It's a Hard Life- Chapter 3
Bay stared at the two little lines. How could two little lines mean so much? She thought to herself as tears she had been holding back spilled from her eyes. All Bay could think of was how much her life was going to change. Her life as she knew it was over. Emmett would be able to continue his life, not much would change for him even if he were the father. It's not like he would suddenly drop everything for her. Not now anyway. In his mind he was sure she cheated on him. And Tank…
For just a moment Bay allowed the floodgates in her eyes to open. Everything she had been holding back came rushing out.
A few minutes later Bay heard the door to the bathroom swing open. The hairs on Bays neck stood up. She felt embarrassed. As a quick attempt to make her look presentable she wiped her eyes with the corner of the sleeve on her sweatshirt. Bay took a deep breath and one last glance at the test before wrapping it up in some tissue paper and tossing it in the little sanitary trash cans. Still two pink lines.
Taking another deep breath Bay unlocked the latch and exited the stall trying to hide her face from the longhaired woman changing her baby. Bay walked to the sink turned the lever on the sink and proceeded to wash her hands splashing a little water on her face. She took another look at the woman with the baby reflected in the mirror. The mother was noticeably thin she wore black leggings, blue jean shorts, a red tank top and a beige cardigan. When the girl took a curious glance at Bay, Bay noticed her face was much more youthful and soft than she had originally thought. The girl gave Bay a quick smile and looked away.
When Bay was finished she grabbed a paper towel, dried her hands and dabbed her face. At the same time the girl picked up her baby and closed the changing table. With ease the girl walked towards the door as if she had done it a thousand times and then for a second she struggled with the door but Bay held it open behind her.
"Thanks." The girl said to her.
Bay noticed the cute little chub on the young infant.
"Your baby is so cute." It took some effort.
The girl looked at her and let out a little giggle.
"Oh he's not mine!" the girl giggled again. "I'm just babysitting."
The jab was felt deep by Bay. Of course the girl probably didn't mean anything other than the baby just not being hers but Bay knew she had no business being a mother at such a young age.
"Oh okay." Bay said to the girl as she exited the stall and Bay followed but walked quickly to the opposite door trying to avoid any more awkwardness.
Bay got into her sister's car put the car in reverse and headed straight home. She didn't pass go, and she didn't collect $200 dollars.
When Bay got home, she parked the car grabbed her bag and went into the house hoping for some peace and quiet in her own bed. At first when she opened the front door she the house seemed quiet. She closed the door behind her and walked into house. When she passed their family room she was shocked when she heard her father Johns voice.
"Bay," Bay jumped a little.
"Dad," she said closing her eyes before turning around. "Not funny."
"You dropped Daphne off at the airport?" He asked.
"Yes, dad." She said.
"Come in here and get some lunch." Her mother Katherine called from the kitchen.
"I'm really not feeling…" Bay almost admitted. "We had a late night." Bay lied
"Oh really?" Katherine asked. "Daphne said you guys turned in early."
"Well I don't know." Bay looked around trying to avoid the awkwardness. She really just wanted to be alone.
"Come eat." John said firmly. "Your mother worked hard. And look at you, you look like you've lost weight."
"Fine." She gave in.
"These ungrateful kids." John said under his breath.
Bay took her place at their large dining room table. Her mom had served fancy sub sandwiches usually Bay liked sandwiches but honestly these were making her stomach turn. Both her mother and father sat down. Bay was embarrassed. Perhaps it wasn't embarrassment but she thought it strange that she was the only one of the three who had still not moved out. Daphne was in college although she stayed close her for her first semester Bay had finally convinced her to leave for Gallaudet where her chances of becoming a doctor would be greater. Toby lived on his own pursuing a music career. And she was just here, unemployed, not in school and pregnant. Pregnant… Ugh! She screamed inside.
Before she found out she was pregnant it wasn't so strange but now...
Bay took a bite of her sandwich and turned to her mom making a comment about how good it was. If she was being completely honest she would have said it was making her sick, but she didn't want to alarm her parents. Usually it was her favorite.
When she was done she asked to be excused cleared her plate and went to her bedroom. She locked the door behind her and walked to her bed pulled the covers back and crawled in. And with that she could no longer hold her self together.
She cried and entire body shook as each cry rippled through her. She attempted to muffle her cries through the blanket. It was either that which worked or their massive house because no one came to bother her.
Bay felt… pathetic. She beat herself down hard calling herself all the names in the book.
How could I get myself into this mess? She screamed in her head. This is not how things were supposed to happen. She hit her tried not to let herself think about what her life would be like if she hadn't taken the blame for Daphne. She couldn't allow herself to go there. This was not Daphne's doing.
By the next morning Bay had finally managed to compose herself. She tried to forget that she was pregnant but every time she forgot she was once again reminded by another bout of nausea.
"Good morning Bay," Katherine said when she saw Bay come into the kitchen.
"Hey mom." She yawned.
"There's milk and cereal." Katherine said pointing to the milk and cereal on the counter.
"That's okay, I think I am going to go look for a job." She admitted.
"Really?" Katherine asked.
"Is it so unbelievable that I would look for a job?" She asked.
"I just…" Katherine laughed. "I'm happy to hear that you are finally getting out."
"Thanks." Bay tried to laugh back. She had laid in bed for a long time last night finally coming to the conclusion that she needed to do more.
Bay walked to her car, The Thing put her keys in the ignition and sped off. Bay loved her car. It was one of the things that she could always depend on. She looked at the back seat suddenly realizing an infant seat might not fit well or safely back there.
Bay spent the day putting in applications and sipping on a homeopathic ginger recipe that was supposed to help with the nausea. She felt as if she had put in over a hundred applications to places she didn't really want to work at anyway, If she had it her way she'd be working in as an artist. But right now that part of her life was on hold, at least until she found a paying job. Not that this would be enough.
At the end of the day Bay put in her last application in before heading home. She tried to remain positive. If everything else in her life was going sour that didn't mean she had to.
The next day Bay got a few calls to come in for an interview, not as many as she had been hoping, but it was better than nothing. Her first interview was at 11:00 for a job she actually wanted.
A few minutes before 11:00 Bay walked up to the front desk of the Kansas City Art Gallery.
"I have an interview with Raquel." She said to the employee selling tickets.
"Yes, have a seat she will be right out to get you." The woman said.
A few minutes later a tall blonde walked out and Bay stood up.
"Bay Kennish?" The woman asked.
"Yes, and you must be Raquel." Bay said to the woman with a smile.
"Right this way." Raquel said turning towards the door she had come from.
The two of them walked into a large office. The office was not extremely fancy but still impressive. The walls were beautifully decorated with paintings and pictures from local artists. One piece in particular stood out. She stared at the beautiful blues and grays of a woman standing facing a storm on the shore of the ocean and her lover walked out of sight.
Raquel asked Bay a multitude of generic questions about why she wanted to work at the gallery and her experience in art. Bay felt like things were going well and Raquel was impressed at Bays knowledge of art and a few pieces of art Bay had brought with her hoping they might help her chances of being hired.
Everything was going great until Raquel asked Bay if she had a criminal record.
Bay swallowed hard, she thought it might come up, but she had been hoping to avoid it.
"Uh," she stuttered. "I got in trouble last year after my dad passed away." She admitted.
"You are required to disclose the information." Raquel gave her a disappointed look. "We will do a background check anyway."
"I got in trouble for vandalism but I did community service for months and paid all of the fines." Bay stared embarrassed. Even though she was not the one who had vandalized the construction site it had defined her life for almost an entire year. Bay paused another second
"That's really great." Raquel smiled. "I believe you but it is our policy not to hire criminals."
Tears swelled in Bays eyes. Bay felt embarrassed.
"I'm not a criminal." Bay protested. "I just made a bad decision and I am making up for it. I have even started my own volunteer project called Every Day Heroes."
"Again, that's great." Raquel smiled and with that she stood up and walked Bay to the door.
"Thanks for your time." Bay said and walked out the door.
At the end of the day Bay walked in to the kitchen. John, Katherine and Toby were at the table eating. Bay sat down to join them.
"So how did your interviews go?" Katherine asked Bay.
"No one wants to hire a criminal." Bay said disappointed.
"Oh Bay they'd be lucky to have you." Katherine reassured.
"Yes, but they don't want me." Bay said looking away.
After the art museum five other businesses who had her come in for an interview all basically shut their doors on her as soon as they found out she had a criminal record. They all tried to be polite wishing her the best but it was obvious they wouldn't hire her.
"It's not like you didn't know they wouldn't hire someone with a criminal record." John asked.
"Well I had an idea but I had no clue it would be so hard to find a job."
"Maybe I can put a good word in for you." John said.
"Dad," Bay looked at him disapproving. "You can't always fix everything."
"But I can try." He said.
Bay wasn't really sure if she was speaking about the job or the pregnancy when she told him that he couldn't fix everything. Perhaps it was both.
After dinner was over everyone helped put away the dishes. Suddenly Bay felt another bout of nausea this time having to hold her hand over her mouth to keep it from coming up.
Bay tried not to make a scene and ran to the nearest bathroom. Everything she had eaten that day came up. Once she was done she tried her best to clean up any obvious sign of what had just happened. A few minutes later she walked out of the bathroom and almost collided into her brother Toby.
"Whoa, little sister." He said concerned. "You alright?"
"I'm fine." She said irritated.
"Are you sure?" He asked. "That's not what it sounded like in there."
"Come on."
"You're not making yourself throw up are you?" He said in a low concerned voice.
"No, I think just ate something bad earlier." She said pushing him away.
"Okay." He said to her. "I might not live here anymore but you know I'm always here for you if you need me."