She Had Chosen Life
But she was having a really bad day
CW: Gun violence
Mondays sucked. This Monday sucked even more.
Jennifer woke up alone in the apartment she’d shared with her boyfriend Lucas until the day before when he’d informed her that he didn’t want to be a daddy and left. He’d informed Jennifer of this when she’d asked him to go with her to her first pre-natal visit at the Planned Parenthood office two blocks from the apartment.
And it was cold. Spring was a week old, but winter was paying a last visit. Her aging phone, with its cracked screen, showed her that it was 32 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Inside the apartment, it was barely 60 degrees, in an effort to save on the electric bill.
A plain bagel she’d brought home from work, which the thrift store toaster burned, and a tablespoon of store-brand cream cheese washed down with the cheapest coffee she could find at the dollar store served as her breakfast.
Jennifer doffed Lucas’s old high school basketball shirt that she’d worn to bed and dressed in gray sweatpants, a teal T-shirt, a red hoodie, and her old black sneakers. She didn’t have much of a wardrobe and wasn’t going to wear the nicer clothes she needed for work to her appointment.
On her way out the door, Jennifer grabbed her purse, which was heavy because of the personal protection she carried in it, and slipped into the faded blue denim jacket her mother gave her for Christmas the year she graduated high school. Could that have been just nine months ago? After checking that the deadbolt was locked, she turned right toward the clinic.
Jennifer groaned when she saw the protestors crowding the sidewalk between her and the clinic, as if her day hadn’t already been a dumpster fire. She lowered her head and marched with sure strides toward the group.
One protestor — why were these protestors almost all men — approached Jennifer and tried to hand her a Pro-Life pamphlet.
“Please don’t kill your baby,” he said, shoving the pamphlet into her hands.
Jennifer grabbed the pamphlet, crumpled it in her fist, threw it to the ground, and growled at the man. “I’m not getting an abortion. Leave me alone.”
“There’s no need to lie,” the man said. “Why else would you be going to the clinic?”
Jennifer gritted her teeth. “Did it occur to you that this sidewalk leads to places other than the clinic? Do you know that the clinic does more than abortions? Now, get out of my way.”
Other protestors moved toward Jennifer and surrounded her. Some were carrying signs with slogans like CHOOSE LIFE and ABORTION IS MURDER.
One of the few women in the group spat on the ground at her feet. “Baby killer! Should have kept your ankles crossed.”
Jennifer’s blood ran hot. She tried to push past them, but the man who’d tried to give her the pamphlet grabbed her arm. “I’m begging you, on behalf of your unborn child, choose life.”
She snapped. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her personal protection, a .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and pointed it at the man’s face.
The collective sound of the protestors’ gasps as all but one stepped back from the red-faced woman with a gun washed over Jennifer. The man at whom she pointed the gun didn’t move.
“You should have gotten out of my way,” Jennifer snarled as she tightened her finger on the trigger. “You should have chosen life.”
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😳😳😳 I loved this 😅