They had seen Shane and Shelly go into the cornfields together.
If they were caught, they just said they were harvesting.
Over time, they got a reputation for being hard workers.
And Shelly had looked queasy a few months back, which everyone knew meant one thing.
People started murmuring.
Shane’s mom sat down and started wailing.
“Are you ganging up on us? Putting that on my
son?
Claire, you’re a shameless slut! You had a
<
bastard so you ruined my son’s life! Shane and
Shelly are family. Are you saying the village
leader lied about the relationship?”
That brought up the village leader, and people
shut up.
You couldn’t mess with someone who had
power over you.
But I didn’t care.
“Then we should go to the cops. We’ll get this sorted out.”
Shelly’s face went white. She grabbed my arm, forcing a smile.
“Claire, let’s talk. Don’t make a scene. If you don’t want the baby, my mom’s here to help.”
Yeah, right. Help, or act like the queen?
<
Eating my food, wearing my clothes, then ordering me around?
They thought I was some orphan they could
take advantage of.
Last time, I lived a miserable life in the dirt,
while Shelly lived it up in the city.
She’d raise the kid, then take him away.
I threw her off, slapped her.
68
“Shelly, stop acting innocent. I’m not done with you. I’ll kill him if you try that again!”
She froze, ready to scream.
