A couple breaks up after an unwanted pregnancy. |
Her: Is that all you’re taking? Him: Yeah Her: You can take more than that. Him: I know. Her: So why don’t you take all of your stuff? What’s your point? Him: No point. I have what I need, and that’s all of it. Her: There’s no way. You’re just being weird. And as usual you won’t say what’s going on with you. No surprise. Him: Sorry, but there’s nothing going on. I have my stuff. Her: What about your pictures that are still hanging on the wall? Him: What about them? Her: Don’t you want them for your next place? Him: I’ll come back for them. Okay? Her: I guess. Him: Okay then. Her: You have to go you know? Him: I know. Her: It’s not an option. Him: I know. Her: You had a choice and you made it. Him: Yeah, I guess so. Her: You know so. I told you I couldn’t stay with you if you didn’t want the baby. I told you if I had to do that…I told you I wouldn’t be able to live with you anymore. I told you, damn it. Him: I know, you told me. Her: So what? You didn’t believe me? Him: I thought you’d change your mind. Her: Oh I see. You didn’t take me seriously. Him: Yes, I did. I just thought if I got you a new stereo, or maybe if we went on a trip… Her: Oh that’s great. You thought if you spent money it would change the fact that I had an abortion. Him: No. It’s not like that. I just thought you would feel differently if time passed and maybe some things happened that made you happy. I just didn’t think you really meant it absolutely. Her: I meant it absolutely. Him: I see that. Her: Do you? Him: Yeah. Now. Her: Well you’re late to start believing I mean what I say. Him: I guess so. Her: You always pay for everything. You always have. But it’s not enough, you know. It’s not enough. You think a handful of receipts makes you a generous man. Him: Huh? Her: That’s what you think. You think you can buy your way out of anything. Him: Well, I paid for the abortion didn’t I? Her: Yes, you did, you selfish son of a bitch. Him: Look, don’t get mad. I just wasn’t ready to be a father yet. Her: Well sometimes in life you have to just step up to the plate. Things happen. And you had something to do with it, as I recall. Him: I know. Her: Oh wait a minute. I get it. Him: What do you get? What? Her: You think I’ll get over this and you can come back. That’s why you’re not taking all your stuff. Him: Well, it’s possible, isn’t it? Her: No. It is not possible. I can’t believe you. Him: Look, I just can’t give up on us that easy. I still believe. Her: I told you, if I had to have an abortion I wouldn’t be able to live with you anymore. What part of that did you not understand? Him: I don’t understand the finality of it, that’s all. I mean, there could be a right time, another time when a baby would work, but I just… Her: You just don’t get it. I thought about my options. I thought about having the baby without you. But then I thought about what it was like for me when I was growing up, not being wanted, being a mistake, and my father blaming my being born for all his troubles in life. I thought about that, and I decided not to bring an unwanted baby into this world, no matter how much I wanted it. I decided a baby needs to have two parents that want it. Was that wrong? I think I made a mistake. Him: I think that was a good decision on your part. Her: You don’t understand. Actually doing it, you know, when it came right down to it, and I was standing there in that white robe, waiting in line at the clinic, with those other women, I felt so alone. And I felt my baby inside me, alive, a real person, a person whose life was being ripped away. So I went into the room and they put me up on the table, and they hooked up their machine. And then they all left, and they turned that machine on, and I just wanted to scream and jump down off the table. A part of me was screaming inside, but I laid there and let it happen, and now my baby is gone. And you don’t get it. You don’t get what that cost me, and… Him: I would have been there with you, really I would have. If you had let me I would have. Her: And now there’s this empty place inside me where the baby used to be, and it can never be filled. Do you see? It can never be filled again. Him: But I still love you. I’m still your friend, and I want to help you get through this, if you would just let me. Just give me a chance. Her: The empty place is too big. There’s nothing you can do to change it. Him: Nothing? Are you sure there’s really nothing? Her: There’s been a death. There’s a dead place between us now. It can’t work any more. Him: Well I said I would leave and I will. But if you change your mind… Her: Yeah right. Him: Right. Just call me. Her: Right. |