Storm

1954…

Ruth

I looked at myself in the mirror. Staring back at me was the face of a young woman, properly dressed and everything a young lady should be. The black dress that I wore hid my secret though. I was pregnant. Wallace, my beau, and I had started sleeping together one night a little over three months ago. We thought we were being safe, but that first time was more frantic fumbling than anything. I had sinned and gone against everything my parents had taught me. But being bad felt right with him.

Wallace and I were together several times a week, whenever he could get away from work at the garage by a decent hour. When he started working longer hours, I started sneaking out of the house to be with him. We met up wherever we could, parking at the overlook of the lake or meeting under the old oak tree at the end of the road I lived on. We just couldn’t stay away from each other. Then I found out I was pregnant and it changed everything. I wouldn’t be able to hide it very much longer.

When I told him I was pregnant, he was thrilled, promising to buy me a ring and make an honest woman of me. He had saved up enough money to rent a little place for us. It wasn’t much, but to me it was home. I would be with him and that was all that mattered. Tonight, he was coming over to ask my dad for permission to marry me. It was too late for a shotgun wedding. Everyone would know what happened when I delivered my baby months earlier than expected. But I didn’t care. However, my parents would be furious. Still, I was determined to stand my ground and take control of my life.

I took a deep breath and headed downstairs. Just as I stepped onto the bottom step the doorbell rang. I smiled as Wallace made his way inside, shaking hands with my father. They seemed to get along well enough, so I was pretty sure that we could make it out of this relatively unscathed. Wallace walked over to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“You look beautiful,” he said with a smile. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he whispered. “We could always just run away.”

“No, I won’t do that to my family. They deserve to know the truth. I’m sure it’ll be fine. When my father sees that you have a ring and you have every intention of taking care of me, he’ll have no choice but to accept this.”

“If you’re sure,” he said warily.

I smiled up at him, needing him to believe like I did. He gripped my hand and walked into the living room where my parents were sitting. My father immediately eyed Wallace’s hand in mine. My father felt it was disrespectful to hold hands, so we never did. Now that we were, he straightened in his seat, setting his paper aside as he puffed on his pipe.

“Sir,” Wallace stepped forward, dropping my hand as he approached my father. “I’ve come to ask for your permission for your daughter’s hand in marriage.”

My father smiled as much as he ever did, which wasn’t very much, and stood, puffing out his chest like the proudest man on the planet. “And how will you take care of her?”

“I was recently promoted at my job. I’m now officially a mechanic at the garage. The owner has agreed to rent us the space above the garage. I know it’s not much, but I’ll save every penny to give your daughter the life she deserves. You’ll never meet another man that will love her as much as I do.”

“And being a mechanic is all you plan to achieve?”

“No, sir. I would like to learn as much as I can and eventually buy the garage from Mr. Wilson. I’ve already talked things through with him and we have a plan in place. He would like to retire in five years. In that time, he’ll teach me everything I need to know.”

My father raised his eyebrows in surprise and held out his hand. “Well, it sounds like you’ve thought this through. As long as you do as you say, I’d be proud to call you Son.”

“Thank you, sir.”

He shook his head and I walked forward, stepping into his hold. “Father, we’d like to get married next month.”

“That’s absurd,” my mother said, finally getting up from her seat and coming over to hold my hand. “We need to plan a big wedding. Your father will want to invite people from the firm and then we’ll have to plan the reception and set a date for the church. Not to mention that we have to find you a wedding dress,” she smiled. “We could find you a beautiful one, like Elizabeth Taylor wore in Father of the Bride. You’ll look so beautiful.”

“There’s something I need to tell you,” I said, taking a step closer to Wallace. “I’m going to have a baby.”

My mother’s face dropped in shock and my father’s face turned a mottled red.

“How dare you come into my house and ask for her hand after you defiled her,” my father shouted.

“Father, he didn’t-”

“Shut your mouth. I never thought my daughter would become the town tramp,” he shouted. I flinched back in shock. I had never seen my father so angry before. It’s not that I thought he would be happy, but I never expected him to call me names.

“Sir, I love your daughter and our child will never go without. I will take care of them-”

“Like you took care of her? You should have controlled your urges. Even if you get married, there’s not a single person in this town who won’t look at her like the whore you’ve made her.”

“She’s not a whore,” Wallace said, anger building in his gaze. I should have listened to him. I should have run away with him. There was so much tension in the air, I knew now that this would end badly.

“Let’s just go,” I said to Wallace, jerking on his arm. I needed to get him out of here.

“No, I won’t run away like a coward.”

“Wallace,” I pleaded.

“Get out,” my father yelled. “Get out of my house right this minute or I’ll have you arrested.”

Wallace turned to me, pulling me with him into the hallway. “Pack a bag. I’ll come for you in the morning. I’ll be waiting at the end of your driveway. Be ready.”

“I will,” I whispered to him. He kissed me and then with one last look at my father, he left the house. I turned to my father, tears in my eyes, “He loves me. This is just as much my fault as his. But we’re going to be married and we’ll raise this child with love, no matter what anyone says.”

“I won’t have my daughter be known as the town whore,” he spat at me. “You’ll get rid of that abomination inside you as soon as possible.”

I covered my belly with my hands, tears leaking from my eyes. “Mother, please,” I pleaded. But she just pursed her lips and dropped her eyes.

I ran upstairs, throwing my suitcase on the bed and packing whatever I could fit. We would get married right away, no matter what my parents said. When I was finished packing, I slumped down on my bed and looked around the room I had grown up in. It wasn’t right. My parents were supposed to accept this child and love it.

I dozed off, but in the early hours of the morning, a racket downstairs woke me. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I opened my bedroom door and slipped downstairs quietly.

“She’s pregnant,” my father said. “The story we’ll give is that she was raped and now she’s gone crazy from the trauma of it all. You’ll take her to your facility where she can rest and recover. The baby will go stay with my brother once born.”

“And your daughter?”

“We’ll see how amenable she is at the time,” my father said in a tone I rarely heard him use.

“And the boy?”

My heart beat wildly as I waited to hear what he would say. “I’ve already contacted the police. He should be arrested within the hour.”

“With your account of what’s happened, I’m sure he’ll be in prison for a long time.”

“No!” I said, running out from my hiding space. “You can’t do this. I refuse to let you take my child from me.”

“You don’t have a choice,” my father said, barely glancing in my direction. The doctor with whom he was speaking stepped forward.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be. Come with me and we’ll make sure you’re comfortable at your new home until the child is born.”

“No, I’ll never go with you,” I screamed. I turned and ran for the stairs, but arms wrapped around me. I struggled, fighting to get away, but then something pricked my skin and everything started to turn fuzzy.

“Trust me, it’s better this way,” the man said just as I drifted off into a land of swirls and confusion.