by Lisa Grace
Farrah’s face crumples and she starts to cry. “I’m so sorry baby, I’m so sorry.” She holds onto Mandy and rocks her back and forth, saying as if it’s a mantra, “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I‘m so sorry.”
It’s such a personal moment, I’m afraid to remind anybody I’m here. I just lie back down.
It’s almost like Mandy is the one comforting her mother. She starts soothing Farrah by saying, “It’s okay Mom, it’s okay, don’t cry.”
I slowly get up and move into Mandy’s bedroom to give them some privacy. After awhile I fall asleep. I didn’t think I could, but when I open my eyes, it’s morning.
CHAPTER 10 - DECISION TIME
In the morning I go out to the kitchen and start a pot of coffee. Mandy and I have been friends for so long, I know where everything is. I wake Mandy up to remind her we have to leave to go to my house and then school.
Mandy comes into the kitchen. “I’m going to call in sick today.”
“Why?” I ask. I pour myself a cup of coffee and sit down at the table.
“I’m going to call the clinic and schedule an abortion as soon as they open.”
“Mandy, don’t! You told me you know it’s wrong. You can’t.” I say shocked.
“Come on, you saw my mom’s reaction last night. I can’t take care of her and a baby!”
“Mandy please! Let’s talk to my pastor. There are groups out there that help girls. Please let’s talk to one of them first,” I beg.
She shakes her head, “No, Alex was right. The less people who know the better.” Mandy starts to pour a cup of coffee then stops. She lets out a laugh, and starts to pour again. Mandy turns to me, “I almost stopped pouring the coffee because I thought it’s bad for the baby.” She starts to cry.
I go up and hug her. “Mandy you could keep the baby or you could put the baby up for adoption. I’ve heard you can even pick out the adoptive family if you want. I’ve heard that some of the families will even send you pictures as your child grows up. Please let’s go talk to someone.”
“No, I know what I have to do,” Mandy dries her tears, picks up the phone, and dials.
I can’t believe anyone would be there this early. I pray they are not open yet.
Mandy says, “Hello, I would like to schedule an appointment for today. As soon as possible. Where exactly are you?” She writes down an address. “Ten o’clock, that will be fine. Thank you.”
She hangs up and looks at me. “There. It’s done. I’m going to drive over to Alex’s house now to get his credit card to pay for it. I’m going to leave now before I change my mind. Alex will drop me off at the clinic. I’ll call him when it’s over and he can give me a ride home. By Monday, we can pretend this never happened and things can go back to normal. Don’t make a big deal out of this Megan.” Mandy gets up. “I have to get changed.” Mandy goes to get ready.
I just sit in shock. I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe how easy it is to get an abortion. I can see Mandy changing already in front of my eyes.
I look at the name and address of the clinic. Crisis Pregnancy Center, 5300 Hwy. 19 N.
I don’t know what to do. I can’t go to school. I’m too upset. I don’t know who I can talk to that could change Mandy’s mind. Please God give me a way, show me a way to save her baby. I know if Mandy goes through with this, she’ll be changed forever. She can’t even watch nature shows without crying everytime some animal dies.
I hear Mandy in the shower. I can’t move for fear that I’m going to throw up. I’m afraid to wake Farrah because I think she’ll be all for Mandy getting an abortion. I get on the phone and call information for my pastor’s number. It’s early and he doesn’t pick up. Maybe he’s in the shower. I leave a quick message asking him to pray for Mandy and what she plans to do.
When Mandy comes out, I tell her, “I’m coming with you.”
“No, you’re not. This is between Alex and me,” she looks at me blankly, all emotion gone. “Nothing you can say will change my mind. Please don’t judge me until you’ve walked in my shoes.”
I feel this is my last chance to get through to her, the horror of what she’s about to do. “Mandy, I’m not judging. It’s just my heart is so sad for you and the baby.” Tears start running down my face.
“You, Mom, Alex, and I are the only ones who know. Let’s keep it that way? Okay?” Mandy picks up her car keys and heads out the door. I hear her drive away. I’ve never seen her so empty, so hopeless.
I sit there in shocked silence and begin to pray. About an hour later, I hear Farrah getting up and getting ready. I hear the shower running, then the blow dryer, followed by her humming while she puts on her makeup and curls her hair. It takes her forever. She comes into the kitchen looking beautiful as always.
“Hi Megan, where’s Mandy? Is she still sleeping?” Farrah pours herself a cup of coffee. “Can you go wake her? I really need to talk to her.”
I look at her and say, “She’s left.”
“Left? She went to school without you? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“No.” I say sounding defeated almost in tears. “She went to Alex’s house to pick up his credit card and then he’s driving her to the clinic to get an abortion.” I start to cry.
Farrah drops her mug and hot coffee explodes everywhere in the tiny kitchen. Some of it lands on my jeans, but I don’t care.
“No! This can’t be happening. Do you know where she went? Tell me where she went!” Farrah steps on pieces of the broken mug with her bare feet to get to me. She’s in a panic and she doesn’t notice she’s getting cut up.
“It’s a clinic off of highway nineteen. She has an appointment at ten o’clock.” We look at the clock it’s ten minutes after ten.
“Get in the car,” Farrah says as she puts flip-flops on her bleeding feet. “Oh please God. I hope we’re not too late,” The way she says it, it almost sounds like a prayer.
We get in the car and start to drive. We are only about ten minutes away.
Farrah keeps saying over and over, “Please God don’t let us be too late.”
I pray the same thing with her, silently.
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We arrive at the clinic. Above the door it says, “Crisis Pregnancy Center.” I’m afraid to go in; I’m afraid of what it will smell like. I remember the sickly sweet scent of the dead frogs soaked in formaldehyde in science class. That’s what my brain tells me I’m going to smell. The coffee I drank on an empty stomach fights to come back up. Farrah opens the door and pushes me inside. I’m afraid to breathe. I almost pass out as I walk in.
The lady at the reception desk gives us a warm smile and hands us an intake form. “Here fill this out. Are you here for a pregnancy test?” She smiles at me. I take a breath. It smells nice, like lavender.
“We’re here for Mandy, my daughter. She had a ten o’clock appointment. Is she back there somewhere? I have to see her,” Farrah tries to smile. It looks more like a grimace.
The counselor smiles at her and motions her to sit down, “Our clients have a right to privacy. We can’t give that information out.”
Farrah looks shocked, “But I’m her mother—and she’s underage!”
“She still has the right to privacy. I’m sorry, but it’s the law,” the counselor says.
Farrah gets up and pushes her way past the counselor, heading to the door that leads toward the back. She yells at the top of her lungs, “Mandy! Mandy, it’s your Mom. You answer me now! Mandy where are you? Mandy please don’t get an abortion. Sweetheart, please answer me! I’m here, Mandy please, Mommy’s here!”
Farrah sounds frantic as she continues down the hall. A door, three doors down from where we are standing, opens and there is Mandy, standing in the doorway. Farrah runs to her, encircles her in a big hug, crying, “Oh baby, it’s okay. Please, oh please, don’t do it. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Don’t kill your baby. I don‘t want you to suffer the way I have all these years. Don’t kill your baby like I did.” Farrah sobs.
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The counselor comes out and puts her hand on Farrah’s shoulder, “It’s okay, God forgives you. You don’t have to live with the guilt anymore.”
The counselor takes them both into the room and shuts the door. I hear both Farrah and Mandy crying their hearts out.
The counselor we pushed past gently taps me on the shoulder and gestures for me to go out to the main waiting room. It’s then that I notice for the first time, the pictures of the baby fetuses on the wall. They’re framed showing the different stages of development. I also notice the scriptures from the Bible. “I knit you together in your mother’s womb.” “I knew you before you were born.” “You are fearfully and wonderfully made.”
I turn to the counselor, “You’re not an abortion clinic are you?”
She smiles, “No. We’re not.”
“But I don’t get it, my friend called for an abortion clinic and they gave your number.”
She smiles again, “It’s not the first time this has happened. God does work in mysterious ways.”
I sit out front and notice all the literature on the table; it’s in English and Spanish. The pamphlets are all about STDs, pregnancies, marriage, abstinence, parenting skills, life skills, how to get your GED, how to finish high school, internet college classes, job training, and adoption.
“My name is Amy. I’m a volunteer counselor here.”
“I’m Megan.”
The counselor looks at me and asks, “Is that your mom and sister back there?”
“No. That’s my best friend and her mom. I hope you can talk her out of getting an abortion.”
Amy smiles, “We do more than just that. We don’t want Mandy to have the baby and then abandon her to have even more problems than she has now. We’ll see Mandy through her whole pregnancy, get her into a good Bible-based church which will ‘adopt’ her and show Mandy unconditional love. This way, even if she doesn’t have a supportive family she can have a church family. We’ll help Mandy finish her education, get a career, or apply to colleges, get grants, and qualify her for government programs that help young women just like her. If she chooses to put the baby up for adoption, we will help Mandy find a loving family to take the baby. If she chooses to keep her baby, we offer parenting classes and life skill classes. We can get her job training or apprenticeships, and direct her to good daycare programs. The choices are endless. Our door is always open.”
Amy points to a wall. It’s covered with pictures of babies and toddlers. “These are the babies we’ve helped. Each one represents a mother we’ve helped too.”
“If your friend decides to go through with her abortion, we offer after-care counseling. Many women who make that decision find they can’t live with it and turn later in life to alcohol or drugs. We offer counseling to help them get over the guilt.”
“I had no idea you guys we’re even here.”
Amy nods her head, “We don’t get any government funding, unlike Planned Parenthood or other programs that offer abortion or birth control. Mostly we’re run by volunteers and supported by groups of churches.”
“Would you like to pray for your friend?”
“Yes, I would,” we clasp hands and Amy guides us in a prayer asking God to touch Mandy’s heart and give her peace.
I feel at peace. I’ve done everything that I can. The rest is up to God. If Mandy decides to carry her baby to term, I’ll be here for her. I hope that’s the choice she makes. I know the next nine months will be hard for her and she’ll need me as a friend.
My phone rings. The screen says private. I don’t want to answer fearful of hearing Jude’s taunting again, but I do, just in case it’s Johnny.
“Hi Megan,” I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s Johnny.
“I think everything’s going to be okay with Mandy and her mom,” I say. I feel hopeful.
“Say a prayer though for your little brother.”
“My brother, what do you mean?” I ask. Oh, no, what has Judas done? My heart so at peace just a minute ago, starts to sink.
“Stay there; I’m coming to pick you up,” Johnny says.
Suddenly my mom is on the phone, I can hear the panic in her voice. “Honey, Max didn’t make it to school this morning. He’s missing,” my heart drops.
I remember Judas’ threatening call last night, the one about hide and seek. There’s no doubt in my mind Judas has taken my little brother. Johnny knows it too. I hope he has some ideas of where Judas has taken him, places where we can look.
“Mom, Johnny’s on his way to pick me up. Don’t worry, we’ll find him.” I try to sound confident.
I hear something in her voice I’ve never heard before—panic, “The police won’t put out an Amber Alert for him for a couple of hours because they think maybe he’s just skipping school. They think he’ll come home on his own.” I can tell she is terrified by the waver in her voice.
“Don’t worry Mom, we’ll find him. He’s a smart kid. I’m sure he’ll show up soon.” I don’t believe it for one minute. Judas’ deadly game is on, this time with my own brother. It’s my turn to seek. I have to find my little brother, before it’s too late.
THE END
To continue the story order you can purchase Angel in the Storm, Book 2 and Angel in the Ice, Book 3 at all major retailers. The Angel Series has been optioned for a movie. Join https://www.lisagracebooks.com to become an “angel friend” (by supplying your email address for updates and new book releases) and get news on the release of books Angel in the Fire, Book 4 and Angel in the Light, Book 5 in the Angel Series.
You can email me at [email protected] you can also find a Lisa Grace Books page on Facebook, Pintrest, Goodreads, etc…
My twitter address is: https://www.twitter.com/lisagracebooks
I would appreciate if you can take the time to leave a review at any major retailer if you enjoyed reading Angel in the Shadows. Sales are totally driven by reader word-of-mouth. You, the reader, are my advertising campaign.
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For a wonderful Bible study guide I recommend Rabbi Jeff Zaremsky’s Jewish Heritage Scripture Studies. Visit https://www.jewishheritage.net for more information.
For a change of pace, if you enjoy historical mystery thrillers, look for The 15th Star. First readers describe it as National Treasure meets 1776.
In the cookbook Novel Morsels by Nicole O’Dell, You will find two original recipes inspired by the angel series, Tempting Tacos and Heavenly Pizzas.
For Sci-Fi lovers, I just released 30 Minutes of Flash Fiction by Lisa Grace & Jarrod Nelson.
After the Angel series, I will start working on the exciting supernatural series:
Society of the D. E. A. D. and Feudal Land.
Thank you reader for choosing to spend your time with the Angel Series.
May the LORD bless you and keep you, and cause His face to shine down upon you and be gracious unto you. May the LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace. Numbers 6:24
Lisa Grace
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Acknowledgements
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Dedication
Thank you to Margarette and Ray Nelson, the best parents in the world and my first beta readers. They have been the biggest cheerleaders and Dad, an honest critic. I love you both. A special thank you to my wonderful husband, Todd, who worked as my first editor and darling daughter Cammy, who laughed at all the right places. I love you more than words can say. Thank you to Glenn and Elaine Quasius my loving in-laws for being loads of fun and to Glenn for the latest update on birth control information.
And of course, the best for last, thank you to my Savior, Yeshua (Jesus).