♻ 016 | audio

[tucky]

You know, I been wondering. If a girl gets pregnant and kills the baby, how many of y'all consider that murder? It's a real... hot-button issue where I come from, I guess; it's a big deal. There's people who feel so strongly about it that they believe the ones who actually do it - the doctors and stuff, and the people who work for 'em - deserve to die too. And it happens. People will go in and kill somebody like that, and other people will celebrate.

But then there's other people who say it ain't bad at all, 'cause we got rights to our own bodies and nobody should try and take that away. That's sexual liberation, and it's the same thing that says girls should be able to have a lot of sex and not get called sluts and whores. I always liked that part, at least, 'cause I been called those things before and it makes you feel dirty and small. But I knew guys who had way more sex than I did, and they never got called shit. Ever notice that? It's weird, how that happens.

And then there's the whole issue with condoms - which I use now, mostly, when I remember, so I don't need another lecture about that; don't worry. If you're gonna have sex, you're supposed to use 'em, or you end up with that problem I already talked about. But condoms are a real pain - they ain’t sexy or romantic or anything like that. You got to stop and put 'em on, and then you can feel 'em, and… I don’t know, I just like it better without. And I bet I ain't the only one.

It's confusing to think about; all of this is. But it's all tied together.

[warden filter]

I'm sorry for flipping the bird on the warden filter last week. I was mad and I'm still a little mad, but I think I do trust y'all, and I would like my actions not to be held against me. Please. Thank you.

Comments

[tucky]

I'm not saying I had an abortion or anything. I didn't say that.

[chlorophylliac]

[Ivy sounds mildly amused:] Did I?

[tucky]

Well... no.

[chlorophylliac]

Well then.

And if you had, or did, then whether or not that colors a person's opinion of you is a good way to choose whether to have them as a friend.

[tucky]

If I had, there's probably a lot of people I wouldn't tell, just in case. Especially if I had had more than one.

[chlorophylliac]

[Ivy's almost smiling. Tiffany you are not good at this.]

That's your prerogative, of course. Nobody has a right to object, and nobody has a right to know.

[tucky]

What about the dads?

[chlorophylliac]

[Scoff.]

What about them?

[tucky]

Do you think they get a say?

[chlorophylliac]

[Note to self: dial back the sarcasm.]

Responsibilities of childrearing aside, their part in the process took seconds. Yours takes nine months. No, I don't think they get a say.

[tucky]

... Well, most people here are on your side, I think. One guy isn't.

[chlorophylliac]

The guy who 'knows what the Bible says'?

[tucky]

He's a good friend of mine.

[chlorophylliac]

Then maybe you ought to ask him why he's lecturing you on the basis of 'what the Bible says' when what the Bible says specifically is 'nothing'.

[tucky]

... It does?

I think he just don't understand it as well as he thinks he does. I'm gonna try to set him straight.

[chlorophylliac]

You do that.

And regardless of what he says, the Bible is a book written thousands of years ago, by mortal men with their own agendas. Not all of it is aimed at or relevant to a woman living in the twenty-first century.

[tucky]

It had divine inspiration behind it, though.

[chlorophylliac]

Perhaps, in some cases.

You're not as stupid as you look. You can work out what was 'divine inspiration' and what was considered sensible guidance at the time of writing.

[tucky]

What if I can't? It was a long time ago. I wasn't there. I could get it wrong.

[chlorophylliac]

But God forgives mistakes, doesn't he?

[tucky]

... I think so. Yes.