Chapter 9o
I took a taxi back to school, feeling drained. Yolanda came in later that night, her finger all bandaged up. “Trixie, you’re such a jerk! You left me out there, no help at all. I was taking care of a kid and got my fingers messed up and you didn’t even lift a finger. If anything happens to me, it’s on you!”
Xyla jumped in, defending me right away. “Don’t start, Yolanda. Trixie told us everything. You’re the one who tried to pass off some random kid as Mr. Larkin’s and when he wanted to cut off your finger, you wanted to blame her. You’re the one in the wrong here, not her.”>
Sylvia nodded, adding, “Yeah, you’re the one who messed up and now you’ve got the nerve to point the finger at Trixie?“}
Yolanda rolled her eyes. “Why are you all listening to her? I was hit by a car, that’s why my fingers are like this, not because of Mr. Larkin. This kid is definitely his. He’s gonna be the head of the Larkin family one day, you’ll see!“}
I stood up, over it. “Yolanda, watch what you say. We still don’t know who the real father is. If you keep blaming Mr. Larkin, are you really willing to lose any more fingers?“}
Yolanda started tearing up. “No! This kid is Mr. Larkin’s, I swear!“}
I gave her a look. “You sure? Have you only slept with him?”
Sylvia muttered under her breath, “Yolanda, weren’t you out all night sometimes?“}
Xyla chimed in, “Maybe it’s time to get another paternity test. The kid’s gotta have a dad.”}
Yolanda just collapsed in a chair, completely stunned. She had been with so many guys, she didn’t even know who the father could be. She whipped out her phone and started texting every guy she had been with, asking for hair samples for yet another round of paternity
tests.
A few days and a bunch of tests later, none of them came back as the father. Yolanda was done. “How is this possible? How could none of them be the father?!“}
Sylvia spoke up quietly, “Yolanda, remember that time you told me you were drunk and ended up sleeping on the street for a whole night? You woke up and realized your underwear was missing… Could it have happened that night?“>
Yolanda’s face turned red. “No! That’s impossible!“}
I turned to Sylvia and said, “There are a lot of homeless people and random people around there. If you’re passed out on the street all night, anything can happen…”
“Ah! Stop!” Yolanda yelled, cutting me off.
The truth was, Yolanda still didn’t know who the father of her baby was. She was left with no choice but to raise the child in the dorm alone, carrying it with her everywhere.
Her reputation was shot. Everyone knew about her messed–up situation, how she tried to trick Miles into thinking the baby was his and ended up getting her fingers chopped off for it.
Her private life was a mess and now she had a child but couldn’t even figure out
the dad was.
Classmates and teachers avoided her. No one wanted to get involved. Even the three of Ius in the dorm weren’t hanging out with her anymore. She was on her own, dragging the baby to and from class every day.
One day, after class, she was stopped at the door by a group of people. “Yolanda, when your legs!“?
are
you paying us back? If you don’t, we’ll break
Yolanda looked terrified “Guys, I swear, I’ll pay you back! As soon as I graduate and get a job, I’ll pay you back the 50 thousand dollars, not a penny less!“}
One of them laughed bitterly. “What 50 thousand? With interest, it’s 350 thousand now!”
Another one chimed in, “We’re not waiting around for you. You’ve got three days. If you don’t pay, we’ll break one of your legs. If you can’t pay after that, we’ll break the other one.“}
After they left, Yolanda rushed to me, crying. “Trixie, please help me. Your family has money, right? Can you lend me 350 thousand dollars?”
