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A Matter of Fact.

Article Excerpt
What? Ah. Ah. Well, as a matter of fact, yes. I have. I did. I mean, I did have an abortion, younger than you are now, about six months after my fifteenth birthday. And I never did tell your grandma and grandpa--that's how I know there's things you don't tell me. I kept thinking I would tell them later. Later, I thought, you know, there'd be a good time to tell them, a time that would feel right. But no time like that ever seemed to come around. I never meant to never tell them all my life, to keep it a secret all my life. How about I tell you about it, right now? Maybe that'll make up for it-do you think it could work that way? Oh, don't look so worried; this is a good idea. And this is a long story, good and long, so let's get comfortable.

I was scared. And my boyfriend--he was sixteen--was scared too. No, no, not your Daddy, this was years before I ever met him. Oh Judy, we were like puppies, even the sex was puppy bumble. We used rubbers

from the gas station men's room (we didn't call them condoms then); he bought them while I waited in the car. We did it when school was out for Christmas, did it in the car with the motor running, the heater on, and in his bedroom when nobody else was home. We thought we were being careful. We couldn't believe it. I waited more than three months to be sure. Over three months, nearly four, no blood. Then we had to know, we had to believe it, and we did. My skirts wouldn't zip, my bras wouldn't reach to hook. I never threw up though; that was good, you know? But we had not one idea, not one hope.

Then luck came to me, Judy, dumb luck. My first cousin Ellie Lee was...

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