Chapter 1
For some people, children are a source of light and joy. For others, they are a burden. I don’t know what I feel for them. Mostly because I never had my own children, and never thought about it because I didn’t think I would have any. I don’t know how to clean them or treat them well; it’s weird. But more importantly, not saying that babies are unimportant. I don’t even know the father of this child. It could be Joshua or Mr Stranger. The uncertainty is eating me alive. It was a bad idea to sleep with two men on the same day. One mistake can really mess up your life. What do I tell Joshua? He will be furious when he finds out that he might not be the father. I am more worried about my mother and sister’s reactions and what Mr. Stranger would say. I don’t even know his name, and he might be the father of my child. I never thought you could be a bad mother before the child was born. But at that moment, I felt frozen and didn’t know what to do. What to say and what to do with Joshua’s face. When the doctor told me about my pregnancy, Joshua was shocked but in a good way and kind of looked happy. I did not show any emotion on my face and remained quiet even when Joshua was looking at me with the smiley face of his.
After I signed all of my release papers, although I tried walking out fast of the hospital as quickly as possible, Joshua quickly caught up with me.
“Can you believe it?” Joshua asked. I kept avoiding his glances at me.
“I know unbelievable.” I said. Really, I was on my period and it was my first time so how in the world am I pregnant?
“Well let’s get you home.″ He said.
“I’m getting a ride to go check on my car.” I said.
“No you can’t it would be better for you to rest considering how you were also in a car accident.” He said.
“I have to see the car, it’s my friend’s car and plus the doctor said that I’m okay.″ I said. We started walking in harmony together.
“Fine, but you have to text me when you get home.” He said. I nodded.
“Actually call me instead; I need a visual to see if you are really okay.” He said.
“Why?” I said.
“Because I need a visual to see if you are really okay.” He said.
“Can’t you just take my word for it?″
″People lie all the time.” he said.
″I don’t feel the need to lie, and if you think I would, you’re wrong.″ I said.
″I don’t know you that well; you have to earn my trust before I’ll believe anything you say.″ He replied.
I said, stopping to turn at him. My voice sounded reassuring despite my nervousness. “You’ll see that I’m harmless, and that I’m not a liar.” If this child was not his and the contact I signed would be broken, things would be very different.
“I hope you prove me wrong.” He says while opening the exitance door for me.
I thanked him as I exited the door and walked a few miles before reaching the car place. Since it wasn’t far from the hospital, my phone was blowing up with many voicemails from Stacy and messages from her that read “Who was that man?” and “Why is he kind of hot?” Seriously does she hate him or like him. And what the hell am I going to do if he is the father of my baby? I would freak, and my mind is still spinning from all of this. From the baby and car crash, from being in a hospital, and looking through my phone an email popped up from the architecture company. I panicked because I missed my first day of work at their office. I should send them an email instead of not saying anything about my absence from work today. Even though I was just in a car accident and went to the hospital for almost two hours, I was still exhausted. The only thing I really wanted to do was check on Sophia’s car and talk to her more. I haven’t seen Sophie for a very long time, and I miss our friendship that we had together. We’ve been such good friends since high school, and that connection has never really gotten away even after she went to college in Boston and left me at home by myself. She doesn’t treat me any differently because of where I’m from or how much money my family has. The walk to the car shop seemed much longer than it actually was, and I’d constantly get lost in my thoughts. I remember thinking about the pregnancy, and Sophie’s car—how damaged it might look because I hadn’t seen it since the accident on my walk, where I saw birds leaves on the floor and rustling sounds of fall coming into play.
As I approached the car shop, I read the sign: Auto Parts Fixers Uppers. The title was long and the store appeared to be a big size. However, it had pretty pink on it and pretty designs. So I guess that was good. As I entered the shop, a young gentleman greeted me with a rusty appearance. His body mostly had grease on it and showed through his whole appearance: his hair was dirty brown although it appeared as if his original hair color was blond with grease all over his hands as he walked into the shop you could smell gasoline and just metal if metal had a smell this would be it.
He said, “Hello. How can I help you here today at Auto Parts Fixer Uppers?”
I replied, “My car is here. I just came to check on how it is and how long it will take to fix it.”
He said, “Okay. Let me go get the car list so that we can figure out which one’s yours.” I’ll be right back, just wait here.
I stood there in my same position while I waited for him to go get the list of the car named at the desk. The front desk was still invisible from where I was standing, so I watched as he went over to get it, and come back right to me. The man looked young just like me; he seemed about my age range. But what surprised me most was that he seemed very young—how much experience could he have with cars if he’s only twenty-something? But don’t judge a book by its cover.
He said, as he walked toward me, “Here’s the list. What car do you have?”
I replied, “I have a Honda Fit hatchback—it’s the white one.”
He asked, “Okay. Let’s have a look at it.” We walked over to the front desk, where he grabbed a pen and walked outside with me. He open the door for me while I walk out; then you say thank you as he says, “You’re welcome.”
We’re outside in the parking lot of the shop; there are many cars from different ranges of colors—white to black to red and blue. There are two sections of parking reserved for luxury cars: Brand names like Toyota Nissans and different ranges of colors from white to black to red and two others reserved for sports cars and fancy cars like those that cost millions of dollars.
He took me to a section of the parking lot where most of their hatchbacks were. I looked around, spotting the white one first. It didn’t look so bad on the outside; there were a few scratches here and there, but nothing too serious. The tires were pretty messed up, but that didn’t seem like something that would take thousands of dollars to repair.
So, as confidently as I was in that very special moment, I turned around to ask him. "How much damage would it cost me? "
"As you can see, some of the scratches were on the trunk and some were on the roof and underside of the car. It was clear that there were some really bad scratches around the windows and seats too. In total, I estimated that this car would cost about $16,007. " He said.
