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“Can I walk you to the bus stop, Miss Lady?”

“No!” she almost screamed at him. “If somebody sees us … I mean if somebody tells my mother … I mean no, I’m in a hurry.”

Teddy snatched Rhonda’s book bag from her and headed down the stairs. “I can walk fast, too, you know.”

They walked together to the bus stop, laughing and talking like boyfriend and girlfriend. When the bus rolled to a stop in front of them, Teddy leaned over and kissed Rhonda squarely on the mouth. It was a nice, warm, friendly kiss.

When Rhonda got home that afternoon, Teddy was sitting on the stairs waiting for her. He smiled. She smiled. She moved toward the door to her apartment, and Teddy followed her. As Rhonda fumbled nervously for her door keys, Teddy gently maneuvered himself in front of her and kissed her again. This time, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth. Rhonda was stunned. She panicked. But then Teddy spoke and asked if he could come inside. The request had the same effect as cold water being thrown into Rhonda’s face.

“Are you crazy!” she screamed. “You can’t do that!”

“Then why don’t you come upstairs with me?”

“My brother will be here any minute. I can’t.”

“I promise. You don’t have to stay long. You can watch for your brother out my window.”

Teddy’s house was very different from Rhonda’s. There was a lot of furniture in his living room and lots of dirty dishes in the sink. There was a dirt ring around the bathtub and a pile of clothes on his bed. Reggie and Rhonda usually “did it” standing up, fully clothed, with their underwear down around their ankles. Teddy pushed the pile of clothes onto the floor, and the next thing Rhonda knew, she was lying nude on Teddy’s bed.

Rhonda was thirteen and a half years old, naked in bed with a grown man. She couldn’t think of anything to say. Teddy kissed her from head to toe. She didn’t know how to respond. He asked her if she loved him. She kept her mouth shut. He told her that he loved her. She closed her eyes and forgot that she could even talk. Seven and a half minutes later, she was back up, getting dressed. She was speechless.

Rhonda couldn’t believe that an attractive, handsome man-child would be the least bit interested in her. Her father wasn’t. Her brother wasn’t. Reggie was, but he was a boy, not a man. She couldn’t believe that a grown man would want to have sex with her. It was only when she danced that she felt beautiful. Otherwise, Rhonda felt she had never stopped being ugly. She was going to make the most of every opportunity she had to be beautiful and feel loved. But Rhonda hadn’t learned that men will say anything and do anything to get you to have sex with them. She had yet to learn how to distinguish between a lie and the truth. And it never dawned on her that Teddy could be lying through his teeth.

When Rhonda told Teddy that she thought she was pregnant, he disappeared. He didn’t move. He just disappeared. Rhonda had continued to see Reggie, but far less frequently. She had spent every stolen moment she could find with Teddy. Rhonda and Beverly had become friends again, and Rhonda confided in her. Beverly told her sister, Sandra, who took Rhonda to a doctor. Much to their chagrin, the doctor confirmed that Rhonda was indeed pregnant. Four months pregnant to be exact. Sandra kept saying how sorry she was for Rhonda; Beverly was too freaked out to say anything at all. Rhonda had no idea what to do next.

That night, Rhonda called Reggie and told him she was pregnant. Reggie was shocked, but he was a decent boy who cared about Rhonda and the predicament she was in. Reggie didn’t disappear. He told his mother, who then called Nett. There was a meeting with all the parents and thirteen-year-old Rhonda and fifteen-year-old Reggie. It was decided that the children were too young to get married and that Rhonda would have the baby, then put it up for adoption. Then it was decided that Rhonda would have the baby and Reggie’s mother would raise the baby until Rhonda finished school. Then they decided that Rhonda would stay at home and attend a school for pregnant