The Freak and his Queen [ e. munson]

Nine: Help

Warnings for This Chapter: vague descriptions of abortion. There will be a note at the end of the chapter. 

Eddie fell asleep before I did, leaving me lying in his arms, staring at the ceiling. It felt nice being wrapped up in someone's arms, feeling their care and comfort. But unfortunately, it would be ending soon. 

I carefully and strategically slid out of his arms, watching to make sure I didn't wake him up. He kept sleeping, bangs falling over his face as he slightly shifted. Good god, he was hot and it wasn't fair for me to leave. But I had to.

I put my clothes on and grabbed my bag, making my way to the door. I was about to walk out before a figure in the kitchen scared the shit out of me. "Fuck!" I whispered and leaned against the wall to catch my breath. "You must be Uncle Wayne."

The older man nodded and looked down at my bag. "I didn't mean to scare you. He mentioned something about having company but I didn't know it was an all-night thing. Is he awake?"

"Um, no. He fell asleep." I said and he tilted his face. Wayne didn't say anything at first but kind of sighed. 

"Listen, I will be honest with you. He has told me about you. But now you're walking out in the middle of the night ... please don't hurt him. He doesn't deserve that."

I shifted uncomfortably, looking down at my feet. "This ... this is out of my control."

"Well, I will tell you what this looks like to me. I see you dashing just past midnight when he's sleeping. His Mom and Dad both dashed on him too. He talks about you all the time and I don't want to see another person leave him."

"Sir, I am pregnant with another man's baby."

Wayne stopped talking and stared in silence, the shock laying thick in the air. 

"I don't want this baby. I think this baby will only bring me down, I am not ready for a baby, and it's not like I was even being stupid. I have been on a pill and urge my past partners to wear protection. I am not just another Hawkins Harlot out there being stupid, Sir. But I will not drag your nephew down with me on this. I have to go so I can terminate this early enough."

Wayne was taken aback by my bluntness and I did not care. Teen pregnancies brought on judgment and I needed to defend myself before I lost the chance. Especially since I was choosing to get an abortion. If people knew ... I would be more hated than Eddie The Freak.

"What you do is your business, Miss. I don't judge people for their mistakes or accidents, lord knows I have my own. Just don't lie to him. He has a big heart. When he sees you next, be honest please."

I held my bag close to my chest. "Sir, I care deeply for Eddie. He's got such a kind soul that I wish everyone else could see. He's done nothing bad to me unlike all the other men in my life and I want a future with him, one that he offered me yesterday. I don't know if I am oversharing or something but we were never relationship people but we want that with each other. So I promise I am not out to hurt him or abandon him."

Wayne nodded and sat on the couch. "I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune. You are welcome here anytime."

I nodded and got the memo that Wayne wasn't much of a talker and walked out of the trailer. I got into my car and drove as fast as I could to Family Video. It was a little bit after midnight and they would just be closing, Friday nights were always late closings. 

"Denny, hey!" Robin smiled, seeing me sit outside of the store. Steve tilted his head, hitting next to me. 

"What's wrong? You could have come in, you practically work here. Speaking of, Keith wanted me to ask if you wanted a job, there's a new position open." Steve said. 

I looked at him, tears ready to explode from my eyes. He immediately saw this and his expression grew to one of concern.

"I'm pregnant, Steve. I need help going to an abortion clinic but I'm not 18 yet. There's a place that does it, it's not certified but I can't tell my mom. I just need you to drive me there and back."

Steve wrapped his arm around me as I started bawling into his shoulder. Robin sat on my other side, leaning her head on my shoulder for added comfort. 

"Who is the dad?" Steve asked, a mixture of sternness and worry. He knew that despite everything I did, I had been on birth control since before I was with him and I usually asked my partners to wear protection. I wasn't careless and I was very assertive about my rules. 

"Some guy at the Hideout let me crawl all over when I was drunk. He told me he was wearing a condom but the next morning I found out he was lying. The bartender doesn't allow him back but it doesn't make it right. I found out yesterday at lunch when I started feeling funny and throwing up. I thought it was a bad reaction to the weed I smoked yesterday but I was wondering ever since I slept with that guy and took a test to be safe."

Steve's grip on me tightened. "I have to open tomorrow -"

"Oh my God, I am so sorry. I can get someone else to take me or something. I won't let this affect you."

"Stop, Denny. I was going to say that we just need to be back by that time. I am going to take you, no one else. I am going to help you, I promise. All you have to do is tell me where and I will take you." 

"And I am coming - and don't you argue. We are your friends whether you try to be a lone wolf or not, we are here for you and all that cliche stuff." Robin added. I sighed and nodded, grabbing a piece of paper from my pocket that had the information. 

"Alright, you ready to go?" Steve asked, standing up with the paper. "This address says it's in Indianapolis so we should get going."

I nodded and stood up with him, getting in the back of his car while Robin and Steve sat in the front. They let me sleep in the back on our way to the big city and stayed by my side up until I went inside. 

It wasn't a clinic but it was a small shop with a sterile room in the back where they helped teen girls without parental consent. I found this place by looking at the library and in one of the phone books there was a teen help center and they told me that some of their girls went there. But as I stood in the back, about to be given anesthesia, I had a bad feeling and it seemed very sketchy. 

I laid down on the table and closed my eyes. There was no going back now.

Ok, let's talk about this. Recently, as you all have heard, the SCOTUS made a decision regarding Roe V Wade that has PISSED me off. I am pro-choice. If you don't like that, don't say anything rude or get the hell off my page. With all of that going on (and recently watching dirty dancing again) I decided I wanted to use this book to bring awareness to abortions in the 80s. They were definitely not well received and it could be very hard to find a clinic, especially for underage girls. Hell, there were many abortion clinic bombings in the 80s and 90s. 

I put a lot of research into this chapter, making sure things were historically accurate. I just feel like it's important to show things like this, not to make it normal but just to acknowledge that things like this happen. I mean, I don't think I've ever read a fanfic that dealt with abortions. So I hope this doesn't make anyone hate me or my book and that we can end these stigmas and shine some light.

And also thank you to -steveshair for encouraging me to publish this chapter when I was extremely nervous to do so.