Arriving home from work earlier than usual, the man saw his wife tying up her stepdaughter in the barn and taking the men there. The tall grass, which reached the woman’s waist, swayed slowly in the quiet wind. Spikes that bumped against each other faintly made a pleasant snapping sound, as if the field was talking. The woman walked over to the cow that was grazing near the field. She removed a rope from a nailed hook and led her home. The cow slowly waddled from foot to foot behind her mistress, looking around.
Evening was descending, and everything around was colored in scarlet, orange, and then lilac hues. It was so beautiful and quiet there. Someone out there, far away in the field, was taking a skinny mare out of the pasture, and a little foal diligently raised its not yet firm legs and trudged after Anita. Led the cow, holding the rope with one hand and the long hem of her thin dress with the other.
Unlike the cow, she did not look around. She was in a disgusted mood, and all the beauty that was going on around her went unnoticed. She groaned heavily, falling into a groove she had forgotten about. The cow stopped and moved for some reason. She snarled at the cow, barked, and got back on the normal trail. She looked back in the fact that the cow had crossed the groove and she hadn’t, making her mood even worse.
Anita walked into the big yard, untied the cow, and slapped it lightly. It went to her own stall where fodder, a bucket of water, and a pile of fresh hay with fragrant alfalfa were waiting for it. Anita walked toward the house, feeling her legs fall off. She cast a nervous glance at the girl who was feeding the chickens, and her anger increased. The girl was afraid to go after the cow, and she was not afraid to feed the chickens.
Anita sat down on the bench because she felt that she could not cope with the influx of such emotions. She couldn’t stand the girl who had so suddenly become her stepdaughter. If her husband had told her earlier that he had a daughter, Anita would have thought a good hundred times before agreeing to the marriage.
And they had been so happy until this girl came along. On the other hand, Anita felt sorry for the unnecessary child her mother had dumped her on her father. Her father had grudgingly accepted. Now and then she snatched a good slap from her stepmother. She wanted her own children; she didn’t want her husband’s children.
She got up from the bench and went into the kitchen. The girl did everything, cleaned the whole house, even cut the salad and put the soup to boil. But no matter how hard Sophia tried, Anita still couldn’t stand her. She even chased the housekeeper away so that Sophia would have more responsibilities. Anita kept waiting for the girl to beg to go back, that she would start begging to her mother. But Sophia did everything she was told, except the cows. Her relationship with the cows did not work out, and that annoyed Anita even more.
The girl entered the house and quietly slipped past the kitchen to hide in her room, so as not to annoy her stepmother. Anita sat at the table with her hand on her head, just thinking about how she could get rid of the girl. Anita didn’t want to accept other people’s children; she wanted babies of her own. But her husband refused, arguing that he already had two daughters; one was already 20, and the youngest was 12.
There was the barking of a dog and the sound of a gate opening. The man entered the yard, shook off his pant leg, rubbed the tethered dog behind the ear, and walked toward the house. The girl came down from the second floor in a jiffy and rushed into her father’s arms. He hugged her without seeing his wife standing in the doorway with her sleeves rolled up, arms crossed over her chest, watching with disdain as he cradled his daughter in his arms. Whether she was jealous was something she tried not to think about, though she knew the answer was yes. She had not taken him out of the family so that he also brought his daughter with him.
Anita walked along the kitchen and returned to the table where she had been sitting. Her mood dropped much lower again. The man sat down at the table; the girl only served herself a full plate, put a mug of tea and a handful of sweets on the tray as well, and went off to her room. At least that fact gave Anita some satisfaction. The girl’s desire to eat and watch something at the same time was just right.
The woman sat down opposite her husband, smiled at him, and put her palm on his hand. He smiled at her too. He was so grown up; hard work had only aged him. He was 40 years old now, and she was only 30. The 10-year difference in communication was not felt, but from the outside, it was very noticeable.
Anita sat on her husband’s lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him, and he immediately switched from dinner to her. He took her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom, where they indulged in lovemaking. It was later that they went down to the kitchen to satisfy their hunger. The woman sat down across from him again, daring to have a frank conversation.
“Listen, William, let’s give the girl back, eh? How long is she going to hang around here? She’s a stranger here,” said Anita, trying to remain as calm as possible. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in and out, which only gave away some of her nervousness. She opened her eyes and spoke again. “Well, really, William, we just got married. I’ve been waiting for this moment for two years, and you give me her as a lousy kitten in a box.
Like, ‘Take her and coddle her.’ I want to be your wife, not your babysitter. Why doesn’t your ex-wife want her? It’s her baby,” Anita said indignantly, throwing her hands up. Despite her emotionality, she tried to speak as quietly as possible.
“Anita, there’s no other option right now. It’s true, the ex doesn’t want to because she has a new life there, a new relationship. She’s pregnant, so she wants to start from scratch,” you think I’m glad I got her? Not really, I’ll tell you that. She’s my daughter; I should be responsible for her. Patrick, when he married Lily from next door, she had two kids, and nothing.
They lived together anyway, you know what they say, there are no other people’s children,” said William. He began to eat and shut up, but she noticed how he wrinkled his forehead, how he frowned his eyebrows. He was mentally choosing words to speak later, and he only used the food to justify the pause.
He spoke again, “There are no other people’s children, I’m telling you again. I grew up without a father too. My mother married a second time, and a man took me in and raised me as his own. Anyway, that’s some strange logic you broads have. You whine that a man should accept a woman with a child, but a woman doesn’t have to accept a man with a child. I’m not happy about this situation myself, I’m telling you again, but nothing can be fixed now, William,” this phrase about other people’s children is getting on my nerves.
I’ve had enough,” she pointed to her throat with the edge of her hand, demonstrating how much she was tired of this expression. “Don’t make everyone equal. When you left the family and asked me to marry you, you didn’t say a word about a daughter.
If I had known, maybe I wouldn’t have said yes. I want to live with you, I want to have children together. I want to have a son with you, and I want us to live as a family without any other girls. I’ll get rid of her sooner or later anyway. She’ll ask to go home on her own, you’ll see,” Anita said, pounding the table with her fist.
She went into the bedroom, and the man remained sitting and eating. This was not the first time he had heard this conversation, but it did not make him feel any better. He was just tired of hearing it all, tired of constantly telling his wife that she couldn’t always get what she wanted, that no one else wanted the girl. But to be frank, he didn’t really need her himself.
He sat at the table, his head propped on his palm, and thought about how this situation could be resolved. There was no way the ex-wife would agree to the girl’s return because she had a new husband, a pregnancy, a new life, and the girl didn’t fit into that picture in any way.
“It’s a strange thing. We were so much looking forward to this baby when we were together, and in the end, it turned out that nobody wanted Sophia,” the man shook his head dejectedly. He felt frustrated, even confused in a way. Anita was crying in the living room. The girl could not be heard at all, only the muttering of her laptop.
And what should he do? William did not know. He fervently adored Anita, her youth, the curves of her body, her beauty, and at times her cool temper, her vivacity in bed, and the light in her eyes. And he gave up his family to be with her because he was afraid someone would steal her away. She was too beautiful, her body was too inviting. But he couldn’t leave his daughter either because she was still related to him. This dilemma was emotionally eating him up from the inside.
The man closed his eyes in search of an answer, but there was no answer. Early in the morning, William left for work, kissing his wife. He took his daughter to school, and Anita was left alone in the house. She watched them walk away, and a contemptuous smirk flashed across her face. She cast a glance at the neighbor’s lot and smelled the aroma of jam. Apparently, the neighbor had already taken to making jam for the winter.
But suddenly, nausea came to her throat, and Anita rushed to the bathroom. She vomited, and then again, she sat on the bathroom floor with her head against the cold tub. And she knew exactly what was going on. She was happy that the long-awaited pregnancy had arrived. But one thing still frustrated her—the girl was still living with them.
Anita took three pregnancy tests out of the medicine cabinet, and they were all positive. In the blink of an eye, Anita’s mood only got worse. She frustratedly walked into the kitchen and sat at the table, closing her eyes. What to do next? She is pregnant.
William would go crazy with happiness. But she wanted the three of them to live together now, just her, William, and the future baby. A girl didn’t fit into the picture of a happy family. Anita was busy with household chores, and then a brilliant idea popped into her head. She thought of a way to bring the girl to such a state that she begged to come home.
Anita pulled herself together and walked to the alley where there were always men waiting for physical work. They all looked unkempt, the lingering smell of weathered alcohol emanating from them. She offered to do something for them, and they agreed. Anita went home, and they followed like a flock of geese following their mother goose. Anita set them down under the apple tree behind the house to wait there.
Sophia was walking home an hour early because class had been canceled. She entered the yard but immediately felt her stepmother’s hands on her shoulders. “Come, I need you to help me,” she said, taking the girl into the barn. Anita did not see that William was already home earlier than usual and noticed this strange situation from the side. William stopped to his horror. He saw his wife tying her stepdaughter in the barn, gagging her with some rag.
“Now you’re going to hell, and then you’re going to run to Daddy and whine that you want to go home until he takes you back to your mother. And if you refuse or aren’t diligent enough, I’ll repeat the experiment,” Anita said, tightening the ropes tighter. She walked away and then led the men into the barn and out herself.
William ran home, unaware of himself, with horror. Anita turned white with horror, realizing that he had seen everything. The man pushed her away, burst into the barn, and a scuffle ensued. Eventually, he drove all the men out of the yard, who left the area with battered faces. Anita stood in the yard, watching the events take place. She only clapped her eyes and said nothing. She could hear the girl crying hysterically as the man soothed her.
But here, William came out of the barn and began to scream. Anita could barely make out any of the screaming. “I would have stopped everything. I was watching her. I just wanted to scare her. I wanted her to go away because I’m pregnant,” the woman roared, and her face immediately flooded with tears.
William could not look at her crying. He turned away so as not to upset himself further. He heard her crying and felt his heart clench with pain. He told his daughter to pack her things and went to pack himself. He couldn’t stay here, couldn’t think about what his wife had done.
Soon, Anita stopped crying. She just sat in the living room and watched her husband pack. She did not cry, but tears flowed quietly down her cheeks. The sight made him feel even worse. He heard her words, heard that she was pregnant, but that in no way begged for her actions. He thought of his wife, his child, his daughter, and he didn’t understand how to resolve this situation. He was a man; he had to think of something. But nothing came to mind.
The man and his daughter went to the car. There was a distinctive sound, and then they drove out of the yard, leaving his wife alone. Anita stopped crying almost immediately. She knew he would come back. She knew he couldn’t resist her. It was only a matter of time before he returned. She closed the gate, turned the key in the gate, and went into the field to fetch the cow. She could only live her usual life and wait. But she could not wait too long either, exactly until the moment when it would no longer be possible to have an abortion. Because if the plan failed, she was not going to raise the child alone.
A man was driving down the road, and it was getting dark all around. He left the village and drove toward the town. The girl was silent, and he did not say a word either. And what was there to talk about at all after such a thing?
William could see how his vision was getting worse at dusk, but it was only six kilometers to the city. He drove under the bright lights of the city, and visibility got better. Traffic had already cleared, and the roads were clear. He turned and stopped at one of the apartment buildings in a residential neighborhood.
The man had called a friend beforehand, and he agreed to receive him when he learned of the whole situation. William opened his daughter’s door, and she came out, holding her backpack. He stepped into the entryway, and she quietly followed him. They entered an apartment that was smoky, not the best option for a 12-year-old girl, but they had nowhere else to go.
“It’s just for a couple of days. Tomorrow, I’ll be looking for another option,” he told his daughter. She nodded and went to the room the man had escorted her to. This was his daughter’s room, but she had grown up and moved out. So, Sophia could use whatever she wanted. Her father’s friend smiled at her and made her feel welcome.
Sophia remembered him. He never hurt her and was always kind. Edward let his friend into the kitchen, took out a cold bottle of beer, and sliced sausage and cheese on a plate. They sat down at the table, and a conversation ensued.
“Of course, your Anita is a fool, but I don’t blame her. Frankly, I saw her. You should be glad that she chose someone like you. With her looks, she could have married a rich guy. And then there’s the pregnancy hormones, they make a woman go crazy. My wife ate watermelon with salted bread, and your ex, as I recall, kicked you out of the house every other day and then sobbed on her knees. So, I don’t think you can take that seriously,” said Edward, taking out more ice-cold bottles that were starting to get sweaty.
“What have you got to be ashamed of? That’s the way it’s always been for women. To babysit. It’s your ex-wife who should be ashamed that she abandoned her own daughter and dumped her on you. So, give her back to her and go back to Anita. You’d have to be an idiot, William, to give up such a gorgeous woman.
That’s true. And your wife isn’t going anywhere anyway, a mother’s instinct, so to speak. She’ll bring her up. You put her in front of the fact, and that’s it. Tell her that you don’t have to take responsibility for her being a bad mother. It’s the last straw for them, a massive attack. There are feelings and hormones and guilt. She might yell at you, but she’ll take the girl. There’s your solution to all your problems. Go back to Anita, apologize, and that’s it. You should have called me earlier; we would have solved everything long ago,” said Edward.
William nodded. He understood that Edward was right, and it all turned out so easy. He had puzzled over all this time, although he could have decided to do it himself long ago.
The next morning, William gathered up his daughter, put her in the car, and they drove off. Sophia was silent; she heard her father and his friend talking and knew exactly what was waiting for her. She was thrown around like a kitten from house to house, but no one was willing to take her. She did everything that was asked of her, kept silent, tried not to annoy anyone. But neither her own mother nor her stepmother wanted to bother with her.
William did not even look at his daughter; her huge, sad eyes would have driven him mad. He would simply give up and not be able to give her up. But he made up his mind yesterday, and he had to do it. He entered the entryway using his old key and went to his ex-wife’s apartment. Sophia followed him on the familiar steps.
William knocked on the door, and in a minute, a tall, shoulder-length man opened it for him. He grimaced and asked what he wanted, then called his wife to come to the door. The man himself stood behind her, with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Listen, I’ve been thinking lately. Take Sophia. I don’t have to take responsibility for you being a bad mother,” said William. “She’s your daughter. You’re a woman, so take responsibility for your offspring. And I just can’t. I’m a man. It’s none of my business.”
He said it crumpled, and while his ex-wife stood there with her mouth open in surprise, he left, leaving the girl with a small bag of things. Sophia wanted to go into the apartment, but her mother closed the door a little and looked at her new husband. He rolled his eyes but immediately beckoned his wife into the other room. Sophia could hear that the conversation was far from pleasant; they were fighting. It was mostly the man fighting.
Sophia walked into the kitchen and watched her father drive away. She felt her heart clench with pain. She had heard her mother’s conversation with her stepfather and understood perfectly well what awaited her. She was being abandoned once again, left to live in an orphanage. Her own mother wanted to put her in an orphanage just to please her new husband. What did she need her for? She would have a new baby, which meant the old ones could be abandoned like frayed clothes.
The woman stopped outside the orphanage, handed the girl to the caregivers, and went to sort out the paperwork herself. Sophia stayed at the orphanage for two weeks. Now she had been cooped up alone, not wanting to talk to anyone. She could hear the teachers talking and whispering behind her back, feeling sorry for her. They said that everyone rejected the girl.
Sophia sat by the window and thought about her father, who was happy with his new wife, and about her mother, who was happy with her new husband, while she was left unneeded, just abandoned and forgotten by everyone.
“Sophia, come downstairs. They’re here to see you,” said the nurse. Sophia shuttered. She stood up from the windowsill, and the caregiver climbed the stairs, smiling. She repeated what she had said again. Sophia ran down the stairs, hoping to see her father or mother come to their senses. But she was much happier when she saw her own sister.
Sophia rushed into the arms of her sister, who cried. They stood there crying and hugging each other. “That’s it, honey. Pack your things. All the papers are almost ready, and I can take you away. Not for a weekend like the other kids. I’ve almost got custody of you already,” said Nancy.
“Let’s go home because you have a home. If our parents turned out to be bad, that’s just their problem. Come on, I’m waiting for you at the car,” Sophia’s sister said, smiling at her. “I should have picked you up a long time ago. I didn’t think our parents would be such idiots.
Sophia’s tears continued to flow as she packed her belongings, but this time they were tears of relief and gratitude. She couldn’t believe that her sister had come back for her, that she had someone who truly cared about her well-being.
They got into the car, and Sophia clung to her sister’s hand, feeling a renewed sense of hope and belonging. Nancy drove carefully, casting occasional glances at Sophia, assuring her that everything would be alright. They arrived at a spacious apartment, and as they entered, Sophia felt a sense of warmth and comfort envelop her.
“I rented this apartment, and it will be our home. Just the two of us,” Nancy said, embracing Sophia tightly. “We’ll build a new life together, and I promise you, you’ll never have to feel abandoned or unwanted again.”
Sophia nodded, unable to find the words to express her gratitude. She knew deep down that she was safe now, that her sister would protect her and provide the love and care she had always longed for.
Over the following days and weeks, Nancy tirelessly worked to ensure that Sophia’s legal status was sorted out. She hired a lawyer, gathered the necessary documents, and navigated the bureaucratic processes. Sophia attended language classes, gradually acclimating to her new surroundings and feeling a sense of belonging.
Despite the challenges, Sophia’s resilience began to shine through. She made friends at school, started to learn English, and embraced the opportunities that life in a new country offered. Nancy was her unwavering support system, guiding her through the ups and downs, celebrating her achievements, and comforting her during moments of doubt.
As the months passed, Sophia’s confidence grew. She discovered her own talents and interests, excelling in her studies and participating in various extracurricular activities. With Nancy’s encouragement, she pursued her dreams with determination and unwavering belief in herself.
Sophia’s journey was not without its hardships and emotional scars, but her resilience and the love she found in her sister allowed her to heal. She realized that her worth was not defined by the actions of her parents, but rather by the strength and resilience that blossomed within her.
Years later, Sophia stood on the stage of her high school graduation, holding her diploma proudly. Her eyes scanned the crowd, searching for Nancy’s familiar face. When their eyes met, they exchanged smiles that held a world of unspoken love and gratitude.
Sophia knew that she had not only found a sister in Nancy but also a lifelong friend and mentor. She was eternally grateful for the second chance her sister had given her, for the love and support that had shaped her into the confident young woman she had become.
With Nancy by her side, Sophia felt a sense of belonging and purpose. She knew that no matter what challenges lay ahead, she had someone who would always stand by her, someone who had shown her the true meaning of family and unconditional love.
As Sophia stepped off the stage, her future stretched out before her, full of endless possibilities. And she was ready to embrace them, knowing that with her sister’s love and support, she could overcome anything that life threw her way.
