The Life of Jane continued

                              Abortion But Not On Demand continued


       Teresa was a short thin working class woman from London's East End. She had a long thin nose and thick black hair piled up on top of her head. "Grew up in Leytonstone," she told Jane as they sat in a cafe near Nancy's apartment. "I've lived by my wits 'cause my dad wasn't some big toff. He works down in the sewers that's all. And my mum cleans houses."
     Teresa explained in her working class accent the plan. They'd go back to Jane's room and there Teresa would slash both of Jane's wrists with a razor blade. "A clean one," Teresa said, "because we don't want
any infections in the wounds do we?" Then Teresa would scuttle down the stairs and call the ambulance from a nearby pay phone. But she'd leave the razor blade on the bed . "And," she added, "before I go I'll
wipe the razor with a cloth so I won't be leaving my fingerprints on the blade."
    "Now here's the story to remember," Teresa said, leaning over the table as she talked to Jane in a lowered voice. Nancy looked and smiled. "The ambulance men will take you to the hospital and there they may get rid of your baby, But they won't do that if you don't get your story straight."
     Then she launched into what Jane had to tell the hospital staff and the police. "Because the police are going to show up," Teresa said as she shook her finger at Jane, and looked around at the near empty cafe. "Remember the police are everywhere and their word counts."
     So Teresa advised Jane to cry as she told her story to the cops and the doctors. "You tell them you wanted to commit suicide. You've got a child inside you, and your so-called boyfriend, a damn yank, and the child's father, ran off back to his folks in America, leaving you all by your lonesome self."
     "Tell them you've been feeling terrible and you want to die." Then she pointed at Nancy. "I told this Chinawoman what to do and it all worked out. Didn't it Nan?"
    Nancy nodded and reached across the table to hold Jane's hand. She squeezed Jane's left hand and smiled. "It worked out fine," she said. "Good luck Jane. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow."