Page 22 of Bound By Fate
I shrugged, looking down at him, his whole focus on me. “I don’t know how many have been born since I left. It was how we were raised. The girls will go off and marry their cousins or whatever, then create more babies to add to the pile. And God knows how many more siblings have been born since we left.”
“A breeding farm?” he asked, sounding horrified, and I chuckled. I’d never thought of it that way, but it was true.
“Something like that. At least it felt like it. It seemed like one of the moms was always popping out another kid. And being the oldest, it was my responsibility to take care of said baby.”
“Come again?” he asked.
I blew out a deep breath, feeling relaxed from his ministrations. It made my tongue a bit loose. “Yeah. Being the oldest in that world sucks. Everything gets dumped on you, and you have to figure out how to handle it all on your own. It was like when I was born all the skills I’d ever need were instilled in me like a robot. Or so my parents thought.”
“So, they’d have kids and you’d babysit them?” he asked and I smiled at him. He had no idea.
“No. Not babysitting. I was a mom at age eight.”
“You have a kid?” he asked quickly.
“No, Dryerson. At eight my mother thought it was time for me to take over more responsibility. I was already watching or ‘babysitting’ my two younger siblings, but Mom wanted me to start caring for the newborn day and night.”
“That’s fucked up.” He didn’t seem disgusted, but he did mean it.
“For some like my mother, they love that way of life. They never want to change. They never want to see the world out there. Their sole purpose is to have babies and serve the men. And that’s fine, do what you want, but it wasn’t me. I wanted to feel free. It didn’t happen until Ensley had the balls to leave, but it is what it is, and I’m happy I’m here.” Even if at times I wanted to scream at myself for enjoying his touch.
“I wasn’t raised like that, so I really don’t understand it. Your father has wives, correct?”
“Yeah, he has seven. At least he did when we left. He rotates who he sleeps with every night.” Dryerson actually looked like he wanted to know. Therefore I kept talking. “I knew the schedule for the most part, but sometimes they’d switch it up and mess up the rotation.”
“Hey, I’m all for threesomes, even foursomes, but a rotation. That’s too much trouble.”
My heart squeezed in my chest. The thought of him with not one, but two women made me want to puke. Personally, I’d never do any of that, but I had a strong feeling that Dryerson had, and I knew in that instant I didn’t want to know. So, I blocked it out and kept talking.
“It was confusing sometimes. One of the moms would be really happy, then another not so much. They say they’re sister wives, and they are, but there’s a lot of bickering and jealousy behind closed doors. They try to hide it, but living so close to one another made that hard.”
“I can’t imagine. So, what was your role besides baby momma?”
This made me chuckle.Baby momma. He was funny.
“Everything. Cook, clean, sew clothes, garden for our vegetables, make sure the cows were fed and milked. Just about everything. It was always Sybil this and Sybil that. It was never ending. There were nights when I hadn’t slept a wink because I was up taking care of kiddos and was expected to be bushy tailed and ready to go the next morning to start it all over again.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a life, babe.”
I shrugged. “At first, I didn’t know any different. It was our way. We did what we were told and stayed in line so we didn’t get the belt. As I got older, and the youngsters were passed on to my younger siblings, it got a little easier because I could sleep at night. But it was my job to coordinate all of it.”
My feet were loving every second of this. Me, I wasn’t put off. I actually enjoyed talking to him like this.
“What made you decide to leave? I know Ensley’s story, but they didn’t tell me yours.”
I felt good about that just because I wanted something to be mine and not shared into the world. It was a small thing, but it was mine.
The sounds were hard to ignore. Clicks and scratches filled the room with noise. When I opened my eyes, Cyrus was standing there with something in her hand. I felt my eyes narrow, confused. I studied her for long moments, putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. The color in her face drained out? and fear like no other glistened in her eyes.
She was close to crying. It hit me suddenly. She was leaving. She was finally getting out of this place and getting away. It was an impulse decision, but I threw back the covers and got out of bed, going right to Cyrus.
Terrified wasn’t even the word to describe how Cyrus looked. She probably thought I was going to run and rat her out to our sisters or our parents. That was what we had been taught, though. Keep everyone together, and no one leaves. Ever.
I was done being here. Done with the rules. Done with the brutality. Done with having who I was going to marry thrown in my face. Not to mention he was my cousin. How was that even possible? Yet, it was all we knew, and it was time to break the cycle.
Even if it was my little sister taking the first steps. I leaned into her and whispered, “I’m coming with you.”
Cyrus’ eyes grew huge, and I knew she was in shock. Me. the oldest. Would never leave this life. I was to take over everything when my mothers got older. I was the next generation in this jacked up life.
