The Event

by Whitney Dineen

  We pull into Mama’s driveway as she and Auntie Lee park next door. Beau and Shelby’s cars are still here, which I assume means Beau didn’t get my message. Mama and Auntie Lee have noticed as well and are full-on sprinting across our front lawns to find out what’s going on.

  I’ve got to do something to alert Beau, so I lay on the horn. Mama and Auntie Lee let out simultaneous screams of surprise and I say, “Zach, can you get the baby? I’ve got to get inside before they do.” I don’t wait to hear whether he says yes, I just tear out of the car so I can try to give my cousin five seconds warning.

  Chapter Fifty

  Mama and Auntie Lee are already at the front door with a key in the lock, so I hightail it around to the back of the house hoping to signal Shelby and Beau by waving in a window or something. But by the time I open the sliding door that leads to the living room, it’s too late. The mamas are already standing in the entryway, bosoms heaving. “Where are they?” Auntie Lee demands.

  We split up and search the bedrooms, the rumpus room, and Mama even looks in the pantry, but nothing. I thank the Good Lord they’re not in the bedrooms. That would have been a catastrophic scene the likes of which one does not recover from too easily. Auntie Lee is busy looking under the sofa cushions; for what, I do not know.

  Suddenly, I hear a muted sniffling sound coming from the bathroom in my bedroom. As casually as I can, I hurry to investigate. The door is closed, which is not how I usually leave it, so I put my ear to it. I’d like to say I’m doing it for a reason other than blatant snooping, but I’m not.

  I can’t hear much more than murmuring voices and crying, so I know that more than one person is inside. I use my brilliance to deduce that Beau and Shelby are in my bathroom. Several interesting questions come to mind, but there’s only one real way to find out what’s going on.

  I knock gently on the door. “We’re home,” I say by way of greeting.

  The voices stop but no one opens up. So, I continue, “Me, Mama, and Auntie Lee.” I assume Zach and Faye will be of little interest to them given that Beau’s mama is in the house.

  The door finally opens, and Beau stands there looking like a slice of white bread. He’s pale as can be and seems a bit wobbly. “Emmie …” is all he manages to say before Mama and Auntie Lee storm in the room.

  “Where is she?” Auntie Lee demands.

  Mama opens my closet door and when she doesn’t find anything, she looks like she’s ready to drop to the floor and check under the bed.

  Auntie Lee walks right over to my cousin and demands, “Beauregard Frothingham, you’d better tell me what’s going on right this minute.”

  Beau doesn’t say a word, he just steps aside to let his mama walk into the bathroom with him. Several moments of silence occur, which makes me wonder what the heck is going on in there. Then I hear Shelby’s soft sobbing.

  Auntie Lee calls out, “Gracie, can you come in here, please?”

  All sorts of things fly through my head like toothpicks in a tornado. They’re sharp and jabby enough that I know they’re there, but nothing stands still long enough for me to hang on to. I do briefly ponder the image of Beau standing over Shelby, clutching a knife while she’s lying in the bathtub dying. Where did that come from?

  Auntie Lee says, “Beau, I need you to go put some hot water on the stove for tea.” He doesn’t move quickly enough, so she says, “Now!”

  Once he’s gone, I take his place. Shelby is sitting on the toilet, doubled over with her face in her hands. Auntie Lee says, “Honey, you feel up to talking and telling us what’s going on?” She’s gentle as a lamb, which does not all fit her most recent mood. But, it’s clear Shelby is in distress.

  Shelby hiccups and coughs and finally manages, “I’m bleeding all over the place.”

  Mama asks, “You want me to get you some feminine supplies?”

  Shaking her head, Shelby answers, “No, ma’am.”

  “It’s not your period, is it?” Auntie Lee inquires.

  Again, Shelby shakes her head. I’m not quite sure what’s going on. All I know is that Shelby is bleeding into my toilet, claiming not to be having her period. What happened? Did she fall and cut her lady business?

  Auntie Lee asks, “How far along are you, honey?”

  She answers, “Eight weeks.”

  Holy crap. Shelby’s pregnant!

  “Did the bleeding just start?” Mama asks.

  “Yes, ma’am. About thirty minutes ago.”

  Auntie Lee wants to know, “Is it Beau’s?”

  The tears flow down Shelby’s face like a faucet as she nods her head.

  Auntie Lee takes charge, “Okay, young lady, first things first. We’re going to get you out of here and lay you down in bed while I call the doctor.”

  “You can’t call the doctor!” Shelby shrieks. “Nobody knows yet.”

  “I’m not going to say it’s you,” she comforts her. “But this has happened to me before and I need to make sure what I did back then is still what they’re doing now.”

  Shelby shakes her head, “I’m losing the baby, Mrs. Frothingham. I don’t think there’s more than one way it’s going to come out of me.”

  Mama scurries out of the room to pull the covers down on my bed, while Auntie Lee says, “Honey, I bled through all three of my pregnancies. So, I’m going to consider this a live baby until we have confirmation otherwise.”

  She gently helps Shelby to her feet and leads her out of the bathroom. Once she’s settled on my bed, Auntie Lee says, “Emmie, I want some pillows under this girl’s feet to elevate them,” then she leaves the room.

  Shelby groans, “I’m so embarrassed.”

  “Why?” I ask, although clearly I understand this isn’t an ideal way to tell your baby’s future grandmother that you’re expecting.

  “Emmie, I’m pregnant and I’m not even seeing the baby’s daddy. My mama is going to have a fit the likes of which I can’t even imagine.”

  I consider mentioning that I know what it’s like to be in the family way without being in a relationship with the baby’s daddy, but instead I ask, “Cootie doesn’t know yet?” I wonder what’s up with my family. We aren’t doing things in the right order at all.

  Shelby shakes her head indicating that her mama is clueless about the current situation. I think back to the scene that just took place at Filene’s, and I cannot imagine how this is all going to work out without serious casualties. I just hope against hope that this baby isn’t one of them.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  After fetching her phone, Auntie Lee comes back into my room, talking to someone. “I’m wondering what we do for a pregnant woman who starts to bleed. Do we take her to the emergency room?”

  Auntie Lee listens for a moment and then asks Shelby, “Honey, have you been to the doctor yet?”

  She shakes her head. “I’ve been too afraid my mama would find out, but I’ve been taking my prenatal vitamins and I’ve been eating really healthy food.” Auntie Lee relays the information and listens some more.

  When she finally hangs up the phone, she says, “They want you to stay off your feet until tomorrow morning and see if the bleeding stops. Then we need to get you to a doctor and find out if there’s a heartbeat.”

  Shelby looks like you could knock her over with the slightest touch. “Once I started to bleed, I thought that was it. I didn’t even consider there was still a chance.”

  Auntie Lee sits next to her on the bed and gently consoles, “You’ve got a Frothingham inside you, and I can guarantee they like to come into this world as dramatically as possible.”

  Mama laughs. “Isn’t that the truth? Emmie decided to come early while Reed and I were away enjoying a last getaway together before becoming parents.”

  I remember what Cootie accused Mama of at Filene’s and ask, “Was I really early or were you pregnant before the wedding?” Not that it matters, but I am kind of curious.

  “You were only five pounds, honey, and you spent two weeks in
the hospital after you were born. You were nearly a month early. You were our honeymoon baby.” She smiles at me so tenderly I can tell she’s reliving those moments in her head.

  Beau finally comes back into the room still looking a little wobbly around the edges. He says, “I put the water on for tea. Is there any special kind I should make?”

  Auntie Lee shakes her head. “I was just trying to get you out of the way.” Then she says, “Shelby’s going to stay here. We’ll get her to the doctor in the morning to see what’s going on.”

  Beau stares at Shelby in disbelief and a bit of awe, like she’s a rainbow unicorn or something. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t want you to think I was trapping you. I wanted you to want to come back on your own, not out of duty.”

  “Jeez, Shelby, this is a mess,” he says.

  She bursts into loud, gut-wrenching sobs. I intervene and demand, “For the love of god, Beau, don’t you think she knows that? We need to keep her calm and quiet and your being here isn’t going to help with that. I think you’d better leave.”

  He stands his ground. “I’m not going anywhere. Shelby’s pregnant with my baby, and I belong here at her side.” He doesn’t even question if the baby is his which leads me to believe two things: he knows it is and he really does have strong feelings for Shelby.

  Auntie Lee says, “Then go back to the kitchen and do the dishes. You can stay in the house, but you cannot upset Shelby. Do you understand me, young man?”

  Beau nods his head as he leaves the room again. Auntie Lee is being so nice, I hardly know what to say. Just an hour ago she was bent on doing everything possible to keep Beau and Shelby apart, but now she’s full on championing her.

  “What do we tell Cootie?” I ask.

  Auntie Lee looks at Shelby and says, “You need to call your mama and tell her that you’ve decided to spend some time in St. Louis shopping or something. Can you do that?”

  Shelby nods. “I’ll call my daddy and let him tell her. I need to do something with my car though, or she might find out that I’m here.”

  Folks in small towns are hyper-aware of every little thing going on around them. When there isn’t enough drama, they’re happy to manufacture it. Just ask the club ladies. Those gals are the very hub of fabricated news in our town.

  I ask, “Where are your keys? I’ll pull it into the garage.” Once I have them in hand, I leave the room and run smack into Zach in the hallway. He looks kind of sketchy.

  He’s gently bouncing Faye on his hip and nervously asks, “Is she okay?”

  “We don’t know yet,” I tell him. “She’s going to stay here tonight, we’ll take her to the doctor in the morning, let’s hope the bleeding stops.”

  “Did you have any troubles like this with Faye?” he demands.

  I shake my head. “I didn’t spot or anything. I had an ideal, if lonely, pregnancy with her.”

  “I’m sorry you were alone,” he says.

  “Mama visited a couple times, so that was nice.”

  “I’m sorry Faye’s daddy wasn’t there to support you.”

  I’m glad he wasn’t because how uncomfortable would that have been being that I didn’t even know him. I don’t want to remind Zach of that, so I say, “You’re sweet, you know that?”

  He smiles almost painfully and says, “I just know how hard it is to grow up without a father; all kids deserve one. I tell you what though, I’m going to make sure Shelby’s baby’s daddy is a part of its life.”

  He seems so adamant that for a crazy flash I wonder if he isn’t really the daddy instead of Beau. He hands me Faye before continuing on into the bedroom. As I try to squelch that uncomfortable thought, I once again worry if I did the right thing by not trying to find Faye’s daddy earlier. Life is one complicated affair.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  There’s no way Zach is the daddy of Shelby’s baby. That’s foolish. I’ve believed him all along that they were just friends. I even overheard them talking about how he was trying to get her back with Beau that day at the creek. So why would this idea even pop into my head? It’s just there was a look on his face that made me feel like there’s something bigger going on in his head that he’s not sharing with me.

  I tell myself I’m being silly and go on outside to move Shelby’s car. Beau is sitting on the porch looking like he’s just lost his best friend. I plop down on the rocking chair next to him and ask, “You didn’t have any idea?”

  He shakes his head. “I sure didn’t.”

  “How do feel about it?” I ask.

  “Confused,” is all he says.

  “You do know how babies are made, right?”

  “Don’t be a smart aleck, Emmie. Of course, I know how babies are made. That’s not the part I’m confused about.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “That was uncalled for. I’m sure you’re confused. I was confused after I found out I was pregnant with Faye.”

  “At least you don’t have the complications of her daddy.”

  “You’re the one who told me he had a right to know,” I exclaim. “Are you suddenly wishing you didn’t know?”

  “Not at all. I’m saying that maybe you made the right choice is all. It’s complicated enough for me and Shelby, and we were actually dating at the time. I just wish she’d told me sooner so we could have discussed this like two adults. It’s silly that she’s been trying to make me jealous with Zach all the while pregnant with my baby.”

  “She’s afraid of her mama,” I say.

  “We all are. God, that Cootie is a real nightmare, and that’s before she knows about Shelby’s pregnancy. Can you imagine how she’s going to act when she finds out?”

  I grimace. “You don’t know the worst of it.”

  “What now?” he demands with a look of primal fear etched across his face.

  “We ran into Cootie at Filene’s and she was a real terror. Your mama retaliated by asking after her herpes. Loudly.”

  “You’re kidding? How in the world are we ever going to tell her about this?”

  “Maybe she’ll drop dead from a heart attack when you do and you won’t have to worry about her after that,” I say.

  “That’s just wishful thinking, Emmie. Life never turns out that easy.”

  “It sure doesn’t,” I tell him. “But take it from me, once you get through the hard bits, the rewards are pretty sweet.”

  Beau stands up and starts to pace. Back and forth he goes with his hands shoved deep in his pockets and his head hung so low it looks like it’s growing out of his chest. “Should I ask her to marry me?” he wonders.

  “Do you want to marry her?” I ask. “And not just for the baby’s sake, but for hers?”

  “I don’t know her well enough to say. How crazy is that? We made a baby, but I don’t know her well enough to know if I want a long-term relationship with her.”

  “Who are you telling? I don’t even know who my baby’s daddy is.”

  Beau looks at me and suddenly bursts out laughing. “This whole town is going to think the Frothinghams are nothing but trash.”

  I start laughing too, and reply, “That’s not even funny. Why are we laughing?” But we’re both doubled over, holding our sides like we’re trying to keep our guts from spilling out.

  When we finally settle down a bit, I say, “We’ve been held up to some crazy standards that I’m not sure that even I think exist anymore outside of the country club set.”

  He looks at me closely and says, “You know, you’re right. Our parents didn’t care one whit about you being a single mama. They’re only worried about how the town would treat you. And by the town, I mean Cootie and her henchmen. Now that it’s done and Shelby is pregnant, Cootie can no longer hold her family above everyone else.”

  “Poor Shelby,” I say. “Her mama’s going to come down on her like a house of bricks.”

  “Which is why we have to keep them apart for as long as possible. I hate to say it, but if the baby doesn’t m
ake it, at least we can keep Shelby from ever having to tell her.”

  “Life never is easy, is it?”

  “Not usually,” Beau replies. “But times like this sure do have a way of making you grateful for the boring times.”

  “How do you feel about becoming a daddy?” I ask.

  “I don’t know. I mean, I always knew I wanted to be one. I just figured the circumstances would be a lot different. You know, like I’d be married first.”

  “Tell me about it,” I say. “That’s how I saw it too, but I wouldn’t trade Faye for all the tacos in Mexico. That baby is the brightest spot in my whole life.”

  “I wonder if it’s a girl or a boy,” he says.

  “Do you have a preference?” I ask.

  “No, ma’am. Right now, my only preference is for the baby to live. I don’t know what the future holds for me and Shelby, but I do know I want to be its daddy.” My cousin breaks down and cries like a little boy who just lost his puppy.

  I fold him up in my arms to offer my love and support. Then I say, “You need to go tell Shelby that. I think that’s she’s feeling pretty lonely right now. You need to lean on each other.”

  As Beau walks back into the house, my mind goes straight to Faye’s daddy, and suddenly I feel lower than a swamp snake that I never told him about her.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Beau and Shelby both stay with us, so I move into the nursery and sleep on the day bed in there. Staring up at the white, dotted-swiss canopy above me, I’m full of doubts about my life. Will Faye hate me when she grows up and discovers that I never knew her father? Will she blame that for every little thing that’s out of whack in her life?

  All I know is that the guy lived in Brooklyn and was drinking at a bar near the Met in Manhattan. That’s seriously nothing to go on. I vaguely remember the block he lived on, but it’s been well over a year since I was there. Who’s to say he still lives in the same neighborhood? Maybe he got married and lives there with a wife. He could even have six other kids out in the world in the same predicament as Faye.