Last One Out

by Steph Nelson

I’ve been throwing up for weeks because I’m pregnant.

HUH

I have a real life growing inside of me. I always knew that, but this is proof, and it’s enough to steel my resolve. Fuck the odds. Fuck Bill. This is my reason to fight.

“When your life is full of trauma, you have to find ways to come to the surface for air. You can’t live in those deep dark waters of fear, sadness, and shame every moment of every day or you’ll drown.

“That’s good. Hey, meant to tell you. The camp wants me to stay on a bit longer than I planned.”

Did you kiddnap Chloe?!

“Nat, I’m not your biological mom. But your mom saved my life and so I saved yours.”

I fucking hate the world for the way it treats anyone who isn’t a man.

I don’t believe in ghosts, but I do believe that the stuff we’re made of, our soul, or whatever, has to go somewhere when we die. It’s energy that must get put back into the world in some form.

No man is safe. Even if he seems like a nice guy, push him too hard and you’ll find out what he’s made of. Men hate being questioned by a woman. They think they’re better than us.

Newsflash: The world doesn’t revolve around a man’s opinion of a woman.”

Must be nice to live on your own and not have to even think about your own safety.