Patrice made her way downstairs to find Brian sitting waiting for her in the family room. There was pizza on the table and a fire lit. 'Well at least there is a comfortable ambience', she thought to herself. Brian patted the pillow on the floor while munching on a piece of pizza. "I couldn't wait, I am starving!" he said with a mouth full of sausage and cheese. "That’s okay", she said taking a piece for herself. They ate in silence for a good thirty minutes before Brian's patience ran thin. "I want to know what happened Patrice, from the beginning." He said leaning back on his arms. Patrice felt like the pizza was now lead in her stomach. "Okay but it's a long story," she said swallowing hard. "I have time." Brian said anxious to get to the bottom of the story.
Patrice began to tell the story, almost in a trance like state.
"Well, I am sure you remember that night at my house…I mean what we did an all. "
Brian nodded. " I didn't know I was pregnant until a week after you left. I went to Jackie to tell her and she said that she would give me your number as soon as you got a telephone. I went back home and I didn't hear from your mother for three months. So I went back. She acted like she was happy to see my mother and I, taking pictures and everything. We talked and I asked her if she heard from you and she said that you had met a nice woman down there in Orlando. She said she thought it would be better if you didn't know about the baby, and that you didn't want to talk to me anymore." Patrice's eyes filled with tears.
Brian bit back tears, waiting for Patrice to continue. "She told me just because you didn't know, didn't mean that she wouldn't help me. She helped me until I told her I decided to keep the baby. Then she wouldn't talk to me at all." Patrice paused." One night I was coming home from school. I had to go at night because they wouldn't let me go while I was pregnant. A man came out from behind a garbage can on the side of my house. He was holding knife. He wrapped me up from behind and started to tell me not to scream. He told me somebody wasn't happy about the baby and he was paid to take care of me. I begged him not to hurt me because I was pregnant. He said he knew and that was exactly why he was supposed to hurt me. I began to scream and that is when he pushed the knife into my belly." Patrice wiped her eyes with her hand.
Brian was shocked; who had hired somebody to kill Patrice? Why was his mother so mean to Patrice?
"I went to the hospital and luckily the attack didn't kill the baby or me. So I continued on with the pregnancy. I only had a month to go. One day your mother came by. She told me she had heard about the attack and that she was sorry. Then I didn't hear from her again. I went into labor, on August 14th. It was a girl and she was 7lbs and 7 ounces. I brought her home 3 days later. I was only able to act like a mother for a few hours. When I went to bed that night…"Patrice began to cry again.
"What happened 'Trice?" Brian asked wrapping her up into his arms.
"When I got up to check on her, she was gone. Abducted.” Patrice emphasized her words by flailing her arms around.
"So she could be alive, we just don't know where she is." Brian said, his eyes glimmering with hope.
"No, they found her. But she wasn't alive. They left her alone in the middle of nowhere. She died suffering. I couldn't even help her." Patrice was sobbing now.
Brian hugged her tighter. His head was pounding but he couldn't cry. His mother's word rang through his head. "Too young to ruin your life…I did it to protect you". How far did his mother go to protect him?
"When I was old enough to leave, I did. I wanted to get out of town as soon as I could. That is exactly what I did. I wasn't very successful with just a high school diploma. That is how I ended up at the club." Patrice finished her story trying to get a hold of her emotions. "I'm so sorry baby." Brian said holding her as her body was racked with sobs. Patrice calmed down quickly. She rested back into his arms. Nobody talked. There was nothing to say. Brian tried to keep himself calm; this was all such a shock. Patrice had years to deal with this, he was just finding out. Before he could stop himself, he lost control. He shook violently, not making any sound, but tears poured down his face. It was Patrice's turn to hold him. They then moved to lie down. They kept their arms wrapped around each other and that is how they woke up the next morning.
