Two More Lives Lost

Ms. Power asks me, “Does Briana’s belly look like it’s getting bigger?”
I look at Briana, wearing a revealing shirt and strutting her stuff in front of some boys. Her belly is bigger. I think back to a month ago when Briana told me her father kicked her out of the house. There was some sort of fight about her boyfriend. I remember Briana missing some school and telling me that she had been throwing up.
“What do we do?” asks Ms. Power, “She was skinny as a twig when I started working here. Now she refuses to dress out for P.E.”
Someone has to talk to Briana. Someone has to ask her if she’s pregnant. I talk to Briana a lot but Ms. Power is the health teacher and she’s a woman. We agree that Ms. Power should ask. I don’t really want to know the answer. I remember Briana telling me that her mother never finished high school. Her mother dropped out when she got pregnant with Briana.
I think about my own life. I’m over twice the age of these kids and I don’t think I’m ready to be a father. Imagine starting life with a thirteen-year-old mother. Imagine being a thirteen-year-old mother. Two more lives lost.