Ben was having the time of his life dating Charlene. They went out to all kinds of places. Charlene always had to pay though, because Ben never had money. He felt bad about that, so he started looking for a job. He wished he had applied for that opening as a cook at Bella Cucina while it was still open. Nothing else appealed to him that much. The only one he really hoped to get was a position as a food server at the UCSF Medical Center cafeteria. It started at three dollars an hour and came with benefits. He, along with a hundred other people, were going for that job. Luckily, he beat out all of them and was hired the week after he applied.
Romeo and Juliet was an unbelievable success. Spurred on by their relationship, which everyone in the school was talking about, the auditorium was packed on the night of the play. They got a standing ovation at the end. Afterward, Charlene’s parents put on a party at her house. That was the first time he met them. They seemed like nice people, though her dad liked to talk about his business a lot and her mother seemed a little anxious. For some strange reason, Charlene’s mother seemed really familiar, though Ben didn’t know why. Maybe he saw her somewhere recently, who knew? Even though Gennie said she was uppity, Ben didn’t think she was, at least not toward him. She just seemed nervous and distracted. She had been in and out of the hospital a lot in the last few months for some unknown reason, maybe she was still not feeling that well. She had made all the appetizers and as soon as Ben tasted one of them, he liked her instantly. She was the first person who he thought could cook better than him.
Whenever they were alone, they took the opportunity to kiss and pet each other. Usually, it turned into something more. The last time they made love, it was more than a year after they first started dating. Ben had his driver’s license and saved enough money to buy a used car, a nine-year-old gray Renault Dauphine. They went to the drive-in to see a double feature, The Art of Love and Tickle Me, the latest Elvis movie. They managed to have enough time during intermission to get the job done and not miss any part of the second movie, which Charlene really wanted to see.
Ben noticed when their senior year began, Charlene was too sick to go to school most of the time. Ben would stop by her house to comfort her. He assumed she would get better but she never did.
“You need to go to the doctor,” Ben told her the last weekend of September as he was visiting her in her bedroom. “I start work in about an hour, why don’t I take you to the emergency room so you can get checked out?”
“But…I don’t have any makeup on!”
“Nobody’s going to care about that,” Ben said, though he had to admit she did not look well at all. She had lost about ten pounds that month, her face had a grayish tinge to it and her hair was limp. She was shivering and sweating at the same time.
“You’re going to the hospital,” Ben said firmly.
“I’m not that bad,” Charlene replied. “I’ll get over this. Besides, I hate needles and doctors poking me. It’s just the flu. I’ve had it before and I came out of it fine.”
“I’m not going to argue with you. You’ve been sick for weeks. You’re going to go whether you like it or not.”
He put his arms under her and lifted her out of the bed. Surprisingly, Charlene didn’t fight him.
“But I look awful!” she cried weakly. “I can’t go out like this. What will people think?”
“They’ll think you’re sick. You’re not trying out for the Miss America pageant, you know. They’ll understand.”
He drove her to the hospital. Charlene was lying down in the back seat. Ben drove up to the emergency room entrance and carried her inside.
“I think I’ll be all right here,” Charlene said to Ben. She slumped over one of the waiting room chairs.
“Are you sure?” Ben replied.
“Go to work, Ben,” Charlene gasped. She was running out of energy quickly. “You don’t want to get into trouble.”
“Okay,” he said. He kissed Charlene on the forehead. “I’ll check in on you when my break comes up.”
“All right,” Charlene said. “See you later.”
Four hours later, Ben returned to the emergency room. Charlene wasn’t there.
He asked the receptionist where she was and she looked her name up in the hospital log.
“She was admitted,” she told him. “She’s in room two twenty-three.”
Ben went up to the second floor and found her room. Charlene was watching TV.
“What do you have?” Ben said.
“Pneumonia,” Charlene replied. “The doctor said that normally he would have given me antibiotics and sent me home but they admitted me because I was severely dehydrated. They’re running some more tests on me, just to make sure I don’t have anything else going on.”
“So you’re going to be okay?”
Charlene nodded. “I should be out in a couple of days.”
“Good,” Ben said. He kissed her on the lips. “Now aren’t you glad I forced you to leave the house without make-up on?”
“Yeah, I guess I am. I feel better already.”
“Not that it matters if you wear make-up or not, because you look just as beautiful without it.”
“Oh, thank you, Ben.”
Ben checked his watch. “I’ve got to get back to work, but I’ll see you again when I get off.”
While Ben was working, he made a special request to the cafeteria manager. He wanted to prepare and deliver Charlene’s meal personally. The manager said that it was all right, but no dilly-dallying. So, Ben made a turkey sub with milk and chocolate pudding for dessert and delivered it to Charlene. She was really happy to see him again. Already she had more color in her complexion than just a few hours before. After he got out of work, he bought a bouquet of roses from the gift shop in the hospital lobby and brought them to her.
“You know,” Charlene said, sniffing the roses. “I’ve seen more of you today than I usually see you at school all week.”
“You should get sick more often,” Ben replied.
“Johnny never bought me roses.”
“Well, Johnny sucks. You deserve better.”
“I have better.”
“Exactly.”
Charlene gave him a playful slap on the hand.
“So,” Ben said, “you only have pneumonia? Nothing else?”
“They’re not sure yet. They’re still waiting on the test results. They’re going to tell me in the morning.”
“Why do they think you have something else?”
“Well, I told them I haven’t had my period in a while. Also my breasts have been really sore and I think they’ve gotten bigger.”
“The bigger part is definitely good news.”
Charlene smiled. “They examined them and made me pee in a cup. They told me it’s probably nothing, but they just want to be sure.”
“Don’t worry too much about it,” Ben said. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Get your rest.”
“I will.”
The next day, he went to work at eight o’clock. He wanted to visit Charlene, but he waited because he didn’t want to wake her up. He was anxious about those test results. He hoped she didn’t have cancer or anything like that.
During his afternoon break, he went upstairs to visit her. The nurses told him not to go in the room; Charlene’s family was in there. Ben said he would wait until they left. For some odd reason, he had a lump in his throat and his stomach was in knots. Something wasn’t right. Everything was too quiet.
Then Charlene’s parents left the room, along with Foster. It didn’t look good. Addie had tears in her eyes. Both Loren and Foster were frowning deeply and their eyes were hard with anger.
Ben approached them and tried to sound casual.
“Hi, everybody.”
They didn’t respond, except for staring at him as if he were the epitome of all evil.
“Uh…how is Charlene doing?”
Foster approached him. At first, h
e looked like he was about to speak but didn’t. Then without any warning, he grabbed Ben by his shirt and slammed him against the wall.
“You son of a bitch!” Foster spat out. “What did you do to my sister?”
“Nothing, I swear.”
“Then why the hell is she pregnant?”
“I…I don’t know!”
“Foster…” Addie said, sobbing uncontrollably, “Let go of him.”
Foster gave him a hard shove and backed away.
Ben had to struggle to get the words out. “I’m really sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Conrad. I didn’t know this was going to happen.”
Foster was about to punch him, when Loren grabbed his arm.
“I don’t want to see you around Charlene ever again. Do you understand?”
“But…what if we get married?”
“I’m sorry, but I won’t allow that. We have other plans for her, after we take care of this problem.”
“Other plans? She’s seventeen, shouldn’t she have a say in this? I know she loves me.”
“Ben, you don’t understand. I want the best for my daughter and I’m sorry to say this, but you’re not it.”
“So, you think I’m a scumbag, right?” Ben could feel the heat rising in his face.
Addie put her head in her hands and wailed loudly.
“Yes, you are!” Foster shouted.
“Will you shut your stupid trap and let me handle this?” Loren said. “I never said that. I’m sure you’re a fine young man, just not for our Charlene. Look, why don’t you just forget all about this? Go and find yourself another girl. Look, I’ll even pay you--“
“I don’t want your money!” Ben yelled.
“I’m trying to be civil here, but you’re not making it easy. Now please leave before we have to call the cops.”
“Do what he says,” Addie sobbed. “That’s the best thing for all of us.”
“You can’t keep Charlene away from me,” Ben said. “We’re almost adults now and I don’t care what all of you think. One way or another, we’re going to get married.”
He turned around and walked away.
“You’re going to pay for this,” Foster shouted behind him. “I hope you burn in hell.”
Ben looked back briefly and turned away. There was no way he’d be able to finish work now. He decided to head home early.
Chapter 28: September 26
What They Left Behind Page 27