sink. I was still in tenth grade. I had no money, no plan, and no idea how I was going to raise a child.
But nothing frightened me more than telling my parents.
My mother stared at my stomach as if I had brought something shameful into our home. My father did not ask whether I was safe or whether the baby’s father had abandoned me. He simply pointed toward the front door.
Family
“You have disgraced this family,” he said coldly. “From this day forward, you are no longer our daughter.”
My mother began to cry, but she did not stop him.
That same night, they threw me out.
I left with a small bag of clothes and less than twenty dollars. By the following morning, everyone in our town knew. People whispered when I passed the market. Women outside the church lowered their voices and stared at
