Tommy knew she knew; he could see it in her eyes. But she went back to their Snapchat.
WTFwasImogeneCoca: But U def not father of my child cuz I’m still not pregs!
Gently he rested a hand on her belly. He could feel the baby moving about.
^URSunPC&proud: cancer doesnt kick
WTFwasImogeneCoca: But told U only 1 nite I don’t remember & was with my father so I’m virgin.
Tommy set his jaw.
^URSunPC&proud: nitee u dont remember i
WTFwasImogeneCoca: ?
^URSunPC&proud: i delivered pizza & saw yr father beating uu & kicked his fucking ass
WTFwasImogeneCoca: ?
^URSunPC&proud: really sorry
WTFwasImogeneCoca: ?
^URSunPC&proud: u had passed out
WTFwasImogeneCoca: ?
^URSunPC&proud: really really reallyy sorry
WTFwasImogeneCoca: ?
^URSunPC&proud: u were so pretty i was gentle but it was really really wrongg
Tommy bit his lip hard. Was telling her he’d raped her, when he’d never seen her before the hospital, really better than the truth about her father?
^URSunPC&proud: plz plz plz plz forgive mee
WTFwasImogeneCoca: If I’m really pregs my father will kill me.
^URSunPC&proud: yr father will never see you again
WTFwasImogeneCoca: But where will I go? How will I support myself and a baby??????????
^URSunPC&proud: my place & i take care of u both & no more sex unless u want it
Tommy watched her like a hawk. Was it too much? Her fingers froze. Was she like totally fucking overloaded?
Finally the elevator arrived.
He didn’t know what to do so he found himself typing a really stupid, unimportant detail.
^URSunPC&proud: we just havee to drop by my storage unit firstt
He wheeled her onto the elevator with her fingers frozen in midair. Finally she typed what looked like two characters.
WTFwasImogeneCoca: OK.
Trembling, clutching her few possessions, she’d never looked more like that frightened puppy his own mother had flushed down the toilet. She handed him the tablet, real fucking slow, and darted a look at him before looking back down at her stuff. Gradually her fingers unclenched and she looked up at his chin. Then, like the dawn of a new day, her eyes rose up to meet his, and she spoke to him directly. “OK. Real Life. You. A baby. But no more RL than that. I def can’t take more. And I know.”
He couldn’t keep back a triumphant smile but asked, “Know what?”
Her eyes did something funny. He didn’t fucking understand it, really, but somehow decided it meant that whatever she said next should never be talked about again. “I know you weren’t always ^URS.”
