"Heinlein, Robert A - All You Zombies (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

instead, to better my chances for enlistment.
"Then I met this city slicker with his hundred-dollar
bills. -- He scowled. The no-good actually did have a wad of
hundred-dollar bills. He showed me one night, told me to help
myself.
"But I didn't. I liked him. He was the first man I ever
met who was nice to me without trying games with me. I quit
night school to see him oftener. It was the happiest time of my
life.
"Then one night in the park the games began. --
He stopped. I said, "And then? --
"And then nothing! I never saw him again. He walked me
home and told me he loved me-and kissed me good-night and never
came back. -- He looked grim. -- If I could find him, I'd kill
him! "
"Well, " I sympathized, "I know how you feel. But
killing him-just for doing what comes naturally - hmm... Did
you struggle? --
"Huh? What's that got to do with it? --
"Quite a bit. Maybe he deserves a couple of broken arms
for running out on you, but-"
"He deserves worse than that! Wait till you hear.
Somehow I kept anyone from suspecting and decided it was all
for the best. I hadn't really loved him and probably would
never love anybody-and I was more eager to join the WE. N. C.
H. E. S. than ever. I wasn't disqualified, they didn't insist
on virgins. I cheered up.
"It wasn't until my skirts got tight that I realized.
--
"Pregnant? --
"He had me higher "n a kite! Those skinflints I lived
with ignored it as long as I could work-then kicked me out, and
the orphanage wouldn't take me back. I landed in a charity ward
surrounded by other big bellies and trotted bedpans until my
time came.
"One night I found myself on an operating table, with a
nurse saying, "Relax. Now breathe deeply. "
"I woke up in bed, numb from the chest down. My surgeon
came in. "How do you feel? " he says cheerfully.
"Like a mummy. --
"Naturally. You're wrapped like one and full of dope to
keep you numb. You'll get well-but a Cesarean isn't a hangnail.
"
Cesarean" I said. "Doc - did I lose the baby? "
Oh, no. Your baby's fine. "
Oh. Boy or girl? "
"'A healthy little girt. Five pounds, three ounces. "
"I relaxed. It's something, to have made a baby. I told
myself I would go somewhere and tack "Mrs. " on my name and let
the kid think her papa was dead -no orphanage for my kid!