[.] Chapter Eleven [.]
{.. Kiery ..}
I watched Raven as she played with her fingers nervously, and silently wished we were somewhere else.
I was still taking in yesterday’s news, and somehow, I still didn’t believe it.
I turned to look at Mj as he jumped on the mini-trampoline while trying to balance the book on top of his head.
I shook my head. This little boy was going to break a limb.
“Mj, be careful.”
“I’m fine, mommy,” he answered, still jumping.
“You’re going to fall and break something.”
“No I’m not. I can do this.”
I gave him a look and shook my head, “well, when it happens, I don’t wanna hear it.”
He kept jumping and I turned around.
I was serious.
If he fell, he was going to stay there.
“So, did you ask Spec?” Raven asked, looking up at me.
“Yes, I did.” I answered.
“Well?”
I didn’t reply, just stared at her.
She sighed, “he doesn’t know much about him, does he?”
“No, he does,” I told her.
“Then tell me. What did he say?”
Again, I didn’t answer.
And I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that I didn’t want to tell her, or that I didn’t know how.
“Well, can I at least have a last name?” she asked getting annoyed.
“Smith,” I replied.
Now it was her turn to stare at me.
“What?”
I sighed, “his last name is Smith.”
“He’s related to Spectacular!” she asked, shocked.
“He’s his younger brother,” I answered.
“Oh my God.”
She opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped when the doctor walked in.
He placed his clipboard on his desk and sat in his chair, glancing over at Mj in the “activity corner.”
He looked at Raven and smiled. “There is nothing to worry about, Raven. You’re healthy and in good condition.”
“Really?” she asked, as if she didn’t believe him.
“Yes. You’re five months pregnant.”
“What?” I almost fell out of my chair when I heard the words. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” he said looking at me. “She’s due at the end of January.”
“What the hell have you been doing for five months, Raven?” I bellowed. This was unbelievable.
She was going to give birth in four months.
“I don’t know,” she replied honestly.
“How could you not even suspect? Isn’t it moving? Does it show?” I glanced at her, but she was still thin and always wore baggy clothes. So I could see nothing.
“I sort of thought I was just gaining weight, and I’ve had this enormous appetite.” And then she looked even more miserable. “It didn’t move until last week. And then I felt it. I thought maybe I had cancer and it was exploding inside me or something.”
I shook my head.
We were in the civilized world, in one of the most sophisticated cities in the country, and poor Raven thought she had a tumor. Talk about denial.
“I guess I can’t have an abortion, right?” she asked the doctor.
“Right. That’s completely out of the question. You’re too far along.” He looked over at me, then at her. “Do you know who the father is?”
“Yeah,” she hesitated.
“Does he know he’s going to be a father?” the doctor continued.
She looked bewildered as he finished the question, and turned to look at me.
“Not yet,” I answered for her.
She looked down into her hands and I felt sorry for her.
She could no longer get rid of it and not tell anyone like she wanted to.
She was too far along, and the problem was complicated now. It really required some serious thinking.
“Raven if you really don’t want to keep it, you can give it up. There are plenty of couples that can’t have children, and are looking to adopt.”
She just stared at him, looking numb. It was obvious she was trying to conceive what ‘it’ was.
They had offered to show it to her on a sonogram, and she refused to see it. She didn’t want to know it’s sex, or know anything about it.
She didn’t want ‘it’ to be there.
“Doctor Lance, is that all?” I asked. The tension in the room was awkward.
“Yes, it is,” he replied. He turned to Raven, “Do you have any questions?”
She nodded slightly, “Why did you take a blood test?”
“Well, not only are we required to take at least one blood test during your pregnancy, but it helps us to know your body a lot better. A blood test measures your hemoglobin, which is your full blood count, and that is a way of assessing the level of iron in your blood. If it is low, it indicates you could be anemic, and you may be offered iron tablets or other appropriate treatments. It also identifies your blood group. That is either A, B, O, or AB. It sees whether or not you are Rhesus positive or negative. If you are positive, no further action is needed. If you are negative, you are likely to require injections of a treatment called anti-D at different times during pregnancy. For instance, if you have some bleeding, and once after delivery. It also checks your levels of immunity to Rubella, which is German measles. Most women have been immunized, but if necessary, you can be offered immunization after the birth.”
“Does it check for, like, Aids and things like that?” she asked.
“Yes, it does. It also checks for syphilis and any other sexually acquired infections. If detected, they can seriously damage your health and that of your baby by causing developmental difficulties. It also checks for hepatitis B, which is a viral infection that causes liver disease and can be transmitted to your baby during or just after delivery. If you test positive, your baby will receive a complete course of a very effective vaccine after birth.”
“But, what if I have Aids or something?” she repeated.
I looked over at her because of how persistent she was being, and she looked at me, “I’m not saying I do, I just want to know.”
I brushed a few strands of hair behind my ear and looked at the doctor for an answer.
Her asking that question really brought home the idea that Aladiamond was a stranger to her.
“The blood test will let us know that. It checks for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, also known as HIV, and this is the virus that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, which is AIDS. If you are infected, you can pass HIV to your baby during pregnancy, childbirth, and also through breastfeeding. If your HIV result is positive, advice and treatment under the guidance of specialists will be offered. Such interventions include treatment with special drugs and advice about the best type of delivery and method of feeding your baby to reduce the chance of the baby also getting the infection.” He smiled knowingly at her, “don’t worry, Ms. Raven. I’m sure everything will be fine.”
She ran her hand through her hair and leaned back. “Is there anything else you need me to do?”
“Yes. I want you to come in twice a month to do a check up, and get your body ready for labor.”
She nodded.
“I also want you to avoid foods such as, unpasteurized milks, soft, ripened cheeses, ice-cream from soft whip machines, raw and undercooked eggs, liver and liver products, mayonnaise, and shark, marlin and swordfish. Tuna should be restricted to two medium cans, and only one fresh steak per week.”
She stared at him, “are you serious?”
“Very,” he answered.
She looked over at me and I nodded, motioning for her to do the same.
“Okay,” she nodded.
“Good, then I’ll see you in two weeks.”
I smiled at him and slung my Coach
handbag onto my shoulder. “Thanks for all your help.”
“No problem,” he smiled.
Raven shook his hand and forced a smile. She was really out of her element.
“Mj, baby, let’s go,” I spoke.
He got up from the ‘ABC’ rug that covered the “activity corner” and said goodbye to Doctor Lance, following us through the door.
I started the car after strapping Mj into his booster seat, and pulled out of the parking lot.
“We need to do some shopping, the house is in dire need of some food,” I spoke, mentally mapping out the route to the nearest supermarket.
“Thanks for letting me stay with you, Kiery,” she said, looking over at me.
“Come on, Raven, whether it be at my house or this house, you know that’s not a problem.”
“I know, it’s just … thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied.
There was silence for a while and she sighed.
“So, when do I have to go home?”
I stopped at a light, “whenever you’re ready. Even after you tell Mom and Dad, if you still want to, you can stay with me.”
She sucked her teeth and pushed her head back onto the head rest, sighing. “Oh my God. What am I going to do, Kiery? I’ll have to run away if I don’t tell Mom and Dad soon.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Well, I don’t know what else to do. I thought of running away all last week, but I wanted to talk to you first.”
Thank God.
“You can’t run away, Raven. You have to tell Mom and Dad.” I paused as I remembered how much more angry than my mother my father was when he found out about my pregnancy. “Well, at least one of them. If they really have a fit, or they throw you out, you can come and stay with me till you have it.”
I picked up speed again as the light turned to green, and looked over at her. I sighed as I suddenly thought about Spectacular, Aladiamond, their parents, my parents, and what their reaction was going to be.
After all, the end of January was -- in all logic -- around the corner. And they still had no clue.
This was beyond awful.