The Heat Seekers

“This should be the happiest day of my life, other than the day I first met you.” Tempest smiled. Meeting Janessa was also the best thing that had ever happened to her. “Instead, my life has turned into a complete nightmare.”

“Janessa, I’m not sure what this is all about, but you’re a wonderful woman and a great friend. Whatever this is, we’ll work through it together. First, you’ve got to tell me what’s going on. What nightmare are you talking about?”

Janessa sat up, looking at Tempest through tear-drenched eyes, leaving a trail of them on Tempest’s blouse. “Do you want the good or the bad first?”

“Good,” Tempest replied without hesitation.

“I got accepted into Howard for the fall semester,” Janessa blurted out.

“That’s fantastic news!” Tempest exclaimed, suddenly feeling better.

“I even got a full scholarship,” Janessa added. “The one you suggested I apply for.”

“Gurl, that’s wonderful! I’m so proud of you!” Tempest gave her a huge bear hug. “Why do you consider that a nightmare? Are you worried about making good grades? If so, you can cut that out right now, because you’ve always been smarter than I have. You just never applied yourself.”

Janessa was flattered by the compliment, but it didn’t help the situation any. “School’s not a problem, Tempest, because I won’t be attending. Not in the fall. Not ever.”

Tempest was confused. She thought getting a college education was what Janessa wanted. “Why not?”

“Because I can’t deal with going to school, going to work, studying, and—”

“Janessa, I told you I’d help you out financially if need be. We agreed you would go to school during the day and work part-time in the evening.”

“Let me finish!” Janessa snapped.

Tempest went quiet and waited to hear the bad news that was apparently still lurking around the corner. Janessa had mentioned good and bad.

Janessa stood up and leaned up against one of the wood beams supporting the roof of the shelter. She didn’t want to look Tempest in the face. She was so ashamed. “I can’t go to college because I’m pregnant!”

Janessa clamped her eyes shut, expecting Tempest to start yelling all sorts of disparaging comments at her, but none ever came. Finally she turned around and saw that Tempest had laid her head down on the table, engulfing it with her arms. Probably trying to hide her anger, Janessa figured.

The thunder was getting closer, and Janessa saw a flash of lightning in the near distance. “Hmph, now you’re the one that has nothing to say, huh, Tempest?”

“It’s not that,” Tempest whispered, her voice barely audible. “I’m just thinking.”

Janessa went over and sat on the top of the picnic table with her feet on the bench beside Tempest and her knee touching Tempest’s shoulder. “What’s there to think about? My life’s finished, over, kaput.”

Tempest looked up at her, and Janessa could tell she was fighting back tears. “On the contrary, your life is just beginning.”

Janessa smirked. “How do you figure that? The last thing I need right now is a baby. I was just beginning to get my shit together so I could become independent enough to get my own place and a car, and most importantly, so I could get a college degree. At first I didn’t give two shakes of a rat’s tail about going to college. You know that! But finally I got excited about the whole thing and was ready to go for it.” Janessa fingered her well-toned stomach. “Now this.”

“Did you tell Dvontè already?” Tempest saw the eye-roll, lip-smack combination Janessa threw at her and guessed she had. “Well, what did he say?”

“What didn’t he say is more the question! First, he started cussin’ like all hell. Not necessarily at me, but at life in general. Then he said he would call an abortion clinic the next day and set up an appointment, like it was a given I would get rid of it.”

“Is that what you want to do? Have an abortion?”

“I don’t know what the hell I want! I’m so confused, but I know you can relate to what I’m feeling. We’ve been here before, you and me.”

Tempest didn’t even want to go there, but it was inevitable. “Yeah, but this time the shoe is on the other foot.” She reached out and rubbed Janessa’s knee. “If you’re not ready to handle this, then we’ll deal with it together. You were there for me, and I’ll be there for you. Just say the word, and I’ll go to the clinic with you. I’ll even pay for it if you need me to.”

“That’s the one thing Dvontè has no problem with. Giving me money to have an abortion.” Janessa wiped the tears off her left cheek with the sleeve of Tempest’s jacket. “I told him we needed to think this through. He became belligerent and threw me out of his car on the Fourteenth Street Bridge.”

“I sincerely hope you’re kiddin’, Janessa.” Tempest was appalled at the thought of him tossing her out like a piece of trash. “He put you out on the street?”

“Yes, he treated me like a tramp, a nobody. Dvontè and I have been seeing each other just as long as you and Geren. I knew he didn’t love me. I’m not even sure I love him. But I never thought he would diss me like that.”

“I’m going to kill him!” Tempest barked. “Nobody treats you like that! Wait till I get my hands on him!”