A Brush of Wings (21 page)

She looked at verse twenty-one; the words Paul had written spoke to her very soul.
For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.
That was it, exactly how Mary Catherine felt. Yes, if her heart stopped beating soon she would miss Sami and Tyler and every wonderful moment she might’ve shared with Marcus. But here, her life was about Christ in a simpler, more pure way. Serving Him, relying on Him, making Him known to the children. Children who needed her. And if she died?

Well, then, that would be gain.

Mary Catherine couldn’t see it any other way.

16

S
AMI DIDN’T TURN ON THE
TV at the Youth Center until the teen meeting was finished, just in time to watch the Dodgers miss a return to the World Series. The Dodgers and Reds had been tied, three games each. Marcus was pitching a shutout, but the Reds’ ace hitter caught the outside edge of a fastball and sent it over the fence for a walk-off home run.

And that was that.

Sami turned the TV off and gathered her things. She wasn’t glad for the loss, but it wasn’t the worst news. The team still had a successful season, and now she and Tyler could finalize their wedding plans.

A few security guards and volunteers were still finishing up at the center, but most everyone had gone home. Sami was about to leave when she heard someone out in the hallway. She turned just as Aspyn walked into the room.

“Sami! I caught you!” Aspyn was a local volunteer. She hadn’t been around as much lately. “One of the neighbors told me I could find you here.” She walked in and took one of the seats in the front row. “Can you talk?”

“Umm.” Sami was supposed to talk with Tyler later. She checked the clock on the wall. “I have another meeting.” She didn’t want to seem uninterested. “I haven’t seen you in a while. What’s up?”

Aspyn took a deep breath and shook her head. “So much. I’ve been helping with another ministry. But today, I had this feeling I needed to stop by. Maybe hear about the teen program. How’s it working out?”

Sami wasn’t getting out of here anytime soon. She kept her phone in her hand in case Tyler called, took a seat near Aspyn, and gave her a quick rundown on the teen mentor program. “We don’t have Mary Catherine. She went to Africa.” Sami felt the familiar uneasiness, the anxiety that was worse every time she thought about her friend. Once again, Mary Catherine had responded to her last email, but without any of the answers she had asked for.

Concern shone in Aspyn’s eyes. “I heard about that. I was hoping she’d stay here. There’s so much to do.”

The conversation bounced from Mary Catherine to the teen mentor program to the progress the Youth Center had made. Tyler called midway through the talk, and Sami held up her phone. “Let me get this. Just for a minute.”

Aspyn sat back. “Take your time.” Clearly she wasn’t going anywhere.

Sami answered the call and told Tyler she was sorry about the loss. She’d call him back. Then she turned to Aspyn again. “Where was I?”

“The teen program. How it’s working without Mary Catherine.”

“Right.” Sami tried to sum up the work they’d been doing, and how her friends from UCLA were helping out. “As for the local girls, they’re making progress, definitely.”

“Glad to hear it.” Aspyn looked thoughtful. “It’s still a battle, though.”

Sami agreed, but she really wanted to get going. Wednesdays were her longest days, and she couldn’t wait to talk to Tyler. She stood and held her hand out to Aspyn. “I’m glad you came by. We’ve missed you around here.”

“I’ve been around.” Aspyn remained seated. “Just busy. Speaking of which, one of the women said you’re engaged! I want to hear all about it!”

There had to be a better time to catch up. Tyler would be wondering if everything was okay—especially this late at night. Sami was about to suggest she and Aspyn schedule a lunch date next week when she heard someone running down the hall. Sami turned just as Lexy appeared.

“I . . . I thought I’d miss you!” The girl was shaking. Her eyes were wide and she held her arm close to her body. Like it was injured. She cast a suspicious look at Aspyn. “I need to talk. Just to you.”

Aspyn didn’t need to be asked twice. She was already on her feet and headed for the door. “I was just leaving.” She waved at Sami. “We’ll catch up later.”

Lexy entered the room and waited for Aspyn to go. When they were alone, the girl sank to the nearest chair. “I’m in trouble. I need Mary Catherine!” Lexy started to cry. “Please, help me. I’m so afraid.”

“Mary Catherine is in Uganda.” Sami sat down. Tyler would understand if she was late. “Lexy, what happened, honey? Tell me everything.”

“I . . . I wasn’t going to come. I need Mary Catherine.” She covered her face with her good hand and wept for a full minute. Then she seemed to gather some sort of desperate strength. She held her arm. Her attention remained focused on the ground. “I told God I’d try one time. Just once.” She sniffed. “I’d come here and if I couldn’t find Mary Catherine . . . or . . . or someone who would listen, then I’d never believe in Him again.”

Sami thought about Aspyn’s visit. If she hadn’t stopped by, Sami would’ve been gone. “Well, I’m here.” Sami silently thanked God. “What happened to your arm?”

“I think it’s broken.” Her words came in fits and starts, tangled up with the sobs wracking her small frame. “Ramon . . . my boyfriend . . . he beat me up.”

Sami hid her anger. “What happened?”

Still Lexy wouldn’t make eye contact. But after a while she lifted her head and looked straight at Sami. “I’m pregnant.”

Sami felt herself reeling. Lexy was just seventeen. Sami stood and took the seat closest to the girl. Without saying a word, Sami put her arm around Lexy’s shoulders. Sami had no idea how long they stayed like that. Five minutes, maybe more. Until Lexy stopped sobbing and was able to really talk.

“It’s my fault, I know it.” Lexy hung her head. Her eyes were swollen, her nose stuffy. She looked like a lost child.

“Is Ramon mad about the baby?” Sami was still trying to get her mind around the crushing reality. “Is that why he hurt you?”

“Yes.” Lexy sniffed again. “He said I should’ve used something. He was mad so he twisted my arm.”

“Lexy . . .” Sami clenched her jaw. Ramon should be locked up for this. “I’m so sorry. Can you move it?”

Lexy shrugged. “Not really.” She took a slow breath and told Sami a story she couldn’t begin to grasp. How six weeks ago—after Ramon had claimed her as his girl—he had taken her to a hotel room to celebrate a drug deal.

“I found out yesterday that I was pregnant. And . . . Ramon told me it was my fault. I should’ve been on the pill. That sort of thing.” Fresh tears glistened in Lexy’s eyes. “I’m having an abortion tomorrow. I already called the clinic.”

Sami wasn’t sure where to begin.
God, please give me the words.
If Lexy went back onto the streets tonight, Sami might never see her again. “I have an idea.”

“Don’t try to talk me out of it.” Lexy’s eyes flashed, dark and full of despair. “I can’t have a baby. I just can’t.”

“Let’s go have your arm looked at. You can stay with me at my apartment tonight. Call your grandma and see if that’s okay.”

The idea seemed to make Lexy nervous. “Ramon told me not to tell anyone.” She touched her damaged arm. “About this. Otherwise . . . he’ll kill me. He said so.”

“Either way your arm needs to be checked. In case it’s broken.”

Lexy nodded, her expression distant. “Yeah. Okay.” Alarm sounded in her voice. “But don’t mention Ramon. Not at all.”

They stopped at an urgent care in Santa Monica, closer to Sami’s apartment. Forty minutes later, they had the X-ray results. Thankfully, the girl’s arm was only sprained, not broken.

While the doctor was working on Lexy, Sami excused herself and found the nurse. In hushed tones she explained that Lexy’s boyfriend had beaten her up. Sami gave the woman Ramon’s name and his gang affiliation. The woman looked as angry as Sami felt. “I’ll get this to the police.”

Sami couldn’t worry about whether the report would make Ramon angry. If she needed to, she would keep Lexy with her until the danger passed. Sami paid the bill. Lexy didn’t have insurance and her grandmother had no money. Not that she would ever tell her grandmother the truth about her injury.

Half an hour later they were at Sami’s apartment. Lexy’s grandma had said she could stay as long as she wanted. Anything to get her away from the West Knights. And Sami called Tyler to explain the situation. They both agreed to postpone their conversation until after tonight. So Sami could talk to Lexy privately. Sami heated up chicken and broccoli for the two of them, and after they ate Sami found her laptop.

She’d been praying all night about how she should approach the subject, and only one answer came to mind: with love.

“Come here, Lexy. I want to show you something.” Sami patted the seat next to her on the sofa. She pulled up an adoption website, then she angled herself so Lexy could see. “Let’s talk about your baby. There are couples everywhere who can’t have children, so—”

“No! I’m getting the abortion.” Defiance darkened Lexy’s eyes. “The clinic said it was tissue.”

Sami closed the adoption website. A sick feeling welled up in her. The recent news about Planned Parenthood disgusted her on every level. Now this statement by someone at the clinic. Sami steadied herself. “Would you look at some pictures?”

Lexy’s curiosity must’ve gotten the better of her. She acted uninterested, but she gave a slight shrug of her good shoulder. “Of what?”

Sami closed the adoption website and pulled up photos of unborn babies at various stages of gestation. “Have you looked at pictures of babies before they’re born? Like in health class?”

A sad chuckle came from the girl. “They teach us how to use a condom. But Ramon doesn’t like them. So I guess that was a waste.”

Another level of heartache. How were these kids supposed to find their way out of the cycle of gangs and kids having kids if the only sex education they were taught was proper use of a condom? She was thankful for one of her friends who taught health at a private school in LA. There, she had the right to teach abstinence to the teens.

Sami shut her laptop. “Let’s start with what the Bible says about babies. Could we do that?”

“The Bible says something about that?”

“It does.” Sami found her Bible in her bedroom, brought it back to the sofa, and turned to Psalm 139:13-16. She read the verses about God knitting a baby together in a mother’s womb and how God, from the beginning of time, ordained every day for every child.

Lexy’s eyes grew wide. She looked shocked at the truth. “So the cells dividing . . . that’s really God knitting a baby together?”

“Yes. That’s how He planned it. Every cell, everything about the baby is in God’s hands.” She shut the Bible and looked at Lexy. “How many weeks are you?”

“Weeks?”

Sami didn’t want to rush the moment. Clearly Lexy knew nothing about the experience she was caught up in. “How long since you might’ve gotten pregnant? How many weeks?”

She thought for a moment. “Maybe six.”

“Okay.” Sami opened her laptop again. “Let’s look at those pictures. An unborn baby at six weeks.” She found several ultrasound images and showed them to Lexy.

The girl’s mouth hung open. She pointed at the screen. “So that’s the baby’s head? Already?”

“Yes.” Sami passed the laptop to Lexy. “Go back a page. You can see babies at all the stages right up until they’re born.”

For several minutes Lexy looked at the pictures.

“Science matches up with what God teaches.” Sami took her time. “Can you see that?”

Lexy’s tears were back. She shut the computer and hung her head. One at a time her tears dropped onto her worn jeans. She put her hand over her lower stomach. “My trouble’s with Ramon. It isn’t the baby’s fault. I don’t know what to do.” She lifted her eyes to Sami. “Ramon . . . he’ll kill me if . . . if I don’t get the abortion.”

“What if you could get away from him?” Sami was going out of her comfort zone, but why not? What was life if you couldn’t help someone else?

“What do you mean?” She brushed her tears off her cheeks. “I don’t want a baby, Sami. I can’t.”

Again Sami took the laptop from Lexy. She pulled up the adoption website again. “See this?” She turned the computer so the girl could see it. “There’s a listing of couples here, all of them looking for a baby.”

“Why?” Lexy looked confused again. Never mind her age, she knew almost nothing about childbearing—even this.

“Usually because they can’t have children. They’ve tried, but it just hasn’t happened. So they’re a husband and wife looking for a baby to love. They have a home and a way to support the child. Now they can only hope and pray for a baby.” Sami felt a sense of calm come over her.

“Through adoption.”

“Yes.” She could see Lexy listening. The truth was sinking in. “What a beautiful gift for your baby. The gift of life not just once, but twice.”

A light dawned in Lexy’s eyes. “First by not having an abortion . . . and then by giving the child to a family who wants a baby.”

“Right.” Sami gathered her thoughts. Once she made this offer there would be no turning back. Usually she would take more time for something like this. Which meant the offer would only work if Mary Catherine was on board, too.