Shelly laughed.
“Dead people are bad luck, so I burned the
picture for them.”
I nearly fainted.
Anger and hatred threatened to burst inside me.
Shane, scared I’d lose control and hurt Shelly, dragged me out of the room.
He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, and said, “Shelly shouldn’t have burned your dad’s picture, I’ll talk to her. You always liked me, right? If you adopt the baby, I might consider
<
being with you.”
Shane was tall and handsome, well–educated,
and came from a good family. Every girl in the village had a crush on him.
In the spring, he taught me to read and write, took me to catch rabbits, and scared away the bullies.
I fell for him hard, giving him everything.
I never realized he was playing me all along.
From spring to winter, ten months, enough for Shelly to get pregnant and give birth.
He was only nice to me because he wanted me to slave away for his kid, figuring I was a defenseless orphan who had no one to stand up for me.
Seeing I wasn’t saying anything, Shane thought
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he’d won.
“You don’t even have to go through childbirth! You get a free kid! Go home and borrow money for formula! The baby’s crying, aren’t you
worried?”
How twisted was that?
He and Shelly were living together, pretending to be siblings.
They had a baby they didn’t want, scared of ruining their reputations, but then blamed me for not caring about their kid.
“The baby’s own parents don’t want him, why should I be the one?”
I said through clenched teeth, but he didn’t hear a word.
<
He thought it was just anger.
He figured I’d be crawling back to him, begging
for forgiveness.
Well, as the favorite, he always got his way.
I wasn’t going to waste my breath.
Let him spend his life running around to doctors with his brain–damaged kid and Shelly.
The papers for moving back to the city would be coming out any day now.
Then no one would find me, Claire, and no one could use me again.
The day they announced who could move back to the city, I went to the bulletin board early.
I couldn’t find my name.
<
People were whispering, shooting me nasty
looks.
68
The village chief called me into his office,
saying I was being denied because of my “personal conduct” and that I needed to think about my actions, and the village would decide what to do with me.
I had done everything right this time! Why was this still happening?
I staggered home, and someone dumped a
bucket of dirty water on me.
“Don’t walk in front of my house, you filthy tramp!”
“Yeah! Having a baby out of wedlock and then abandoning it!
“Thank God the kind Shane and Shelly found
the baby, or he’d be dead!”
く
This kind of thing wasn’t unusual in the
countryside.
Some women slept with officials to get food, to
work less, or to move back to the city, ruining
families.
Some were tricked or assaulted, but no one
cared.
If they got pregnant, they wrapped their bellies tight and wore baggy clothes.
If they couldn’t get an abortion, they had the
baby and tried to give it away, or killed it.
The villagers looked at me the same way they
looked at those women.
They wanted to tie me up and parade me
through the streets.
<
I explained, panicked.
“No, I didn’t! The baby’s not mine!”
But they wouldn’t believe me, getting angrier.
“Liar! That night you asked the neighbor to take you to the hospital! You said your stomach hurt, but you were going to see the baby!”
“He couldn’t see in the dark, but he heard you arguing with a man about a baby!”
“She’s always been after Shane! And when he said no, she went after other men. Someone like that should be thrown in jail!”
There was no way out of this.
I stumbled back, and fell into someone’s arms.
Turning around, I saw a face that made my blood run cold.
<
blood run cold.
Shane.
He pushed the wailing baby into my arms.
“I’m sure Claire was tricked. If she turns her life around and raises this baby, you should forgive her.”
Shane pretended to comfort me.
“Claire, I know you’re upset, but you have no choice. You have to raise this baby.”
He’d started the rumor and then pretended to defend me.
He wanted me to take the blame for Shelly’s out–of–wedlock baby, and waste my life as the mother of their brain–damaged kid.
<
Like hell.
I wasn’t going to let him win!
When I met Shane’s gaze, the smug confidence in his eyes flickered with panic.
In his fantasy, I’d be groveling, thanking him for being the only one to help me while everyone else was tearing me down.
But I was just staring at him, like I’d seen right through his lies.
The neighbor lady, Marlene, took the crying
baby, cooing softly.
My place was out in the sticks.
Other than working in the fields, I barely saw
anyone, except for Marlene.
She might have had her suspici
