22 Comments
User's avatar
Sharon's avatar

Ack... so many emotions.

This actually happened at my school...a girl got pregnant... her mom had a baby 9 months later.

So fucked up...I still wonder if they are lying to that baby

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Patris's avatar

This was the norm when I was a young teenager. The girls went to ‘visit’ a relative in a distant state. In fact one would tell me later they were put in a Catholic home for unwed mothers. She was allowed to hold her son before they took him from her.There was no choice involved.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

Lots of horror stories out there. Seems like lots of adoptees are meeting birth parents now

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Patris's avatar

Yes - I personally know of one. (Again, generational). A good but painful thing.

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Patris's avatar

J, thank you for this quietly complex story. Hypocrisy was the name of the game - and I suspect still is.

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Joe's avatar

This one was quite sickening.

But then the ending really was.

Coral is tough, but she needs help. And her mother is not going to give it.

Excellent story, Jimmy.

You really are a Renaissance man!

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Marci Feldman's avatar

A lot of story, right here. That’s what you do so well, Sir Wordsmith ~

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Sharon's avatar

Honestly, you didn't even need to say that.It was the stepfather that got her pregnant.The story itself is enough to be sad about.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

The stepfather part is why she feels like amputating a finger. No one tells a kid that they're lying about missing a finger

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Sharon's avatar

Sadly so true

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Patty Mallett's avatar

Ugh. Stepfather’s DNA. Mom fattening up to fake a pregnancy. How fucked up is this family? Coral doesn’t stand a chance.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

People can overcome a lot of crazy shit

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Beevil's avatar

Oh the mendacity

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Mark L's avatar

Jimmy

My Good Catholic family is well versed on this subject. 23&me brings the past to light. Sometimes with startling, shocking, numbing revelations. Patris's comments above are spot on.

Great but Revealing writing about my family. Fiction drifts into reality.

Touché

PS: Shag Carpet, ugh did you have too?

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

Yep

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

This is one I almost wish didn't hit home for readers

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Luke's avatar

Excellent portrait of a kid feeling isolated and under pressure. Well done.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

Thanks. I think this might be one of my favorites

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Jim Cummings's avatar

Oooh so sad that the burden ends up on the poor young girl.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

But it works that way a lot

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PJ Ryder's avatar

Excellent story. 3 chords and the truth.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

I would love to be remembered as The Ramones of fiction

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