Calgary, December 2022
Jane had to laugh reading the assignment she just finished. Father Brown, professor of the Creative Writing class of the Catholic university of Georgetown, District of Columbia, wanted something about the religion, love and little bit of mystery, so she wrote what he asked for:
O my God, I am pregnant and don’t know with whom.
Just that one sentence. The assignment had all what Father Brown wanted, and he didn’t say how long it should be. Unfortunately, Father Brown had no sense of humor. He called Jane to his office and with a stern face demanded that she reads the section of the Code of Student Conduct dealing with sexual relationships:
Sexual acts of any kind outside the confines of marriage are inconsistent with teaching and moral values of Catholic Church and are prohibited. The University affirms that sexual relationships are designated by God to be expressed solely withing a marriage between husband and wife.
“I made it up. The assignment was just a joke,” explained Jane, but Father Brown didn’t appreciate jokes.
“I don’t like students making jokes of my assignments. I want my students to embrace the Catholic faith, not to make fun of it.”
Jane knew she was in trouble. If Father Brown would show the assignment to the head of the department, she might be expelled from the school. Her parents have been paying $60,000 annual tuition fee plus her accommodation, she had one more year to finish and all that could be ruined because of one stupid joke.
“Can I rewrite it? More along the line of the Catholic faith?”
“No, there are no rewrites in my classes. I give you “Fail” for the assignment and take it as a warning. You have one more year to go and you don’t want to be expelled.”
Jane was happy to leave Father Brown’s office. This emergency was subdued, but what she didn’t know was that a much bigger emergency was waiting for her. The following month she missed her period, and the pregnancy test confirmed the worst. Her assignment was true.
Jane wasn’t a good catholic. She enjoyed parties, she liked to have a good time, and didn’t hesitate to break the catholic prohibitions about sex and alcohol. It wasn’t her choice to study at a catholic university, but it was the only school her parents were willing to pay for. She promised, but failed, to be a good girl, and now came the consequence of having good times. If the school discovers her pregnancy, they will expel her, and her parents will probably disown her. That left the abortion as the only choice. But abortion was a hard decision for a somewhat catholic girl, studying at the catholic university. Also, she had no idea how to go about it, they certainly didn’t teach that at her school. She needed to talk to somebody, and that somebody was her friend Barbara. They met at one of the wild parties Jane liked so much. Barbara was older, friendly, and curious about Jane. How come somebody like Jane was studying at the Catholic Universality and behaving in such a non-Catholic way?
“Wouldn’t you get in trouble? What if your school finds out?” Barbara asked.
“They wouldn’t,” replied Jane, sounding very confident.
“OK, but if you do get in trouble, let me know,” and Barbara handed her a phone number.
Now Jane was in trouble and Barbara was the only person she could call. Jane explained the situation and Barbara invited her to come for a visit. Those kinds of problems cannot be discussed over the phone.
“So, you are pregnant. Do you know the guy?” There was no reproach in Barbara’s voice.
Jane was silent for a while and then she said: “There was more than one.”
“But for a catholic girl an abortion must be traumatic.”
“I am not that much of a catholic girl.”
“OK, that simplifies it. Do you know there is something called the Abortion Pill?”
“No, I don’t.”
“It is a pill which will force a miscarriage. There is an organization called Planned Parenthood which provides it. You want me to investigate?”
“Yes please.”
Barbara knew she had to do it right away. She found out the closest Planned Parenthood office in Georgetown, arranged the appointment and called Jane.
“I made an appointment for you for tomorrow and I will go with you. For a moral support. The office will provide the pill, actually two pills, but it costs around $600. Can you pay it?”
“Not with my credit card, my parents would find out. Can you please pay it for me? Then, after all that is over, I will work in the evenings in one of those pubs and pay you back.” Barbara agreed, she was a good friend. They went to the Planned Parenthood office where the nurse explained to Jane how the medication works. She will take the first pill and three days later the second pill will cause the miscarriage. It would be a good idea, the nurse said, to have somebody around for help during that time.
“You can stay in my place for a day or two,” said Barbara. She was really a good friend.
All went according to the plan. Barbara paid for the pill, the procedure went well, and after Jane recuperated, she was waitressing in her favorite pub to pay Barbara the bill. They kept seeing each other and Barbara became interested in Jane’s life.
“How come you ended up studying at a catholic university?” she asked.
“My parents are religious.”
“And while studying, didn’t you get into trouble?”
“Yes, I did,” and Jane repeated that one sentence she wrote for Father Brown. They both laughed and Barbara asked: “What did the prof say?”
“He got mad at me. He made me to come to his office, gave me “Fail” and threaten to show the assignment to the head of the department. I told him it was a joke, but he took it seriously.”
“And, as it turned out, he was right.”
“Yes. My assignment anticipated the future. Perhaps I can make living doing that.”
They both laughed at the idea.
“Can you also forecast my future?” asked Barbara.
“It would have to be an assignment from Father Brown.”
“Maybe he will come up with such an assignment. Something like: The mysterious life of my best friend.”
“If I wrote about my best friend, for sure they would kick me out of the university. They hate people who support abortions.”
“So, you can forecast future only according to the morality of Father Brown?”
“I tried deviate from it once and they almost expelled me.”
“Therefore, it would be better to wait with forecasting future till graduation,” concluded the discussion Barbara.