Maybe because it had been so long since I’d
had any decent food, or because I couldn’t
forget how Shane smothered my own baby, I
got a sudden stomach cramp.
I knocked on the neighbor’s door, begging
him to take me to the hospital.
After a shot, I started to leave, but I saw
Shane arguing with a nurse, looking pale.
I heard that the baby was sick, and he didn’t
have any money, and he was even willing to
let the nurse drain his blood to sell it.
く
“You brought him in too late,” the nurse said.
“A newborn like that, frozen for so long, he’s
lucky to be alive. But he might have brain damage, or never talk.”
Shane saw me, and his eyes were filled with
rage.
He charged at me, hands around my throat.
“This is all your fault! If it wasn’t for you,
none of this would have happened. You
always go to the fields at four! Why didn’t
you go today?!”
The nurse pulled him off me, and I coughed,
gasping for air.
Shane was trying to kill me.
L
But wasn’t it his fault?
My voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Why are you so worked up about some random baby? Seems like you knew he’d be
there. What’s he to you?”
Shane shut his mouth tight.
After a long pause, he softened his voice.
“Claire, this kid got a rough start. Would you
take him in?”
Knowing the kid would have a disability, still
hoping to bind me to him for life.
Knowing I’d be shamed for raising a baby out
<
of wedlock, and not caring.
Shane had always seen me as a tool to hide
his affair with Shelly.
To trick me into raising his kid, to drain my
youth, my
heart, my money until I was sick
and useless.
Then toss me away like trash.
I balled my hands into fists.
“There’s no way I’m adopting a moron,
especially not one who can’t even talk.”
Hearing the word “moron” made Shane’s face
twitch, his veins popping.
I felt a surge of satisfaction and added, “If it
was a normal kid, maybe. But this? No way.‘
Suddenly, a woman ran out from behind a
curtain, screaming.
“Claire, watch your mouth! Who are you
calling a moron? Who are you calling a
mute?”
It was Shelly.
She’d been listening the whole time.
Before, I liked Shane, so I treated his sister
like family.
I worked two jobs, wore my fingers to the
bone, and saved up to make her new clothes,
even letting her have my chance to move
back to the city, so she could live a good life.
But my love had become a weapon they used
against me.
I saw the metal box she was holding, and my
heart clenched.
That was my dad’s!
No wonder I couldn’t find it. She’d stolen it.
I snatched the box, but it was empty.
“Where’s the watch? My dad’s watch!”
I raised my hand to slap Shelly, but she
started crying and hid behind Shane.
He shoved me hard.
Г
“I sold the watch! To pay for the hospital bills.
If you’d taken the baby in sooner, he wouldn’t
have ended up in the hospital! It’s all your
fault!”
“Besides,” he added, “are dead people more
important than the living?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Three years ago, Shane had fallen into the
river, and my dad had saved him, drowning in
the process. We never even found his body.
That watch was the last thing I had to
remember him by.
Maybe Shane realized what he’d said,
because he looked ashamed.
r
“Alright, I’ll buy it back when I have the
money.”
I gritted my teeth.
“What about the picture in the watch? Surely
they didn’t take my dad’s picture too.”
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.
