Chapter Eight

They sat on the sofa, Bradin's arm around Marie as she cried; trying to find the words she wanted to say.

"You can tell me what's wrong Marie," Bradin reassured her, "whatever it is, you can tell me." Marie shook her head against his shoulder, choking back yet another body-shaking sob.

"No," she said, looking up at him with watery eyes, "I can't tell you." Bradin sighed; she was shutting him out yet again. She stood quickly and walked towards the door. Bradin got up and followed her.

"Marie, please." He looked at her. She refused to meet his eye. He hooked a finger beneath her chin and gently forced her to look at him. "You can tell me." He said gently. She wiped the tears from her eyes and reached into the purse that was slung over her hip. She pulled out a paper bag and held it out to Bradin. He took it from her trembling hand and opened it. His eyes widened when he saw the box inside the bag.

"This is…this is a pregnancy test." He stumbled over the words, searching Marie's eyes for assurance that that is what it was. Her eyes were filled with fresh tears. She nodded her head.

"Yes it is." she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"But you…you can't be…pregnant." He said the last word quietly, as if he was afraid to be caught saying it. Marie bit her bottom lip and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"What's going on?" Bradin asked her.

"I can't tell you." she cried, her face contorting as the tears flooded down at her face once more. She looked at Bradin, her eyes wild with fear. "He'll kill me if I say anything." she whispered.

"Who will kill you?" Bradin was worried now. Marie couldn't be right in the head, not with the way she was talking. Marie's mouth clamped shut and she looked around the room as if looking for someone to jump out and yell boo.

"I shouldn't have said anything." she said quietly, shaking her head furiously.

"Marie," he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her slightly, "You have to tell me what's going on. Who is going to kill you?"

"My stepfather." She whispered. Suddenly the whole story was spilling out of Marie. She told Bradin everything about her past, everything about what her stepfather did to her.

Bradin stood there, listening to it all, disgusted at what Marie had been through. How could someone be so inhuman? To make another suffer for your own pleasure? The thought of it made Bradin's skin crawl.

"So, you think you might be…pregnant?" he said, looking down at the box he still held in his hands.

"I'm nearly three weeks late." She replied, her voice still choked with tears.

"What can I do?" He asked, looking over at Marie. She smiled at him gratefully and hugged him. Bradin wrapped his arms around her, wishing there was more he could do to help.

"Just point me in the direction of your bathroom." she said pulling away from him and wiping away the few tears that had slipped from her eyes.


Pacing the floor of Bradin's bedroom, Marie couldn't help but glance at her watch every few seconds. How long was it supposed to take for the stupid test to work?

Bradin placed a comforting hand on her arm and pulled her down onto the bed beside him.

Marie was grateful that he had not judged her as she had first thought he would do. He had been as helpful as he could be, offering her comfort when she needed it. She would be forever in his debt.

The alarm on her watch went off, startling the two. Marie looked at Bradin. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. Taking in a deep, calming breath, Marie walked over to Bradin's desk where the test lay, waiting to be read. She shut her eyes and picked it up. Counting to ten slowly to calm her nerves, she opened her eyes and felt her knees go weak. Negative. The word had never been so beautiful. Marie gave a joyful cry and leapt into Bradin's arms. Tears of joy fell down her face, making a dark circle on the shoulder of Bradin's shirt.

"Thank you." She whispered in his ear.

"For what?" he whispered back.

"For helping me get through this." she said. Bradin's arms tightened around her and she felt his lips on her neck. She pushed him away gently. "Please don't do that." She said.

"Sorry," he replied sheepishly, looking like a little kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. They stood there in silence.

"Bradin," Marie said, her voice filling the room.

"Yeah?"

"You have to promise me something."

"What's that?"

"You have to promise that you won't tell anybody what I told you. You know, about my stepfather." Bradin looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"What?" He cried. "Marie, if we don't tell anybody he's just going to keep doing this and next time the test might not be negative."

"Don't you think I know that?" Marie yelled. "Please Bradin," she said in a more quiet tone, "please promise you won't tell. There's no telling what he'll do to me if he finds out I told." Bradin sighed heavily and looked down at his shifting feet.

"Okay," he said after a long time, "but you have to promise to tell me if anything else happens." She nodded her head.

"Agreed. Now I better get going. He's going to be home soon and I don't want him to get suspicious." She hugged him once more, seeking the strength to walk home.

"Marie," Bradin said as she walked towards the door. She turned. "Remember that you always have a place to stay if you need one." She smiled slightly.

"I will."


It was late in the afternoon and Bradin was still thinking of Marie's visit earlier that day. She had been so scared, so afraid that her stepfather would find out about her telling Bradin about the tortures she had been through. The events of her visit plagued his mind and he wasn't certain if he had done the right thing in promising not to tell her secret.

So lost in his thoughts, Bradin didn't see Jay coming out of the back and ran right into him.

"Sorry Jay." He apologized as he helped the older guy pick up the surfboard wax that Bradin had caused him to drop.

"It's alright kid," Jay assured him, his Australian accent prevalent in his words. He looked at the boy. "You got something on your mind Bradin?" he asked, seeming to read his thoughts.

"No," Bradin shook his head, "well…actually, I do. Jay, what would you do if someone asked you to keep a secret, but you thought that that secret could hurt the person who is making you keep it?"

"What do you mean?" Jay asked. Bradin closed his eyes, searching for the right words.

"If you were told to keep a secret that is harmful to someone, would you still keep it, or tell and hope that it helps the person?" He said finally.

"Well," Jay said, his brow furrowed in thought. "If I really cared about this person who has the secret and didn't want to see them hurt then yes, I would tell somebody. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Bradin replied. He didn't want to tell Marie's secret without thinking it out first. If he told now, it might cause more harm than good, and he didn't want to see Marie hurt anymore than she already was.


Marie sat at her window, staring out at the ocean forlornly. She should be happy, she should be jumping and dancing and shouting praise to God for keeping her from being pregnant. But she didn't feel so happy.

She sighed and placed her cheek against the hot glass. Shutting her eyes tightly she remembered everything that had happened that morning.

Her stepfather was still out, probably passed out on someone's couch somewhere; it really didn't matter, as long as he was gone. She had been scared, beyond scared actually. Never having had her period come more than a week late, Marie had been deathly afraid to find that she was almost three weeks late. So she did the only thing she could do, she ran into town and bought a pregnancy test. Then she didn't know what to do. She couldn't very well go back to her house and risk her stepfather finding the test in the trash. No, there would be hell to pay if he found it. So she stood there, in the middle of the drug store, holding the home pregnancy test and looking like an idiot. She just started walking then, not sure where she was going until she ended up at Bradin's home. She'd seen him walk home one day and remembered which house was his. She remembered the way her hands trembled as she knocked on the door, hoping and praying that he was alone. He was. She had wanted to fall into his arms right then and there and never let him go. She wanted to cling to him for forever, feeling the comfort and safety that he gave her.

A tear slipped down Marie's face. She didn't deserve Bradin. He was so sweet and caring, and she was, well she wasn't. She was a used and battered girl who deserved none of his goodness. What could she offer him anyway? Everything that she had once held so dear was used and not as precious as she had once thought it. Her body was not special anymore, not after being used by so many. She had nothing special to give him. So why would he want her?


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