it?â
âWeâd run out of diseases of the â90s, so someone started talking about a rock concert that was coming to the Kansas Coliseum, and the Jesus freaks that were threatening to picket it, and about the anemic record of our football team. Mr. Moron never did tune back in before the bell rang, and pretty soon Miriam Pelhamâs fainting spell was ancient history.
CHAPTER TWO
Told by Miriam
I donât remember fainting, only waking up on the floor and seeing the whole class hovering over me like a coven of witches. I remember snapping my knees together, and the nurse, Mrs. Elgin, saying sheâd call my mother. âNo!â I remember that.
I told Mrs. Elgin I was fine and pinched my cheeks for some color. Maybe that would convince her. Mama did that every morning, not for any nurse, of course, but so sheâd look fresh and healthy as she headed for the church. It was Mamaâs job to send out all the mail and run off our bulletins. She didnât get paid much, not in money. What she got was something far more valuable to all of usâa sense of belonging, of being loved, a blessing from Brother James when we were feeling vulnerable to the dark spirit, a healing hand when that was what we needed most.
Right now I just needed some color. So I pinched my cheeks and smiled brightly.
âMiriam, I do not like the way you look. When was the last time you had a checkup?â
I could feel this band tightening around my chest. Brother James always said, âLying lips are an abomination to the Lord,â but I also knew that telling the truth now would cost us all way too much. Holy Jesus, forgive me just this once, I prayed silently. âJust a week or two ago,â I said.
âAnd did everything test out all right?â Mrs. Elgin asked.
âYes, maâam.â
âYou had a blood test, the whole works?â
âEverything I needed, Mrs. Elgin.â My face was hot, even though the rest of me was freezing cold. I felt bumps raising under the skin of my cheeks.
âOpen wide,â Mrs. Elgin commanded, and before I could protest, she shoved a cold, bitter thermometer in my mouth. I coughed and spit the thing out. It clattered to the floor, sending shivers up my back. But it didnât break, and she cleaned it and put it back in my mouth.
âClose your lips tight,â she said, probing my wrist for a pulse.
I could barely breathe, and I was terrified that the hateful glass stick would slide down my throat and choke me to death. Finally, mercifully, she slid it out of my mouth and went over by the window to read what it said. âItâs 101, Miriam. Have you had the sniffles?â
âNo, maâam.â
âAny strange symptomsâgoing to the bathroom a lot or an itchy rash, vomiting, diarrhea?â
âNo, maâam.â
âWhen was your last period?â she asked.
âDo I have to tell you? Does the school law say so?â
âNo, Miriam, it does not.â
âWell, in my family, Mrs. Elgin, we donât talk to strangers about personal things like that.â
Then she asked me, âAre you pregnant, Miriam?â
âNo, I am not pregnant. Iâm not even married.â Mrs. Elgin smiled. Did she think I didnât know it happened to unmarried girls sometimes? But I wasnât that kind of girl. Brother James always says that our bodies are temples, and we must sanctify them and not defile them. One thing Iâve secretly wondered is, why is it okay to defile your body after youâre married? Questions come into my head when Iâm not concentrating hard enough. I swallow them all the time, praying that the questions wonât show on my face, and praying for answers.
Mrs. Elgin sighed deeply. I didnât mean to cause her such grief. âI must call your mother, Miriam, because we canât keep you at school when youâre running a fever.â
âPlease donât tell her