Chapter 13
One Night Love Affair
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"One Night Love Affair" by Bryan Adams
MAY 19th (Monday)
Jean woke up with his alarm blaring through the pain of a hangover. The woman beside him also groaned in misery and pulled a pillow over her head.
Jean sat up, glanced at the naked woman beside him, and wondered what she looked like. He had very little memory of last night, besides banging one lady in the club's toilet stall, and taking another lady home with him. He could not remember which one was which, nor did he know the names of either one.
He got up and went to shower off dried fluids and lipstick marks on his cock. Oh, was it a blowjob? He wished he could remember clearly. Sex was more fun when he wasn't drunk out of his mind.
He made coffee, and at the enticing smell, a woman walked out of the bedroom. Besides her auburn hair sticking up everywhere and eyeliner smeared slightly, he was glad to see that she was beautiful, with massive breasts that were surely fake (not like he cared) and slender limbs.
"Help yourself to the shower," said Jean. "I left a towel out for you. Coffee is brewing, and I can make you something before I go to work. Any allergies?"
The lady chuckled and smiled at him. "Considering how wild you were last night, I wasn't expecting breakfast."
"It's the least I can do for someone so good in bed," he said with a flirtatious smile. That was partly a lie; he could not remember if she was good or not. Still, for forgetting it all, he would make it up to her with breakfast. "I can make you an omelet."
"Thanks. Don't get mad, but I can't remember your name."
"No worries. I can't remember yours," he confessed with a laugh. "Jean."
"Carly."
"Well, Carly, how about a ham, onion, and cheese omelet? Nice and simple. I can make that much with a hangover."
"I think I might throw up if I ate all that," she admitted, rubbing her head. "Some toast and a single egg. I'll get that shower." She began to walk away, but paused and looked around. "You could join me."
Jean laughed at how sexy she was. "Very tempting, but I need to get to work."
"Your loss." She sashayed to the bathroom and closed the door.
Jean muttered to himself, "Plus there's no way I'm getting this little fucker up with a headache this bad." He was glad that he only had to cook eggs. He had offered the omelet out of good old Southern hospitality taught by his mother, but Jean really did not feel like chopping up anything.
Carly took a bit longer than he had expected in the shower. After twenty minutes, Jean walked over to the bathroom and rapped on the door.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah…" she muttered hesitantly. "Um, Jean?"
He could barely hear her over the sound of the shower, so he opened the door and peeked his head into the steamy room. "Do you need anything?"
"A trip to a women's clinic," she said with a weary sigh. "You left quite the mess in me."
He protested, "But it was a blowjob, right?"
"Only the first part," she mumbled.
"I know I would have used a condom!"
"We did the first time, I know that for a fact, but… I think we had a second go. I kinda remember it. I was dead asleep, but you began to take me from behind while moaning some other girl's name. Sharon? Eren?"
"Eren!" he gasped. "No way."
"I don't care who she was," Carly sighed wearily. "I'm on the Pill, but still, just to be safe, can you look up where there's the nearest Planned Parenthood?"
"Um, yeah, sure," Jean said, feeling awkward and glad she could not see his face at that moment.
He left and stumbled back into the kitchen. Sermons he had attended all through his later childhood pummeled him, fiery rants about how abortions were murder, and men who allowed their women to get an abortion were just as guilty in the eyes of the Lord as a man who butchered a baby.
What was he supposed to do? Lock her up, force her not to go, all on the slim chance that she might eventually get pregnant? Deny her even to get an STD test, since she might request to get the morning-after pill as well?
Hell, he should get tested for STDs as well, after banging two women in one night.
Jean got onto his computer to look up where the nearest women's health clinic was.
They had an awkward breakfast. Jean could not stop thinking about what Carly said, that he had taken her from behind while moaning a name that may have sounded like "Eren."
Impossible!
He pulled out his phone and looked at the texts he got early.
‹ Stop thinking about me sucking your cock. Sorry, not interested. I don't eat filth. ›
Jean shook his head. Either Eren's comment had somehow twisted his dreams, or maybe Carly heard some other name. He thought back.
What names sounded like Eren?
Sharon? Karen? Theron? Heron? Was that even a name?
He shook his head and shoved his phone into his pocket. It must have been Karen. He had definitely banged a few women named Karen, so maybe he got Carly and Karen mixed up. It wouldn't be the first time he moaned the wrong woman's name.
Yes, surely that was it!
No way would he think that way about Eren-fucking-Jaeger!
After they were done and dressed, Jean drove Carly to the Planned Parenthood clinic. It was a quiet ride, and he kept the radio on so they would not have to speak to one another.
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"My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit
Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk?
I didn't mean to call you that
I can't remember what was said
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He almost laughed at the irony of those lyrics when his own hangover still pounded behind his eyes like a dull hammer.
He stopped a block away from the clinic, where there was free street-side parking. Already, a crowd of protesters stood out front of the clinic, their picket signs swaying. Jean's stomach tightened as he spotted a familiar figure among them: the pastor from his father's old church, his face contorted with righteous fury as he shouted into a megaphone.
"I hate those people," Carly muttered, her voice raw and brittle. "Do you think you could walk me to the door?"
"No," Jean said in a stone cold voice. He stared unblinking at the pastor, who waved a sign with grotesque imagery plastered across it.
Carly looked over at him in surprise. "They tried to attack me last time. They're less violent if a man is around."
"I said no!" he snapped.
Carly scoffed and sneered at him. "I was going to give you my number, but you can fuck right off, asshole." She yanked the door open, got out, and slammed it with such force that the whole car shook.
Jean sat rigid, his jaw clenched as he watched her march toward the mob, head held high despite the storm awaiting her.
The protesters swarmed around her like vultures, thrusting pictures of bloodied fetuses into her face. When she clearly had no interest in their religious beliefs, they screamed vile accusations.
A man grabbed her shoulder, and Carly slapped his hand away with a gasp of disgust and fear. She desperately tried to pull away from them, slowly pushing her way toward the door, but they blocked her, their hatred pressed in on her from all sides until she could barely move.
Shrieks of accusations bellowed out so loudly, Jean could hear them from a block away.
"How can you live with yourself?"
"You'll burn in hell for this!"
"Repent before it's too late!"
"Shame on you! Shame!"
"Whore of Babylon!"
"Mother of death!"
"Baby killer!"
"Murderer!"
Jean's breath hitched as memories clawed their way out of the hellscape of his past. His father's voice boomed in his mind, harsh and unforgiving.
"You're a failure. A sinner. Disgusting. Weak. How are you my son?"
He saw himself as a boy, maybe twelve, standing in that same crowd, a little boy who did not even know what was going on, holding a sign he thought would help turn people to God. His father's hand gripped his shoulders.
"Hold that sign higher, boy. This is your redemption. You're saving lives today."
He thought he was helping back then.
He was preventing people from becoming murderers, right? Saving their souls? Saving lives?
God's little soldier.
The shame, the guilt, the suffocating weight of a childhood spent in blind obedience clawed at his throat. Jean's jaw trembled, teeth grinding until his gums throbbed. Rage boiled in his chest. His grip on the wheel tightened until his knuckles blanched.
His vision blurred as his father's ghost merged with the pastor in front of him. The same sneering expression. The same condemnation.
Sinner. Disgusting. Weak.
"There's no way I can please you, bastard," he growled.
He slammed on his gas. The car surged forward, tires screeching as it hurtled straight toward the protesters harassing Carly. The engine roared, echoing his fury.
Jean's vision tunneled, his focus locked on the swarm surrounding Carly.
Protesters turned, their faces twisting in shock and terror as they realized what was happening.
Jean did not flinch. His jaw was set, teeth bared like an animal on the brink of madness. His hand slammed down, blasting the horn just as he let out a feral scream.
Cries of fear filled the air. Some protesters fled, some only managed to stumble backward, while a few froze in terror, signs slipping from their hands.
Carly's eyes flicked to the car, a flash of fear breaking through her proud defiance.
Jean's knuckles went white against the wheel. For a breathless moment, he could visualize it—the impact, the chaos, bodies sprawled across the pavement, their signs of bloodied fetuses covered in their own blood.
At the last second, he yanked the wheel hard to the left, spinning it fiercely. The car fishtailed, tires shrieking as it narrowly came to a stop at the edge of the crowd, only barely bumping the curb.
Jean's heart slammed against his ribs as he sat there, smoke curling from the tires. In the rearview mirror, he saw Carly sprint toward the clinic's door, seizing the opportunity while the mob reeled in confusion.
A man hurled his sign at the car, the wooden post clattering uselessly against the pavement.
Jean didn't care.
The fury in his chest hadn't cooled. No, it had crystallized into something colder, sharper. His hands trembled on the wheel as he slammed the gas again, the car roaring away from the scene before anyone had a chance to write down his license plate.
Jean's jaw remained clenched, his face a mask of grim determination.
"The weak fight with words. The strong aren't afraid to use fists. You, my boy, need to learn how to be strong."
Today, Jean had chosen war with the ghosts of his past.
And he wasn't sure who had truly won.
His eyes were cold and narrow. In the mirror, the protesters shrank into the distance, their screams fading beneath the distorted guitars on the radio.
It's no surprise to me, I am my own worst enemy
'Cause every now and then, I kick the livin' shit out of me
Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk?
I didn't mean to call you that.
# # #
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One Night Love Affair is a 1985 single by Canadian singer Bryan Adams and one of his most popular songs in North America.
My Own Worst Enemy is the 1999 signature song of the pop punk band Lit. It's about a man waking up after a drunken night, unable to remember what happened the day before, and regretting it all.
Planned Parenthood clinics have been the target of protests and political/judicial power moves for decades. Since 1977 in the United States and Canada, crimes committed against abortion clinics and providers have included 42 bombings, 173 arsons, 17 attempted murders, 383 death threats, 153 incidents of assault or battery, 13 wounded, 373 physical invasions, 41 bombings, 91 attempted bombings or arsons, 619 bomb threats, 1630 incidents of trespassing, 1264 incidents of vandalism, 100 attacks with butyric acid, 655 anthrax threats, and 3 kidnappings committed against abortion providers.
The sad irony is that some of these attacks have been against clinics that don't even provide abortion, but instead HELP parents to get pregnant.
(FYI, I have already had to increase the numbers on these grim stats twice, so it's very likely even more by the time you read this.)
One fifth of all reproductive health clinics have experienced some form of extreme activity. What really doesn't help is when people like Donald Trump pardons criminals for attacking patients and clinics. It only encourages even more violence. Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress struggle to stem back right-wing pushes toward Christian Nationalism and subjecting doctors to criminal charges for providing even life-saving reproductive care.
Is trying to ban abortion with laws uniquely Christian Nationalism? Absolutely! For Jews, the life of the mother is paramount, and it is required that she get an abortion if her life is at risk, no matter when in gestation she is at. Muslims also allow for abortions up to a certain point. Most other religions have no opinion at all and leave that choice up to the mother. Only Christians believe that all abortion is murder. Many Christian Nationalists are even pushing to ban basic contraception devices like condom and IUDs.
So congrats. If you are anti-abortion, that's fine for you as a Christian who believes in that (many Christians do not) but if you believe a woman's right to get an abortion should be regulated by the government, you are a Christian Nationalist, and I will call you out every time.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD
Planned Parenthood is a non-profit organization that provides reproductive health care to all genders. They operate 600 clinic in America, as well as clinics in other countries. They see 2.5 million patients annually. Out of 9 million services provided every year, only 300,000 were abortions, yet that is what conservatives focus on. Planned Parenthood clinics have been the target of domestic terrorist attacks, including arson, bombings, and executing doctors.
Founded by two sisters and their friend in 1916, it helped women with sex education and reproductive health care in a time when "sex talks" were simply not proper, doctors often refused to treat women with vaginal pain because to do so was improper, complaining about menstrual troubles could result in a woman being placed in a mental institute, and simple means of birth control (like condoms) were illegal in some States.
From those early days, clinics were raided and the doctors and nurses arrested for the crime of giving women birth control pills and condoms. Laws had to be adjusted to permit physician-prescribed birth control. Through the 1920s and into the 1960s, women campaigned for major changes in the laws governing birth control and sex education in the United States, and Planned Parenthood led the way.
It was not just birth control. After World War II, as the Baby Boom exploded with massive families, Planned Parenthood was key in providing fertility services to both men with erectile dysfunction and women struggling with miscarriages. Yes, you could go there to prevent a pregnancy, but many couples went there to assist in pregnancy. They provided pregnant women with health checkups, especially to the poor who could not afford the growing expense of American health care.
In 1955, Planned Parenthood convened a national conference of physicians to discuss women's health. The conference was the first instance of physicians advocating reform of the laws which criminalize abortion. It played a key role in creating a movement for the reform of abortion laws in the U.S. The organization played a key role in landmark abortion rights cases such as Roe v Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v Casey (1992). Once abortion was legalized, Planned Parenthood also began acting as an abortion provider. However, no federal money given to Planned Parenthood is used for abortions. That money is used to help low-income people of all genders to get sex education and reproductive health care.
Sadly, since 1976 some of these clinics have been the target of terrorist attacks by conservative Christians claiming to be "Pro-life." This includes 11 murders, 41 bomb attacks, 173 arsons, 100 butyric acid attacks, 153 assault or battery incidents, 373 physical invasions, 1630 incidents of trespassing, 1264 incidents of vandalism, 619 bomb threats, 655 anthrax threats, 17 attempted murders, and 3 kidnappings. One fifth of all clinics in America have been the target of some form of violence.
Laws had to be made to prevent protesters from blocking the path of people trying to enter the clinics. Despite those laws, Americans have the freedom to protest, and they do. Constantly. Sometimes violently.
The terrorist organization known as Army of God is responsible for many of the worst of these crimes: kidnapping, assassinations, arson, chemical attacks, shrapnel bombs, nail bombs, etc. The organization proudly embraces their position as terrorists and swears to continue violence against reproductive health care providers (some of whom are not licensed to perform abortions and are actually there to assist in fertility, but these assholes don't care).
As Roe v Wade was struck down and Conservatives are now free to ban women's bodily autonomy, laws making even simple procedures highly restrictive and expensive have forced some clinics to shut down. Abortions in those Republican-led states may be all but completely banned. Access to basic reproductive care is limited, one Republican even suggested making condoms illegal again, just like 1916, all while more and more laws come out trying to ban basic birth control like IUDs and the Pill.
I know a woman who needs birth control pills and hormone shots for endometriosis, and she is low income so she has always gotten her health care from Planned Parenthood. Now, not only has the clinic closed, but she had to move to another state because Conservatives blocked her medication. They think "only transgender people need hormone shots" and the birth control pill she needed to control menstrual pain is now illegal in her home state. The pain without her medication is so bad, she has fainted in public from the agony.
According to the United Nations, bodily autonomy is the FOUNDATION upon which all human rights are built.
The government has no right to dictate what a woman does with her own body.
Conservative Christians are free to have their own beliefs, but they are NOT free to force everyone else to follow their faith.
Christian denominations can't even decide when life begins, so why are they allowed to haphazardly dictate the lives of others through religion-based laws? Other religions have different laws on when life begins. Jews, Muslims, and many others have specific moments or dates. Christians have chaotic guesses. Yet they make the rules for everyone?
That is not freedom.
That is religious oppression.
This is supposed to be a country of religious freedom. That includes freedom from religion.
When your religion violates the basic human rights of others, perhaps you should rethink your definition of "morality."
Women deserve BODILY AUTONOMY.
Bodily autonomy is a HUMAN RIGHT.