On the Altar

Chapter 6

POV-Crystal, age 16

I see the garden in which I roamed, the other kids there, Grandma and Grandpa Watson, and I understand that I'm in Dreamland.

And I need to get out, stat, because the ground is shaking.

Wait, it's not the ground that's shaking it's me.

Someone is shaking me.

Misty. She doesn't understand my need to rest.

"Crystal Maria Mason, wake up right now, or else!" she says angrily.

And my instinct tells me to wake up, so I do.

"Lemme sleep, Grumpy." I tell her with my face in my hands, half-asleep.

"Well, I don't suppose you'll be able to sleep with a screaming baby in your house. Probably in a crib right next to your bed." she says sarcastically and all of my lethargy leaves my body instantaneously.

How did she find out?

"While  growing up, did you never pay any attention to me when I told you how to dispose of something you don't want people to find? You dispose of it like it's a used pad, or tampon, or c****m, you i***t!" she says in a sad tone. She doesn't look angry.

She looks....disappointed.

And that makes me sad.

Misty has always been my biggest advocate. She has supported me when no one else believed in me. She stood up for me and asked the principal of our school to check the security footage before he suspended me for slapping a teacher.

He had his hand up my skirt, what was I supposed to do?

It was my good luck that Misty was the valedictorian of her year, three years ahead of her peers. She'd won the school so many awards, they lost count.

Misty has always been by my side, no matter what.  She's been my sister, my best friend, even after her break up with my brother a year ago. And disappointing her just doesn't feel right.

It feels illegal.

"How could you be so goddamned irresponsible, Christy? What was the point of Jen and I giving you all those talks about safe s*x when you were 14, if you go ahead and get yourself knocked up two years later?" she says accusingly.

"Misty, when I was nearing the end of rehab, my counselor told me to attend a social gathering, with alcohol present, but not touch it. She asked me to do so when I felt ready, and go alone. If I felt tempted to drink, she asked me to call her, or my AA sponsor. So, a month after rehab was over,  I went to a Labor Day party, after telling Grandma Watson, of course. There, I don't know what happened, but I just drank my soda and then....blank. I don't remember anything after that, just that I woke up the next day in one of the beds. You know I lost my virginity a year ago, so I wasn't sore or anything. My pants were on, and only my makeup was somewhat smudged. I blamed that on sleeping with it on. I went about my day as usual." I push a strand of my hair that is so sweaty behind my ear, I feel like I've run a marathon.

"But I didn't get my period in September. I thought that was because of me detoxifying and changes in my cycle and that i***t just being irregular as usual, but when I didn't get it in October, I got worried. I took a test in a Walmart bathroom, but it came out negative. I was so relieved when that happened."

"I got somewhat of a period in the last week of October, but it was light enough to be considered spotting. But, I didn't think that at the time, for the first time in my life, I was just happy to get my period. And then, I didn't get it in November, either, as you might've guessed, but I blamed that on my uterus forgetting the date. But when it continued till December, I bought a test in California, but i waited for a week, till yesterday night, to take it. I can't even remember how I felt. I didn't get morning sickness, that's for sure. I only threw up a few times in this duration."

"And you thought it was because you ate something wrong, didn't you?" she says sadly. "We are going to Cali tonight and I'm grilling the owner of that house."

"Well, the owners couldn't possibly have done it, they're a lesbian couple." I rationalize. "We can't do anything Misty. Let it go."

"You are coming with me to the hospital. It's just one in the afternoon. Your blood test results can be ready in four hours. We need to confirm it. Pregnancy tests can be wrong twice in a row. Then comes the hard part." She looks at me morbidly and says,

"You have to tell the elders."