© Eugene Richards
Emily's Second Child, Chicago, Illinois, 1986
"I was scared to tell my mother the first time I was pregnant. But she started knowing. I used to stay asleep, stay asleep. And then every morning I used to want Italian beef with mustard. So she knowed. She said, 'This girl eating like she’s pregnant.' When she found out, she said, 'Now what you gonna do? You’re too young. You can’t even take care of yourself. How you gonna take care of a baby?' She ask, 'You want to give it away?' I said, 'No, I ain’t gonna carry my baby for nine months and then give it away.' 'Well that’s right, you ain’t gonna give it away. But then wait till it get big like you. You’re gonna suffer. You’re gonna wish you had no kids.'"
From: REVISITING EUGENE RICHARDS’ INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF POVERTY
