Steal Away the Night

11

Momma

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            ~1 week later~

            *Smith’s Grove*

            Jennifer had always hated being examined by strange men, she would always curse them
mentally when their hands moved about her. But lately she’d felt ill and Wynn had insisted she
come in, no. He had demanded she come in.

            Michael and Wynn watched from the glass, she had been watching them and jumped as
the doctor, not much older than her pressed his hands against her torso, gently pushing a bit
above her belly button and smiled softly. A nurse entered with a clipboard, which she handed to
him, he gazed at it and sighed. “Well Jennifer.” He sat next to her. “It looks to me that the family
is going to be expanding.”

            A sudden, unspoken paranoia came over her. Was she even allowed to have any more
children? Her fear ceased slightly as Wynn grinned and slapped Michael’s back, but when
Michael just walked away from him, it overcrowded her. Without a word she stood and went to
change, picked Jacob up from the day care wing, thanked Marjie for watching him, and went to
the parking lot.

            She froze at parking space 19, key in hand, son in arms. A cold, silent wind blew over her
as she stared at the bold number on the ground, a number stained with oil, gas and peoples trash,
a number that had once been covered with the 99 Saturn LS1.

            “Shit,” she swore, shifted her grip on Jake and ran inside to Wynn’s office, he was sitting,
smiling, looking at her paperwork. She went to the phone on his desk and picked uit up, holding
it with her chinm he blinked as he looked at her.

            “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you gone?”

            “Michael left without me!” She waited a moment, listened to the car-phone ring then
grinned when it picked up, his shallow breath came through. “Michael? Michael where are you?”

            And he hung up.

            She bit back a swearword again and slumped into the chair. “Perfect.”

            Wynn shook his head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him, why this upsets him, he
should have used a goddamn condom if he didn’t want any more kids!”

            Jennifer shook her head as the tears came. “It’s useless this all has been useless you
should have killed me when you had the chance.”

            “Don’t talk like...”

      
#160#160;    “Don’t give me that! Dammit Wynn I should have died three years ago, I should be with
Jamie and Daddy right now!” She tried to catch her breath amidst her tears.

            He watched her for a moment. “I... I just couldn’t do it Jenni. I couldn’t break the
prophecy that way, I wouldn’t even have done it that way with Jamie, you two were my little
girls, I grew so.... attached.”

            She stood silently and left the room, took Jake to the Day Care Wing again, then made
her way downstairs to Operating Room 1. She looked around until she found a sharp scalpel,
then sta up on the bed and stared at it a few moments, contemplating the actions she was
prepared to take.

            She felt her stomach turn and threw it aside. What was the point in killing herself when
she had a chance to get away? To go somewhere with her unborn child and s a n a new life, the
kind of life she’d only ever known for four years of her childhood. Perhaps things wouldn’t be so
bad after all.

            But in order to get away, she had to get home first. Get the other car and drive to any
place other than California and Illinois.

            She went back to Wynn’s and managed to bum a ride, and once home she didn’t even
bother going in and dealing with Michael, she sent Jacob in once Wynn drove away and got into
the car, not sure at all where she was going. Slightly anxious and disturby tby the silence, she
turned on the radio.

            Mister Sandman,(yes?) bring me a dream. Make him the cutest, that I’ve ever seen. Give
him two lips, like roses and clover, and tell him that his lonely nights are over! Sandman(yi>(yes?)
I’m so alone, don’t have nobody to call my own...

            Call, call, she had to call someone, someone had to know where she was going. She
picked up the car-phone and dialed her mother’s number, grateful that she picked up.

            “Momma, listen, I’m leaving, leaving that all behind. No, no that’s not it it’s... Well I’m
pregnant and I... I want to live Momma. Yeah, no, no. I’m going over to Boston, stay with the
Carruthers. I’m sure they won’t mind, yeah. Yeah ok. Love you too, hmm? Whittington? The
woman who worked for Loomis? Ok, she has my files? Ok thanks Momma. Bye.”

            She hung the phone up and sighed deeply, excited by the adventure she was getting
herself into.

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            Mwa ha ha ha ha! What will happen next? Read Surrender to find out, last installment of three to this story.

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SA