Windy Valley Secondary – Trials of the Young and Restless

by Shane Connell 05.SEPT.08

What will Susan do – she knows Miriam is Sharpie’s girl

Susan quietly closed her bedroom door. She was anxious about the new school year which would start in a few days time.

Like many teenagers her age, this would be the year when she would be sitting her CXCs. That is, assuming the teachers at school would allow her to sit the exams.{{more}}

In the corner of her room, a pile of clothes was neatly folded. She riffled through the stack and pulled out her school uniform. A dark grey pleated skirt and a crisp white shirt. As she held them up, she reflected on how she had a great time last year with her school friends Ras and Miriam.

The name Miriam immediately changed her mood. That bitch, she thought, taking my boyfriend behind my back, how could she do such a thing knowing that I’m pregnant for Sharpie?

Susan fantasized about giving Miriam a hard slap in the face, but where was Miriam? Her parents had reported her missing in the newspaper. She’s hiding from me – Susan thought – serves her right, for all I care, she could be dead. Susan knew it was not a nice thing to think, but she couldn’t help how she was feeling.

Susan rubbed her bump and froze when she felt a movement. She smiled to herself. The happiness was short-lived when she looked at her school uniform. She so much wanted to finish her education. The question is, would they allow her to take her CXC’s? And could she actually fit into the uniform? The clothes had to fit, she didn’t have any money to buy a new one.

Susan inhaled deeply, then tried on the skirt with the elastic waist. It was tight. Now she needed to try on the shirt. There was no denying that last year, Susan’s breasts were as flat as pancakes. Now, along with her belly, they, too, had swollen. She could only fasten the first button; the rest couldn’t even reach the buttonhole. She needed to hide her belly, she didn’t want everyone knowing, especially her mother.

Susan feared her mother; she had done well to keep it hidden from her and the family. All she needed to do was keep the secret a little longer. There would be times when Susan would picture how her mother would behave if she knew. Susan would picture her mother’s face, angry. The heavy frame of her mother’s body hunched over ready to pounce, like a savage wild dog. She imagined telling her mother about her pregnancy, about being dumped by Sharpie – then she would hear the deafening vicious words darting towards her, closely followed by the heavy fist raining blows on her body. All this not because she was ruining her chances at school – her mother’s anger would be because she wouldn’t be getting any more money from Sharpie.

“The Money” thought Susan. It had dawned on Susan that she still had the money that Sharpie had given to her to get rid of the baby. Susan pondered for a while, she realised that she had become most things, but being a murderer wasn’t one of them. She had decided that she was not going to take the life of her baby. And no way was she going to give the money back to Sharpie. No, the money will be put to better use, like buying her a large enough shirt to hide her growing belly, new school shoes and books. “Having a baby shouldn’t stop me from being ambitious”, she defiantly thought to herself. Susan had always wanted to work in one of the banks, if not find a job abroad. “Yes, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll get a job – look after myself and my baby”.

“Susan!”

Her thoughts were violently interrupted by her mother’s shout.

“Ah wey she dey?”

Susan scrambled to take off the tight school shirt. She spun around and found a dress in the corner on the floor. This should hide my bump, she thought.

“Susan!”

But it was too late; her mother had entered her bedroom before she could put on the dress. The dropped jaw and her mother’s wide eyes all signalled that Susan’s secret had been discovered.

“Susan, you pregnant?” her mother said aghast.

The Windy Valley Secondary series is fictional. Any resemblance to real events, places or persons living or dead, is purely coincidental.