Pushed to the Limit

by Bonnie Gibson

Table of Contents
Part 4 and part 5 appear in this issue.

part 6

“No, Mom, he doesn’t know yet.” Brenda said. “I’m going to tell him Friday night. He asked me to marry him, Mom. Even when he didn’t know.”

“I guess we don’t have a much of a choice now, do we? I’ll have to sign for you,” Judy said. “Billy is going to have to step up to the plate now. I guess we’ll find out for sure now what he is really made of, won’t we? I guess you know we’ll have to tell your dad tonight when he gets in from work.”

“Yeah, I know, Mom, I know, I’ve been dreading telling both of you.” Brenda said. “Do you hate me, Mom?

“Of course I don’t hate you. You are my baby. I’ll always love you, Brenda no matter what you do. I just wished you would have waited until you finished high school at least before getting pregnant.” she said.

“I know, Mom, I do love Billy but I’m seeing just how important it is to me now to want to finish school.” Brenda said.

“Brenda, you don’t have to marry Billy. You can stay at home and have this baby and go to school,” Judy said.

“I couldn’t do that to you and dad, Mom,” Brenda said. “Dad works hard enough now to make ends meet. Billy has a good job, and he said he has been saving for college, but he’ll just have to use it for our marriage. He needs to be the one to take care of us, not you and dad. I love you, Mom, for saying that, though, and giving me the option. Most parents wouldn’t be so good about it.”

“I love you, Brenda,” her mom said.

“I love you, too, Mom,” Brenda said as she went over and gave her mom a big hug.

Archie came home and they told him the news together. “How could this happen!” he exclaimed. “Judy didn’t you teach her anything?” Archie sat on the couch with his hands over his face.

Brenda walked over and sat down on the couch beside him. “I’m so sorry Dad. I know you are disappointed in me. But please don’t blame Mom. She taught me all she needed to. It was I that made the mistake and I am sorry. I know I have made a mess of things, but you don’t have to worry, Billy will take good care of me.”

“Does he know?” Archie asked, looking Brenda straight in the eye.

“No, sir, not yet, but I am telling him Friday night,” she said.

“Then how do you know he is going to take care of you?” he asked.

“Because Dad, I know Billy and he would never refuse his responsibilities,” she answered.

“Well, I guess we will see, then,” Archie snapped.

Although Archie and Judy had gotten very fond of Billy, they didn’t want it to turn out this way. They decided that together they could work it all out and everything would be fine.

Brenda went to her room and telephoned Cindy to find out if she had gotten into trouble for leaving school. “No, I didn’t get into any trouble. Mom just told me that she was proud of me for trying to help you. But she said if I ever ran into anything else like that I should confide in an adult.”

“Yeah, I know, I should have went straight to my mom.” Brenda admitted. “It was just so hard. I was too embarrassed to tell her. I have always been able to talk to my mom about everything, but this was just a little too much.”

“Well?” Cindy spoke as if it were a question.

“Well what?” Brenda asked.

“Well what did they say? You haven’t told me anything about what went on at your house.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. My mind is spinning in circles. Mom took it well. At least better than I thought she would. She didn’t yell or anything. She cried. That made it worse. I would rather she yelled at me than just sit there and say nothing like a zombie. She said that Billy and I could get married.”

“Well, that’s good,” Cindy said.

“Yeah, it is,” Brenda replied. “I thought Dad was going to have a fit when we told him but he took it okay. He certainly wasn’t overjoyed, mind you, but he was okay.”

“What did he say?” Cindy asked.

“Well first he yelled at Mom, blaming her for not teaching me about getting pregnant,” Brenda answered. “Then he calmed down a bit. He asked me if Billy knew. I told him no but I was going to tell him Friday night. I can tell you he wasn’t a happy camper.”

“Oh man, I’m glad I’m not in your shoes. My dad would have killed me. Mom probably would be more understanding, but you know these dads and their little girls. They think we should be perfect little angels,” Cindy sneered.

“Oh how well I know, but we love them don’t we?” Brenda said, laughing.

Brenda heard other voices on the phone in the background. “Get off the phone. I need to use it. You’ve been on it all day.”

“I gotta go,” Cindy announced. “My little brother is having a fit to use the phone. He only wants to use it when he sees that I’m on it.”

“See you at school tomorrow then, bye,” Brenda said.

The next day at school was really hard for Brenda. Word had gotten out about her pregnancy.

“Just don’t pay them any attention,” Cindy told Brenda as they walked down the hallway at school. The other students were snickering as they saw Brenda walk past them.

“It’s so hard,” Brenda responded. “They have always looked down on me and now it’s going to be much worse, but I guess it’s my fault. I brought it all on myself. I’ll just have to deal with it.”

“They’re probably just jealous,” Cindy said. “You have a very nice boyfriend, and a very good-looking one too. Just rise above it Brenda, just rise above it.”

“I’m trying, it’ll just take some time. It’s just so embarrassing. I can’t concentrate on school; I can’t concentrate on anything right now,” Brenda admitted. “Do you have any of those mints left in your purse? My stomach is so queasy.”

Cindy went rumbling through her purse looking for mints. “I don’t think I have any left. That was probably the last of them I gave you in the doctor’s office,” she said.

Mrs. Sterling walked past the girls with her hand extended out to Brenda. Brenda reached up and Mrs. Sterling put a peppermint in her hand and smiled at her.

“Thanks, Mrs. Sterling,” Brenda said. Mrs. Sterling continued to walk down the hallway not looking back.

“That was sweet of her,” Cindy said.

“Yes, it sure was,” Brenda replied. “Never expected that from her.” The two girls giggled and went on to class.

Finally Friday night came. Brenda was glad but also terrified at having to tell Billy. She just hoped he’d take it good. She couldn’t bear to loose him. Brenda heard Billy coming up the driveway. She ran to meet him at the door.

“Hi Billy,” she said. “Come on in, Mom and Dad want to talk to you.”

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick,” Billy said, as he walked through the door. “How are you tonight?”

“We have been better, Billy,” Archie growled.

Billy looked right at Brenda as if to say ‘woe’.”

“Brenda, you and Billy go out on the porch and talk and then come back in and talk with us,” he said.

Billy imagined that Archie was upset about them asking to get married. He began to get a little upset and shaky.

“What’s going on?” Billy asked Brenda after they had gotten to the front porch.

“Billy I have something to tell you,” Brenda said.

“I know, they won’t let you get married, will they?” Billy asked.

“No that’s not it at all. Billy, I found out this week that I am pregnant,” Brenda mumbled.

“What? You are what?

“Pregnant I said, Billy I am pregnant.”

Billy looked very startled. He rubbed his face with his hand. He got up and walked the length of the porch, then came back and sat down.

“Well, say something, Billy,” Brenda said.

“Oh my, I didn’t plan for this,” he said.

“Neither did I, Billy but we’ve got to plan now,” Brenda said.

“Your parents know?” Billy asked.

“Yes, Billy, they know,” Brenda replied.

“And your dad didn’t meet me at the door with a shotgun?” Billy replied, as he smiled at Brenda.

“Billy don’t get me wrong, my parents are very upset, they are trying to be good about this,” Brenda said.

“I’m glad of that.” Billy said. “I like your parents. They have been very good to me. Let’s go back in and talk to them.”

Billy and Brenda walked back into the house and sat down. There was silence for at least a minute. Then Billy spoke up and said.

“Mr. and Mrs. Patrick, all I can say is that I am sorry. I know you raised Brenda right and it is my fault what has happened. I take full responsibility. I want to marry Brenda. I love her. As a matter of fact I had already asked her to marry me. I don’t know if she told you or not. I have some money saved up. It is supposed to be for college, but it should be enough for us to rent a place to live and get started. I know I don’t make much, but I should be getting a little raise soon. That will help out some. If I have to get a second job until Brenda is able to get a job and help out, I will. I will do anything to make her happy.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Archie said. “I was hoping that you’d be man enough to face up to the responsibilities. I like you, Billy. You have been like a son to me. I expect you to take good care of my little girl.

“I’m not happy about this at all. I want you to know that. In fact I am very disappointed in both of you. I wanted my little girl to finish school and now look; she’s going to have a baby to take care of. You two young people don’t know what you are facing. It’s tough out there trying to make a living. Judy and I will be here for you but it’s ultimately up to you. Both of you have to step up and be adults now. Now if you want to marry my daughter you need to get a decent place to live. I won’t have her living in a pig pen,” he said as he got up and left the room.

“Yes sir,” Billy said. “I’ll get right to it.”

Chapter Twelve

Billy and Brenda went out that night. They spent very little money. Billy was determined to have enough money to rent a house and take care of Brenda. They made big plans of what they were going to do. First they had to find a place to live that he could afford. It did have to be nice enough to suit Archie, though; Billy knew that.

Brenda didn’t like having to be so far away from her parents but she knew that Billy had to live close to his job. They had a really nice time planning for the future. They decided to go house hunting the next day. Billy showed up as planned the next day and they were on their way, happy as could be.

“Brenda, I asked one of my buddies this morning if he knew of a place to rent. He told me about several places. We’ll check them all out,” Billy said.

“Sounds good to me, Billy,” Brenda said. “We need to find something that is not too expensive, though.”

“Yes, that’s for sure,” Billy said. “How did I ever find someone so understanding?”

“You’re forgetting, Billy, that I wasn’t raised with a silver spoon in my mouth,” Brenda said. “I know about penny pinching. My parents have always had to pinch pennies. I know how to do that.”

“Well it’s not always going to be like that,” Billy said, “I promise you that.”

“But for starters I guess we’d better just try to get by,” Brenda said.

Billy took Brenda to several places. They were nice but just too expensive. Finally they saw a large house with a sign out front that read, “Apartment for rent.”

“This looks expensive, too, Brenda, but let’s check it out,” Billy said.

“You never can tell,” Brenda said as they pulled up into the driveway.

A very large man met them at the door. Billy asked about the apartment and the man showed it to them. They had to go through the front door of the large house but then there was a hallway that led to a small apartment. They liked the apartment very much. It had two bedrooms and one bath. It had a tidy little kitchen with a small table. The living room was completely furnished. It had a nice sofa, a recliner and a few chairs. The tables looked as if they had been used for quite a few years but were fine for Billy and Brenda.

“How much?” Billy asked the large man.

“I charge sixty dollars a month and not a penny under,” the man said. “I expect my money on the first day of the month and not a day after,” he said.

Billy looked at Brenda. They both smiled.

“I think you have yourself a couple of residents,” Billy said.

“Hold on here, young man,” the man said. “I need more information on you.”

“Oh, okay,” Billy said. “What do you need?”

“First of all, do you have a job?” the man asked.

“Yes sir, I do,” Billy replied. “I work right here in Ridgepole with Pentledon Insurance Company.”

“Yes, I know about that company,” the man replied. “Now, are you two young folk married?”

“No, sir, not yet, but we will be before we move in, I assure you of that,” Billy said.

“Then give me one month’s rent up front and you got yourself a house,” the man said. “Now I expect the apartment to stay clean. I don’t like these young people who are lazy and don’t clean,” the man said.

“No need to worry about that,” Brenda said. “I know how to work. I’ll keep it clean,” she said.

“And I expect you to mow the lawn every other time,” the man said. “That’s only fair. If you lived in a house to yourselves you’d have to mow the lawn.”

“No problem, sir,” Billy said. “I’ll be glad to do that. Thank you so much for letting us live here.”

“All right, son, you two use this door to come in,” he said, as he waddled back down the hall. The door will always be unlocked. No need to lock it at night. Just lock your main door to the apartment.”

Billy and Brenda followed him back down the hall to his apartment and gave him the first month’s rent. He gave Billy a receipt and the keys to the apartment.

“I guess we can get started moving in now,” Billy said.

“Billy, let’s not get in too big a hurry,” Brenda said. “Remember we have to get married first, and I want to finish my junior year. It’s only a few weeks.”

“I was hoping we could go ahead and get married and get moved in,” Billy said.

“Well I think it’s a good idea for you to go ahead and get moved in, get things all set up, and then when we get married, I’ll bring my things,” Brenda said. “It won’t be long, Billy, and we still have a wedding to plan. I just want to finish my junior year so if I decide to go on to school after I have the baby. At least I’ll only have my senior year to go.”

“Okay, sweetheart, we’ll do that. I’ll go ahead and get things set up here. I’ll need to get all the utilities turned on and make sure we have something to cook with. Maybe my mom will give me a couple of things,” Billy said.

“And speaking of your mom, when am I going to get to meet your parents?” Brenda said.

“I knew it would soon come to that,” Billy said. “I’m not looking forward to you meeting my parents.”

“Why Billy? Am I not good enough for them?” Brenda asked.

“Heavens no, Brenda, that’s not it,” Billy replied rather sharply. “They’re just, you know, all to themselves. They don’t have much time for my life and me. They go all the time, stay busy doing whatever it is they do. They moved so much when my dad was in the military that they don’t like to stay put too long anywhere.”

“Well I still want to meet them, don’t you think they deserve to know who their son is marrying?” Brenda said.

“I’ll take you, but don’t expect much,” Billy said. “They will probably have their head in a book or watching some news show on television.”

“I can handle it, Billy,” Brenda said. “I want to meet your mother.”

“Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you now,” Billy chuckled.

“Let’s just go see them; they can’t be all that bad,” Brenda said.

To be continued...