Free The Silent Wife by A. S. A. Harrison Page B

did it to spite him, because he was short with her on the phone when she asked if he had called his lawyer.
    â€œWhat did you say exactly? You didn’t tell him about me—about us.”
    â€œWhat do you think? I’m going to tell him and not say who it’s with?”
    â€œYou didn’t need to tell him at all.”
    She shrugs again, her pique and pride and truculence all packed into the single insolent gesture. As she walks on at a steady deliberate pace he has to make an effort to keep up with her. He feels like a cockroach scuttling along at her side.
    â€œSlow down,” he says. “Talk to me.”
    â€œWhat’s to say?”
    â€œLots. There’s lots to say. How far along are you? When did you find out?”
    â€œI don’t know how far along I am. I found out this morning.”
    â€œYou found out this morning? I thought you had a class this morning.”
    â€œI did it first thing, when I woke up. That’s when you’re supposed to do it.”
    Todd, who has never heard of a home pregnancy test, says, “You did what when you woke up?”
    â€œThere’s this plastic stick that you pee on. You get it at the drugstore. If it’s positive, a pink line comes up.”
    â€œA plastic stick?”
    â€œThat’s not all. My period is late.”
    â€œBut you need to see a doctor to know for sure.”
    â€œYou so want it not to be true.”
    They’re on Harrison Street now, heading east. The sidewalk is crowded with students moving in both directions. They’re getting jostled in the congestion.
    â€œWhen you told your father, how did he take it?” he asks.
    â€œHow do you think?”
    â€œHe wasn’t happy.”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhat did he say?”
    â€œHe said that he was going to wring your neck.”
    â€œThat’s all?”
    â€œIt’s not enough?”
    â€œHe must have said more than that.”
    â€œOh yeah, I almost forgot. He said that he was going to talk to Jodi.”
    He waits for her to disappear into Henry Hall and then turns back toward his car, already regretting the hash he’s made of things. Clearly this is a sensitive situation, one that’s going to follow him, and he should have been more tactful. Not that it would have made any real difference. Women have babies or not according to their whims—and what some guy wants, even the guy responsible, is completely beside the point. There’s no recourse for the men of this world. Men are a race of suckers who don’t realize that having sex is the biggest risk they’ll ever take. His whole world changes as of now, and there isn’t a damn thing he can do about it. He ought to have a voice here, but things don’t work like that. In spite of what anyone says it’s women who make the rules. In this case it’s Natasha who makes the rules. And now she’s upset with him, and he still has Dean and Jodi to face. Regardless of his feelings about fathering a child or an heir or whatever you want to call it, this right now is too complicated, too fraught, and moving too fast. It’s like he’s in a car that’s careening along in the wrong lane, heading into oncoming traffic. It makes no difference that he doesn’t know how he got here. It’s going to be him who’s held accountable.
    As he passes in front of the UIC Pavilion he has his phone in hand and is speed-dialing Dean’s mobile. He ought to take some time to get his thoughts in order, figure out what he’s going to say, but time is passing and he needs to get to Dean before Dean gets to Jodi, if it’s not already too late. He thinks he has a chance because Dean has only known for a few hours. The main thing is that he’s willing to be humble, willing to give Dean plenty of space and take a certain amount of flak. Dean can bea little wild and a little unruly, and Dean can be stubborn, but he’s not a