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Forbidden Son

Page 11

by Loretta C. Rogers


  “Go ahead, sip it. Guaranteed to settle your stomach.”

  Tess placed a poached egg on a plate and slathered a slice of toast with butter and homemade strawberry jam.

  “If it does, I want two eggs and two slices of toast.” Honey Belle sat down with the cup of tea and watched her aunt break an egg and gingerly slide it from the shell into a pot of boiling water.

  It was just the two of them—and with baby, soon to be three. Honey Belle sipped her tea and wondered what the future held for her.

  Her insides shook, and she felt cold and clammy as a wave of nausea swept through her again. Tess touched her arm. “Why don’t you go back to bed?”

  Honey Belle set the cup on the counter. She didn’t argue.

  ****

  That afternoon, Honey Belle pushed through the glass doors of the local vocational school. The queasiness in her stomach had nothing to do with morning sickness. Just a case of old-fashioned nerves, she told herself.

  Doubt tugged at her as she walked down the carpeted corridor looking for classroom 4A. In the three years since she’d quit high school, she’d done nothing to better her education. Once, English had been her best subject. What if she didn’t remember a noun from a verb, what if she couldn’t write a proper sentence? What if she made a complete idiot of herself in front of the entire class? And then there was algebra. Math had always challenged her.

  A war of words flittered inside her head. I can’t do this. Only cowards run away. Coward…coward…coward. Okay, then I’m a coward. I still can’t do this. She turned to leave the way she’d come, and someone said, “You look lost. May I help you?”

  Honey Belle gave a resigned sigh. “I…umm…sure. I’m looking for Mrs. Keller. Room 4A.”

  Honey Belle towered over the diminutive, delicate woman with short gray hair curling around her face. She wore tan slacks with a matching tan cardigan. Her brown eyes twinkled when she smiled. “I’m Kathy Keller. My room is at the end of the hall. Follow me, Miss—”

  “H.B. Garrett.”

  The woman glanced down at the clipboard in her hand. “Garrett, H.B. Oh, yes, here you are.” She made a motion for Honey Belle to follow. “How far along are you?”

  Honey Belle misunderstood the question. Heat raced up her neck to flush her cheeks. “Today is my first day. I-I quit school when I was sixteen. I’ll work hard to get my GED. I’d really like to begin college in the fall.”

  “I have every confidence you’ll do well, H.B., but I was referring to your pregnancy. When is your due date?”

  Honey Belle flushed. She placed the notebook she carried in front of her belly as if to hide it. “Why, are pregnant students not allowed to take classes?”

  A warm glint lit the teacher’s face. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Anyone who passes the entrance exam may attend. My concern is whether you’ll complete course requirements before graduation.”

  “Oh, sorry. Between morning sickness and hormones, I get a little snappy sometimes. I’m due the end of May.”

  Mrs. Keller pursed her lips and blew out a low whistle. “Graduation is the middle of May. Let’s hope baby doesn’t decide to arrive early.”

  “Come hell or high water, Mrs. Keller, I’ll graduate. You’ll see.” Then, with a stab of guilt, she added, “Sorry, didn’t mean to cuss.”

  Mrs. Keller rewarded her with a smile. “Since you’re the first to arrive, you have your choice of desks.”

  Honey Belle listened to Mrs. Keller as she greeted other new arrivals. A charge of excitement filled her as she picked her way toward the front of the classroom. After sliding into a desk, she bent her head and whispered, “We’ll do this together, baby. You’ll never have reason to be ashamed of your mama. I promise.”

  She opened the notebook and removed paper and pencil. She was ready when Mrs. Keller stood in front of the room and said, “Welcome, class. Open your English books to page…″

  ****

  All afternoon a storm had been building. The sky took on an ominous gray, and thunder sounded closer. A few scattered drops of icy rain struck the sidewalk. Honey Belle shivered against the chill. She tucked the blue canvas notebook and the English textbook beneath her zippered jacket to keep them from getting wet. Rain in January meant Valdosta was in for an exceptionally cold winter. She wished she had a pair of gloves to keep her hands warm, as she bent her head against the wind. Two miles to Aunt Tess’s house wasn’t far to walk. After all, she’d easily done the distance to Barrington Place to meet Tripp. But only on warm sultry days and nights.

  Relief settled over her when a car horn beeped and a little yellow Volkswagen Beetle pulled alongside her. By now, the rain was falling in earnest. Dampness had plastered Honey Belle’s hair to her head. She blinked to clear droplets of water from her eyelashes.

  Her aunt shouted through the open door, “Get in, you’re soaked.”

  Honey Belle scooted inside the car’s warm interior and slammed the door against the downpour. She spoke through chattering teeth. “Geez, am I glad to see you.”

  “You are as bullheaded as your mama. Why didn’t you just wait at the school? Didn’t common sense tell you I’d come for you? Didn’t you even think about catching your death and endangering the life of your baby?”

  Tess’s angry questions swirled inside Honey Belle’s head like a volley of rifle fire. “Stop shouting, Aunt Tess, you’re right on all counts. I didn’t think.”

  Tess maneuvered the little car down the street. In minutes she pulled up the driveway to her house and parked under the carport. She said heavily, “I’ll make dinner while you change into dry clothes.”

  Honey Belle felt the weight of responsibility as she entered the back porch. She kicked off her wet sneakers and removed her jacket to hang it across the clothesline Tess kept for drying nylon pantyhose. Gathering her schoolbooks, she followed her aunt into the warm and inviting kitchen. “Aunt Tess—” Honey Belle’s face crumpled into a mass of emotional tears.

  Tess opened her arms and Honey Belle walked into them, cherishing a moment she’d never shared with her own mother. “You must think I’m the stupidest person in the whole world.”

  Tess’s voice was quiet. “Far from it, sweetie. Forgive me for overreacting.”

  “After I shower and change into something comfortable, I’ll come down and help with supper.”

  “You’ve had a long day. Maybe you should lie down and rest. Later, you can tell me about your classes.”

  The storm struck overhead, and wind rattled the windows, closing out the rest of the world.

  ****

  Two hours later, Honey Belle helped her aunt load the last dish in the dishwasher. “Aunt Tess, do babies come on time?”

  “Give or take three weeks. It depends on how closely you calculated the date you conceived. Do you think you miscalculated?”

  “Not really. My English instructor, Mrs. Keller, is concerned I might deliver before graduation. If that happens, I won’t get my GED because I’ll miss the final exams.”

  Tess dried her hands on a dishtowel. She filled the teapot with freshly brewed hot tea while Honey Belle set two cups on a tray along with a plate of homemade rice crispy squares.

  Tess laughed. “Babies set their own time schedules, Honey Belle. All you can do is hope your little one won’t be anxious to leave the nest.”

  Honey Belle followed Tess to the den. She set the tray on the coffee table in front of the fireplace, then nestled on the sofa, wedging herself comfortably against its overstuffed arm. She tucked a hand-crocheted afghan around her feet, and accepted the cup of tea handed to her.

  She was the first to break the silence. “Aunt Tess,” Honey Belle spoke over a clamoring heart.

  “Hmm-uh?”

  “Last night you shared with me a very painful part of your life. I think it’s only fair that I tell you about my baby’s father and why I don’t want him in our lives.” She held up a hand to quell the questions she saw building in Tess’s eyes. “Mind you, I won’t
name names. When I finish, I think you’ll understand why.” Honey Belle set the cup aside and clenched her hands together.

  Tess peered over the rim of her teacup. “I’m listening.”

  Honey Belle sucked in a large breath and exhaled slowly. “Okay, here goes. It all began this past May, on my nineteenth birthday, when a handsome young man driving a white BMW convertible drove up to the service window at the Burger Bin, where I worked—”

  She spent the next hour explaining how she’d fabricated lies about where she lived. “He comes from an extremely wealthy family. There was no way I could ever let him know where I lived. I couldn’t even begin to think about bringing him to the house, and I’m ashamed to say I didn’t want him to meet Mama.”

  Honey Belle went on to describe the fancy restaurants and the romantic walks on the beach. “I didn’t mean to fall in love. I knew I was playing with fire. Somehow it just happened.”

  She told about the night he’d asked her to marry him, and the plans they’d made to move close to the university he would attend. “It was a beautiful moonlit night, and when he proposed, it was the happiest moment of my entire life. He actually got down on his knees, right there in the sand.”

  She included details about deceiving him into thinking she also planned to attend college. And she fumbled with embarrassment when she simply stated, “I never intended to have sex, much less unprotected sex. I don’t know what else to say other than…it happened.”

  She gave her aunt a quick look. Tess’s eyebrows went up, yet she remained silent. She stared at Tess, searching for a hint of recrimination. When there was none, Honey Belle continued.

  She explained about the photographs that had been used to blackmail her into fleeing South Carolina. “His father is a powerful criminal court judge, Aunt Tess. I took the money he gave me, and that’s when I called you. Except for naming names, you know the rest, because I’m here.”

  Tess looked at her. “If you tell me the names, I promise I’ll never breathe a word.”

  Honey Belle licked her lips. Though the thought of saying Tripp’s name pattered her heart, revealing the Judge’s identity horrified her. “His father said if I was pregnant I should get rid of ‘it.’ He said he didn’t want a bastard sullying their family’s good name. He called me a whore. Believe me, I know this man’s reputation.” Honey Belle snapped her fingers to make a point. “Poof, just like that, he can ruin people’s lives—make them disappear.

  “Oh, no, Aunt Tess, the daddy of my baby will never know he exists because I’m afraid of what his father will do to my child if he finds out I didn’t get an abortion.”

  With her heart racing and bile rising in her throat, it seemed to Honey Belle the room had suddenly grown cold. She pulled the afghan closer to her body to ward off the chill that threatened to set her teeth to chattering.

  Tess blinked. “Merciful heavens, child, that judge sounds like a despicable man. I fully understand now why you wish to keep the names secret. I’m wondering, though, what you will do when your baby gets old enough to ask about its father?”

  Biting her lip, Honey Belle considered the question. It was a fair one—one she didn’t know how to answer. “I don’t know, only that I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

  “Honey Belle has there ever been any question in your mind about not keeping this baby?”

  “What do you mean, not keeping it?”

  “You’re young, single, an entire life ahead of you. There are families who’d love to adopt a child.”

  Honey Belle’s stomach filled with butterflies. She responded in a low, unshakeable voice. “I want this baby with all my heart. I’m not giving it up.”

  Tapping her fingers against her lips, Tess’s eyes narrowed and fixed on Honey Belle with an unnerving intensity.

  “Aunt Tess—?”

  Tess’s breath escaped in one long sigh. “It doesn’t matter who the baby’s father is. One thing is for certain. I’ll never have the opportunity to be a grandmother, but I can certainly be a doting great aunt. You and I will raise this child. We’ll nurture it and give it more love than a kid could ever ask for. What do you think of that?”

  Raising her palms to her cheeks, Honey Belle beamed through her tears. “Little boy or girl, I think my baby has a wonderful future. Thank you, Aunt Tess.”

  The hallway clock chimed eight. Honey Belle stood. She folded the afghan into a neat square and placed it on the sofa. “Mrs. Keller assigned us homework. I guess I’d better get it done.”

  Halfway up the stairs she turned to look at her aunt, who remained curled up in the recliner, staring at the smoldering embers in the fireplace. She knew Tess was thinking of Roger and baby Scotty.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Honey Belle padded down the stairs to the kitchen. She placed her school books on the table, then walked to the stove and turned on a gas burner. The note propped against a mug brought a smile to her face. French toast in the oven. Will pick you up at 4 p.m.

  With the time change, the days grew dark earlier. Tess had insisted it was too dangerous for Honey Belle to walk home from school in the dark.

  She switched on the small television Tess kept on the kitchen counter. Watching the syndicated news channel had become a morning routine Honey Belle enjoyed. The teakettle whistled, signaling the water inside was hot enough to steep a teabag. As she reached for it, a face on the television screen nearly stopped Honey Belle’s heart. She didn’t realize she had overfilled the mug until scalding water spilled from the counter and onto her foot. After screeching in pain and returning the kettle to the burner, Honey Belle turned the television’s volume louder. The news commentator was reporting, “T. Harlan Hartwell, criminal court judge, has announced his candidacy for governor of South Carolina. Hartwell is known for his no-nonsense approach to crime.”

  As the image of Tripp’s father flashed across the screen, it was as if the Judge were staring right at her. Honey Belle wrapped her hands protectively around her belly when he lifted his hand and pointed a finger, saying, “I promise to shake up the system and become South Carolina’s top cop.”

  Motherly instincts she didn’t know existed screamed a warning to protect her unborn child from this man. A trembling heat followed by a cold wave rippled through her. Last night she’d almost relented and revealed Tripp’s name to Tess. Honey Belle tightened her lips. “The Judge is a dangerous man. And as much as I love your daddy, I don’t trust what would happen if either one of them found out about you.”

  Switching off the television, she removed the plate of French toast from the oven and poured maple syrup over the eggy-fried bread, but her stomach rebelled. She settled for a cup of hot tea and saltine crackers.

  Suddenly the kitchen seemed to close in on her. She needed fresh crisp air. Glancing at the clock, she gathered her books, walked out the back porch door and down the sidewalk toward the vocational school.

  A brisk wind riffled her hair, and she pulled the hood of the jacket over her head. She enjoyed her morning walks to school, the scent of smoke from fireplaces. Somehow it made her troubles seem far away.

  This year she looked forward to finding the next path to her future. With a child.

  ****

  They got off the elevator on the fourth floor. A couple followed Honey Belle and her aunt out of the elevator. The man and woman looked happy as they entered the wide hall holding hands. The woman’s belly was a large protruding mound.

  She had an odd feeling, looking at the couple. Like a yearning. If she had to give a name to it—an ache in her heart.

  Other than morning sickness and a positive litmus test, none of this seemed real to Honey Belle. But it was. She was glad Tess was with her.

  “Relax.” Tess walked with Honey Belle to the reception counter.

  “Easy for you to say.” She signed in, walked to a chair, and picked up a magazine.

  Thirty minutes later she followed a nurse through the doors to the exam room. Feeling like a frightened c
hild, she looked over her shoulder at Tess, who offered a smile and gave a little shooing motion with her hands.

  She loved her aunt, but with all her heart she wished Tripp was with her to share this experience. She undressed and slipped on the gown, front side open, as the nurse had instructed.

  She sat down on the examining table and waited for the doctor. And waited. Her back ached from sitting up straight. She checked her watch. What was taking so long?

  She groaned. “Five more minutes and I’m out of here.”

  She closed her eyes and tried to dig up the remnants of what she’d felt months ago, before fleeing South Carolina. She’d been seeking a new beginning, trying to find favor from a spiteful mother who constantly belittled her, giving all her energy to work, and also taking care of an ailing father.

  Now she faced a completely different set of problems. She didn’t want her baby to grow up feeling as if it were a problem.

  She wouldn’t let that happen.

  “Good morning, Ms. Garrett. Are you ready for your ultrasound?”

  Honey Belle put on a big smile and nodded.

  “Down the hall, second door on the left. I’ll be there in a few minutes. And we’ll take a picture as a souvenir for baby’s scrapbook.”

  Honey Belle hadn’t thought of keeping a memory book. The idea appealed to her. She’d ask Tess if they could stop at the mall before going home.

  Honey Belle hopped down from the bed. “What about activity?”

  “With moderation, as long as you don’t do anything dangerous or strenuous. Are you referring to any specific activity?”

  “I’m taking classes at the vocational school. It’s a two-mile walk.”

  “Walking will strengthen your abdominal muscles, which will make the delivery easier. It will also make it easier to get your figure back after the baby is born.”

  “What about morning sickness? Mine seems to last all day.”

  The doctor offered a warm smile. “It happens that way sometimes. By the time I see you next month, you should have a healthy appetite and no sickness.”

 

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