scenario. Candace wished she had asked someone about it before. She felt like a fool.
“Listen,” Kayla said. “I know you’re scared. You’re far away from home, and you’re young, and you’re pregnant. Giving your baby up may very well be the best thing for you, but the adoption process is not a simple thing— especially if you’re fighting the father the whole way.”
And, of course, the tears started then. Kayla offered Candace a box of Kleenex.
“I wanna go home,” Candace whined. “I don’t know if I can go if I keep the baby.”
Kayla lifted an eyebrow. She was getting closer to the real source of the problem, but her client didn’t want to divulge. Candace stood and gathered the papers in her lap.
“I gotta go.”
“You don’t want to talk more?”
“I got homework tonight,” Candace lied and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Wait, Candace. Please sit down.”
Candace did so out of obedience, but she never felt so uncomfortable. Her legs fidgeted. Her eyes leaked, and she felt perspiration sliding down her spine.
“Your parents still live in New York?” Kayla asked. Candace nodded and sniffled.
“Do you have any family in Texas?”
“No.”
“So you’re in this big, new city with your bad-news boyfriend, and you’ve got a baby on the way,” Kayla surmised. “You don’t want to call your parents because they didn’t want you to run off in the first place, and now you’re pregnant and it’s that much worse . . . .”
Candace’s eyes focused more clearly.
“And you’re smart enough to know how bad your situation is,” the social worker went on, “so to fix things, you decide to do the most selfless thing possible: give up the baby and run home, tell your parents how good you’ve been doing in school, and maybe they won’t be so mad.”
Candace was so shocked the tears stopped.
“Do you plan on telling them you left a baby in Texas or keep that a secret?” Kayla asked. “Do you think they might want to see their granddaughter? And what if you’re not able to have another child? These are questions the adoption services will ask you.”
Candace hadn’t thought about any of that.
“I want to help you do the right thing for your baby,” Kayla said. “The decision is ultimately yours. I’m just giving you things to consider. My advice, of course, would be to call your parents. You’re a mature young lady, but you might want to get opinions from your family before you make a tough decision.”
Candace knew there was knowledge in Kayla’s words. And that was the best advice she was going to get from anyone else she queried. But it was still a hard pill to swallow. She told the lady she would think about it and left the hospital with her and her baby’s future still undetermined.
Chapter 6
BAD BOYS
On the way home Candace stopped at the Evergreen Apartment complex on the south side of town. The compound was run-down and dangerous—not the place for a pregnant lady, or any type of lady for that matter, but Candace knew she was safe there; Rilla moved a lot of crack through the apartments, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
Candace rarely visited his dope spot, but the argument they had that morning left her depressed and contemplative. She knew it was wrong for her to threaten to leave while she carried Rilla’s baby. Candace also regretted the way she was riding him about his music career. Getting dropped from his label had to be a hard blow. Maybe he was trying his best to get back in the studio. Maybe he was a little gun-shy. Either way, Candace didn’t know if the timetable she put on her man was realistic.
She spotted Rilla’s car as soon as she pulled in from the street. His Fleetwood squatted in a handicapped spot in front of the first building on the left. Candace parked next to the Cadillac and got out with the awkward wobble of a pregnant woman. She knew Rilla was upstairs in apartment 4F. Standing at the foot of
“Listen,” Kayla said. “I know you’re scared. You’re far away from home, and you’re young, and you’re pregnant. Giving your baby up may very well be the best thing for you, but the adoption process is not a simple thing— especially if you’re fighting the father the whole way.”
And, of course, the tears started then. Kayla offered Candace a box of Kleenex.
“I wanna go home,” Candace whined. “I don’t know if I can go if I keep the baby.”
Kayla lifted an eyebrow. She was getting closer to the real source of the problem, but her client didn’t want to divulge. Candace stood and gathered the papers in her lap.
“I gotta go.”
“You don’t want to talk more?”
“I got homework tonight,” Candace lied and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Wait, Candace. Please sit down.”
Candace did so out of obedience, but she never felt so uncomfortable. Her legs fidgeted. Her eyes leaked, and she felt perspiration sliding down her spine.
“Your parents still live in New York?” Kayla asked. Candace nodded and sniffled.
“Do you have any family in Texas?”
“No.”
“So you’re in this big, new city with your bad-news boyfriend, and you’ve got a baby on the way,” Kayla surmised. “You don’t want to call your parents because they didn’t want you to run off in the first place, and now you’re pregnant and it’s that much worse . . . .”
Candace’s eyes focused more clearly.
“And you’re smart enough to know how bad your situation is,” the social worker went on, “so to fix things, you decide to do the most selfless thing possible: give up the baby and run home, tell your parents how good you’ve been doing in school, and maybe they won’t be so mad.”
Candace was so shocked the tears stopped.
“Do you plan on telling them you left a baby in Texas or keep that a secret?” Kayla asked. “Do you think they might want to see their granddaughter? And what if you’re not able to have another child? These are questions the adoption services will ask you.”
Candace hadn’t thought about any of that.
“I want to help you do the right thing for your baby,” Kayla said. “The decision is ultimately yours. I’m just giving you things to consider. My advice, of course, would be to call your parents. You’re a mature young lady, but you might want to get opinions from your family before you make a tough decision.”
Candace knew there was knowledge in Kayla’s words. And that was the best advice she was going to get from anyone else she queried. But it was still a hard pill to swallow. She told the lady she would think about it and left the hospital with her and her baby’s future still undetermined.
Chapter 6
BAD BOYS
On the way home Candace stopped at the Evergreen Apartment complex on the south side of town. The compound was run-down and dangerous—not the place for a pregnant lady, or any type of lady for that matter, but Candace knew she was safe there; Rilla moved a lot of crack through the apartments, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
Candace rarely visited his dope spot, but the argument they had that morning left her depressed and contemplative. She knew it was wrong for her to threaten to leave while she carried Rilla’s baby. Candace also regretted the way she was riding him about his music career. Getting dropped from his label had to be a hard blow. Maybe he was trying his best to get back in the studio. Maybe he was a little gun-shy. Either way, Candace didn’t know if the timetable she put on her man was realistic.
She spotted Rilla’s car as soon as she pulled in from the street. His Fleetwood squatted in a handicapped spot in front of the first building on the left. Candace parked next to the Cadillac and got out with the awkward wobble of a pregnant woman. She knew Rilla was upstairs in apartment 4F. Standing at the foot of
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