Tessie D

I saw Eric at the park the other day. I had taken Baby to the park in her stroller like I always did, right after dusk. Most everyone is home by then and for anyone who isn’t, it’s too dark to really see. The monotony of walking along the gravel path helps calm me down at night before bed. Keeps my legs too busy walking to run. 

Eric jogged up the trail toward me. I hadn’t seen him since That Night. I recognized him immediately, but he jogged past at first. But, when he looked up to jog around me, I could see the recognition flood over his face. He tried to hide it but I saw it immediately for what it was. 

“Tess! What are you doing here?” He smiled broadly, and he reached out to hug me. I hugged him back, feeling the wetness of his t-shirt. Sweat was beading up around his forehead. I noticed that it was receeding just a bit. More than it had been the last time I’d seen him. The red was less vibrant, thinner. It made his head look rounder, and I could see the freckles in his hairline. 

“We’re just out for our afternoon walk. How are you? Are you still at the restaurant?” 

“Me? I’m good! No, I graduated in May. I’ve been doing an internship this summer at the cheese plant, working in management. But, I’m moving to Austin in a few weeks. I got a job down there at a tech company, gettin’ ready for Y2K.” As he talked, he kept looking at me and then back to Baby. I knew he wanted to ask about her. 

“That’s wonderful. Congratulations.” I fiened as much enthusaism as I could muster.

“You, too! I heard you had a baby. Congrats!”

“Thank you.”

When I didn’t offer anything else, Eric filled in the silence. “She’s adorable. How old is she?” 

“Almost eight months. Born at the end of January.” 

“Oh wow, she’s so tiny. I didn’t realize she’d be almost a year old. I thought she was younger than that. You know, based on what everyone had said.” 

I felt a shock.

“Based on what? What did everyone say?”

“Oh, you know. That you’d met an older man and gotten pregnant last summer. That was what Alex said why you’d quit the restaruant, because you wanted to be with your new boyfriend.”

“No. No, that’s not what happened.”

Eric paused and looked like he was working something out. 

“Yeah, I guess that would make sense. Considering the source.” I was growing tired of this conversation and starting to feel anxious, but the conversation didn’t feel finished. 

“Yeah, considering the source.” I said flatly.

Eric looked down at Baby but his gaze seemed far away. “I was there, at the party that night,” he said more to himself than to me. “I was looking for you because I was going home and thought you might need a ride after X and Y took off.” He paused, again. “I heard what happened. I was in the living room, I walked into the bedroom and saw you both and thought everything was okay because, well, you know. But, I don’t know if that’s really true anymore. That…it was okay. That…you were okay with it. Maybe I should’ve stopped it. I could’ve stopped it.”

I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t talked to anyone about That Night. I knew the rumors Eric that was talking about. Nobody asked me about Baby’s dad, and I didn’t correct anyone assumed. Momma didn’t say anything and Daddy didn’t ask, even though I’m sure they’d figured it out. Maybe Momma knew it wouldn’t have mattered. There’d never be any sort of inheritance or public acknowledgement. I hadn’t even put anyone’s name on the birth certificate. I liked thinking that she’d been born of immaculate conception. Like Jesus. 

I took a deep breath and Eric seemed to come back to himself, as if he’d recognize that he’d probably said too much.

“Well, um, yeah, I better get going. But, it was good seeing you. Congrats on the baby.” 

“Yeah, you, too. If I don’t see you again before you move, good luck in Austin. Hope everything works out for you.” 

Eric started walking away, “Oh, I’m sure it will. It always does.”