. I probably will just be a mother, but I’ll try to be the best mother I can be.”

“Me, I want to be a doctor!” said Felicia. “I know it won’t be easy but I think it’d be nice to help people. If I couldn’t do that then maybe a nurse, but doctors make a lot more money. What about you, Trish?”

“Social work or maybe a counselor. That could change, though. What about you, Jenny?”

“I don’t think I’m going to college,” Jenny replied quietly. “I’m not sure I’m smart enough to do it.”

Huh?

Trish said it first, “What do you mean you’re not smart enough? You’re doing great! Sure, you got a B here or there but that’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“But I’m only getting good grades because you guys are helping me! On my own I’d be lost.”

“Sure, we’re helping you,” I said. “But we’re helping you understand — we’re not helping you do the assignments. Felicia is helping me understand Chemistry, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have to know the material myself. If you can understand the material you’ve been taking so far then you’re plenty smart to go to college. Hell, even Trish’s sister got through college and she can’t hold a candle to you!”

I wanted to tell Jenny that I knew she could handle college if she could handle the course load she’d been carrying so far, but I wouldn’t be able to explain how I knew it.

“I don’t know,” Jenny replied, “even if I’m smart enough it seems like an awful lot of work. Maybe I should do what my dad says and just start looking for the right guy.”

“Hey,” Trish answered, “if you want to get married and start a family that’s great! But don’t even think of doing it just because it’s what your father wants you to do. You’re the one who’ll have to live your life, not him, so don’t arrange your life to make him happy.”

“Of course it will take some work,” I added. “The only one of us who might’ve gotten by without really working at it was Felicia, but she decided to go nuts and do pre-med! The rest of us are all going to have to work hard — but then we work hard now. I don’t think it will be a whole lot harder than what we’re doing now.”

At that point Jenny was almost in tears. “But I’ll have to be doing it on my OWN!” she practically wailed.

“Why?” I asked, in my most reasonable voice. “I know I was hoping to still be studying with you. All of you, really, though that might be tough. But even for Jodi and Felicia I think a lot of the undergrad work can be done pretty much anywhere — it’s only when they get to the specialized stuff that they’ll need to be looking for a really specialized school.

“As for you, I don’t know what you’d want to study, but I do know that at least Trish and I want to be there with you. We’ll help you when we can, but mostly we love you and we want to be around you.”

“Me? But, you two have each other!”

“So? The people in this room are the closest friends either of us has ever had. We love you all! I know that some of us will drift apart eventually but I’d like to stay around as many of you as possible, for as long as possible.”

“And how could I afford to pay for college?” Jenny retorted. “I don’t have any money and I know my dad won’t help since I’m ‘only a girl.’” The bitterness in her voice spoke volumes.

“Jenny,” Trish replied, “how are any of us going to pay for college? Felicia’s family has a little more money than the rest of us, but they also have more kids. Our parents don’t have much at all so we’re going to have to do it on our own. Scholarships, grants, loans, working — whatever we need to do, we’ll do it.”

“Me, too,” Jodi added. “Mom has some money put aside but it won’t be nearly enough. But I’m with Trish — whatever I need to do I’ll do it because I want to be more than just a wife and mother!”

Alex had been quiet up until then but he chose to chime in at last. He moved over to where Jenny was sitting and put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a friendly hug, then said “Try something for me. Please? Try really hard for a moment to forget your father exists. Then think about what in all the world would make you the happiest.”

Jenny looked a little puzzled but she sat back in her chair as Alex withdrew his arm and closed her eyes. You could almost see the tension leave her when she concentrated on her father not existing. When she looked like she was feeling more comfortable Alex prompted her again, “Now, imagine the thing in all the world that would make you happiest.”

I don’t think Alex was expecting that reaction! Her face flushed and her nipples popped out. I chuckled a little at Alex’s discomfort before I suggested, “Jenny, maybe try imagining the career that would make you happiest.”

The flush left her face to be replaced by a big smile before she opened her eyes, and turned to Alex then pulled him down into an absolute scorcher of a kiss! Then she came over and did the same to me!

“Thank you both. I think I understand what Alex was trying and I know, now, that I don’t have to be the person my father wants me to be. I only hope I can keep telling myself that. Thank you, all of you.

“I know a lot of people hate school, but I’ve been hating the thought of what would come after much worse than I ever hated school itself. Someday I want to find a special person to love,” here she swept the room with her gaze, though I wondered if she lingered a little on me, “but what I really want right now is to find a way to become a graphic artist! I don’t know how I’ll be able to do anything about it living at home but I want to do it so I’ll have to find a way.”

“Jenny,” I said, “We can help you — all of us. We’re all going to be looking into which schools to attend so we’ll help you research where you’ll want to go at the same time. Hopefully we can find somewhere that will work for all of us, but I promise that Trish and I will figure out a way to be with you; and you can get all of your college stuff mailed to our place. I know that our parents won’t mind.”

“Oh, thank you! I don’t want to be a bother but I know my father would just throw any college stuff that came home straight in the trash.”

Trish picked her up in a hug, then swung her around a couple of times before saying, “Don’t worry about it! We’d do it for anyone, let alone one of our favorite people in the whole world.” Then she bent down and gave Jenny a serious kiss!

When she pulled back she kept looking at the shorter girl and said, “We love you. We really do. We want you to be as happy as you can possibly be. Never, ever hesitate to ask for our help. Okay?” She then leaned forward and kissed Jenny’s nose before releasing her.

Jenny reached up and ran her hand along Trish’s cheek before standing on tip toes to give her a light kiss on the lips, then wrapping her in a firm hug, all the while smiling a happy, contented little smile.

We all came up to them, then — to hug and kiss Jenny, and reassure her of our love.

After Trish had extricated herself we sat Jenny down and started to piece things together. All of the time the conversation was going on I was gently massaging her back — not trying to work on muscles, just being calm and gentle and reassuring.

When we’d covered all we could without more information she shook her head a bit and said, “I’m so glad you guys are my friends. I don’t deserve friends like you, but I’m glad I have them.”

Our sweet natured Felicia nearly took her head off!

“What the hell do you mean you don’t deserve friends like us? You’re as deserving as anyone, anywhere, of our friendship! Think about it, when you say you don’t deserve us, you’re just mouthing your father’s words — you’re not smart enough, you’re not good enough, hell, he’s probably told you you’re not pretty enough!