01

RYLEE

I tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. I had been staring at the ceiling for hours, my eyes glazed over, refusing to close. It was actually a sofa bed. I would slept there since Scarlet, my older sister, decided she needed privacy and kicked me out of the room. The second room in the small house was occupied by our mother.

Not that I was complaining. There were worse things that happened in that house, like, for example, the harassment of the disgusting men who, from time to time, took advantage of it.

The little world we lived in was sordid, and what kept me from running away from it was the certainty that everything was about to end. More specifically in four months, when I would turn eighteen and be free to do whatever I wanted with my life.

When I gave my cry for freedom, I intended to move to the capital, together with my best friend, Marina, where we would share the rent of an apartment.

I could not wait for it all to happen. By then, the school year would be over, I would be out of high school, and free in every way a human being can be.

Until then, I needed to keep firmly putting up with my mother and sister. Not that I hated them, far from it; I just disagreed with what the two did and with that, I was excluded from the family, the hostile one.

The only reason I still lived in that house was that my mother needed the alimony that my father paid every month.

It was not Scarlet's father. Hers, not even my mother knew for sure who it was. Mine was already married to another woman when I was conceived and had to leave town to save his marriage. Another demand he had made in return for the alimony payment was that I never show up at his house.

My family's business was the worst you can imagine. My mother and my sister, along with Michel, Scarlet's boyfriend, formed a small gang that scammed men out of their money.

The most common of these scams was when Scarlet pretended to be a prostitute, luring these men to remote places where Michel would show up armed and take everything he could get from these fools. 

It might not seem like it, but Michel was very jealous. He always showed up at the agreed place before any of the idiots had time to get their hands on Scarlet. 

Sometimes they just drugged these men with prescription drugs my mother had access to through the friendships she'd made at the town hospital, when she worked there. 

However, the city was small, and even though they acted in the surrounding municipalities, they were becoming known. Not even the corrupt delegate, bribed not to investigate the complaints he received, was able to control the situation any longer. 

In order not to be worse off or have to get a job – which for them would be even worse than death itself – they were involved in the biggest scam of all. They intended to make Scarlet pregnant by Adriel Beaumont, a millionaire in the oil industry who was in town for the construction of an oil pipeline in the vicinity.

They said the guy was evil personified. Ruthless and heartless, he was building his oil pipeline on the land of one of the largest farms in the region, responsible for the livelihood and housing of dozens of families. 

They also said that many of these families were already homeless and without jobs because of the cruelty of that man. 

Still, my mother and Scarlet were determined to commit the folly of giving such a dangerous man a baby. For nearly two months, since he'd arrived in town, the two of them had been working on it. 

As soon as the headquarters of his company were implemented in SaintClair City, where we lived, Scarlet got a cleaning job there and started trying to seduce him in every way, with the intention of getting pregnant. But the man was more difficult than the others she was used to dealing with; he did not give in to any of her attempts.

The two came to think that he was gay, but later discovered that he was nothing more than a libertine of the worst kind, who sought pleasure in a sex club in a nearby city. 

He went there at least once a week, and after days of preparation, that was the big night Scarlet had gone out to meet him at this club, taking medications that would make him hallucinate to the point of getting her pregnant without even realizing it.

According to their research, he was single and had no children. Considering how rich he was, that child would guarantee them a millionaire pension, for at least eighteen years, like mine. The difference was that mine was nothing more than a penny that barely paid my expenses.

Michel did not agree with the plan, of course. What man would agree to his girl getting pregnant by another? 

Scarlet was determined to get out of her misery. And the fact that Michel was not participating in this whole plot, as he had been on other occasions, was making my mother more worried than usual.

From the living room, I could see the light on in the kitchen, where she was, nervous, startled, pacing up and down, chain-smoking. 

Scarlet had left around seven o'clock to go to the club frequented by the rake. It was already two in the morning, and she still had not returned or called. From the state my mother was in, she did not seem to be answering her phone either. 

I considered going to my mother, offering some support, but I was not sure how to bring up sensitive topics with her, especially when I was so nervous. There was a transparent barrier between us, forever. 

Despite all the differences we had, I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer that Scarlet would be okay, that nothing bad would happen to her.

Time dragged slowly, and my mother looked more and more desperate in the kitchen. I was convinced that something had gone terribly wrong when, finally, the room door opened, and Scarlet came in, storming like a hurricane, followed by Michel.

The plan definitely did not go as it should...

"What are you doing up at this hour? Where are you, Mom?" she asked, stopping in front of me.

Her appearance was not the best. The dark makeup running from her eyes showed that she had been crying; her golden hair was disheveled, her black tights torn, her clothes rumpled.

"In the kitchen," I informed her.

I watched her head towards the kitchen, fast as lightning, followed by her boyfriend, and I wanted to follow her to find out what happened. However, as always, I kept to myself, quiet, just listening, making my existence as little noticeable as possible.

“What the hell happened? Why did not you answer the phone?" my mother spoke, upset.

"Battery dead," said Scarlet.

"What happened? Why is Michel here?"

There was a moment of tension-laden silence before I could hear Scarlet's voice again, a little hesitant. "Everything went wrong."

The two began to argue. My mother seemed increasingly agitated and nervous as Scarlet explained to her that she'd managed to find the rake at the club, approached a woman he used to date, and ended up going with the two of them to one of the rooms.

Once there, she managed to put the medicine in his drink and drug him. However, even though he was very affected by the drug, the guy insisted on using a condom during the sexual act, and all she managed to do was bring his sperm inside a condom. 

They had already thought about this possibility and were ready for artificial insemination, using a syringe, in case something like that happened. The problem was what happened afterward.

As she left the club, Scarlet was approached by Michel, who adamantly refused to allow her to go through with that madness. Drunk and jealous, he ended up persuading her to have sexual intercourse between the two, without protection, which would make it impossible to distinguish whose child it would be if she were inseminated right after having sex with another man.

Upon hearing the report from both of them, my mother screamed, cursed, and kicked, mad with hate.

"She's my fucking wife! It is enough to have gone all the way with another guy. What happened is unacceptable, and if I have to have a child, let it be mine!" Michel countered, in the same furious tone, his voice choked with alcohol.

"Your fucking wife! Do you happen to have anything to support her with? And if you get her pregnant, what are you going to support that child with?" my mother replied in the same tone, and the discussion continued more and more heated, with the two exchanging insults and accusations.

"Enough! This fight will get us nowhere!" Scarlet intervened, shouting louder than the two in order to silence them. "Shit is done. There is no turning back. At least we still have his 'stuff,' we can get someone else."

"As if that were possible on such short notice," my mother said.

And it was true. From what I heard of the two talking while they were plotting the grand plan, sperm lived for a maximum of six hours outside the human body, and that was when there was no contact with oxygen.

As guided by our mother, Scarlet had brought the semen very well packed and in a frozen container, but they would never find another woman willing to embark on that madness in such a short time. 

Suddenly, I heard my name mentioned in the kitchen, and a shiver ran across the back of my neck, heralding a bad omen. I tried to hear what they were saying, but suddenly they started whispering, and I had no doubt they were talking about me.

Damn! What were they up to?

It did not take long; the three left the kitchen and advanced through the room, coming towards me. 

A shudder went through me, and I jumped off the couch, startled when I saw the large white syringe in my mother's hand.

Damn it!

"I am sorry, daughter, but it has to be you," my mom said, looking at me like she really felt it.