Chapter 2

I felt angry for Mom.

Back when Sally's dad got caught with another woman in the barn, totally naked, her mom went crazy. She cried, screamed, and even tried to kill herself by drinking pesticide. She nearly died.

After that, Sally's dad never dared sleep with another woman again.

After that, I understood that men were only supposed to sleep with their own wives. If a man slept with another woman, his wife would try to kill herself by drinking pesticide.

I ran to Mom and told her everything I'd seen.

"Mom, please don't do anything stupid like trying to kill yourself. Dad made the mistake. Let him face the consequences. If you die, what will happen to me?" I blurted out.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bawling my eyes out, but Mom smacked me right across the face.

"Who told you to go snooping? Who said I was going to die? Don't talk nonsense," she snapped.

I was a little dazed, rubbing my cheek. "Mom, did you already know Dad was sleeping with another woman?"

Mom smacked me again. "Stay out of grown-ups' business."

Mom didn't show a hint of complaint on her face. She went about her chores, cooking and bringing boiled potatoes and bread to the storage room, like always.

Dad hadn't slept in the bedroom for a whole month, but she seemed like she didn't care at all.

Mom had one messed-up eye. She said a robber did it. She also got a limp from breaking her leg in the mountains as a kid. Honestly, she looked nothing like the woman in the storage room.

Maybe that was why Mom didn't care if her man was sleeping with someone else.

I felt more sorry for Mom.

The men from town kept dropping by every few days, and Mom would greet them with a big, cheerful smile.

She used to look so miserable all year round, barely cracking a smile, but ever since that woman showed up, Mom had been grinning more and more. Her attitude toward Dad changed, too.

She couldn't stand him before. If he got sick, she wouldn't even bother. But now, she actually went out and bought him some nutritious food to help him "get his strength back."

*****

One day, David William, the fortuneteller from the town, walked past our house. He stared at the storage room for ages, and then suddenly started yelling in the yard. "Damn fools. Idiots! Your whole family is about to be doomed."

I ran out and asked David what kind of disaster was coming for us.

David said, "There's a black aura swirling over your roof. Something terrible is about to happen. Not just to your family, but to everyone around here."

Mom limped out of the house, grabbed a pole from the wall, and started whacking David with it. "You damn idiot. Cut the nonsense. You're the one who's doomed. Now get lost!"

Dad heard the commotion in the yard and came out of the storage room.

When David saw Dad, he looked totally freaked out. "Frank, you're a dead man walking. Get rid of that killer thing in your room before it takes you out."

Dad looked like he was glowing. His face was flushed, his skin smooth and shiny. He didn't look like someone about to drop dead. Honestly, he seemed full of life, like he'd just come back from a spa or something.

Hearing David say that, Dad got pissed. He kicked off his shoe and tried to smack David with it. David shook his head and bolted.

I was the only one actually wondering what David meant by "that killer thing in the room."

I asked Mom, "Do you think the killer thing David was talking about is Marina, the fish-woman?"

Mom slapped me hard and snapped, "You heartless brat. How can you believe that damn fortuneteller's crap? Marina is our family's lucky charm, our savior. If it weren't for her, how would we be rolling in money right now?"

Ever since the men from town started coming over to spend time with Marina, our family had been swimming in cash. Every night, I'd see Mom under the lamp, counting dollar bills one by one.

Dad was obsessed with Marina. He'd hand over all the money he got during the day to Mom, and she'd stash it away, never wasting a cent. The only thing she spent money on was buying health tonics for Dad.

*****

David's warning didn't come true for my family, but it ended up happening to Tom instead.

Tom lived right next door, so it was super easy for him to slip over to Marina's room whenever he felt like it. He never stayed long. Ten minutes at most.

For over a month, he was basically a daily visitor. He was probably the guy who spent the most time with Marina out of all the men in the town.

One day, Tom was driving his tricycle to the city to deliver fruits and veggies. On the way back, somehow, he drove right off a cliff and died instantly.

Everyone else in the town chalked it up to a freak accident, but I couldn't get David's warning out of my head.

A few days later, there was more bad news. The town chief had died too. He got drunk and ended up drowning in the pond.

Everyone else still thought it was an accident, but I knew better. The town chief was a regular at our place, too.

Ever since word spread about Marina, the town chief came knocking and accused Dad of running a brothel, which was illegal.

Dad was scared stiff, and the chief seized the opportunity to threaten him. He said as long as he got free time with Marina, he'd turn a blind eye.

Dad agreed right away. No one dared to cross the town chief. That was an old rule in our town. Because the chief was always willing to lend a hand.

Years ago, when a single guy bought himself a wife and she tried to run away, the chief rallied all the men to hunt her down and drag her back.

When the cops came, the chief secretly tipped everyone off, so the whole town banded together to hide the woman.

*****

Later, another man died. Word was that he dropped dead at home, looking like a walking skeleton. His cheeks sank, like something had sucked the life right out of him.

His parents and brothers all blamed his wife, saying she was too wild, too shameless, and had sucked a man in his early forties dry.

His wife collapsed on the ground, bawling and screaming, saying her husband hadn't touched her in over five years.

She blamed my family for bringing that seductress into the town, claiming it was our fault her man kept sneaking off to our place every day.

Her in-laws kept shouting at her, saying she couldn't keep her husband at home, so he had to spend money chasing after other women. Now he got himself killed by some temptress from outside.

After that, all the women in the town started cracking down on their men, banning them from coming over to our house.

So for a few days, we finally got a break.

But before we could enjoy the peace, something huge blew up.

Marina had a baby.

*****

One morning, as Dad opened the storage room door, a baby's cry rang out. Dad came running out, panicked, and said to Mom, "Marina, she... she just had a baby."

"Had a baby?" Mom repeated.

Mom and I rushed into the storage room, not knowing what was happening. On the bed was a newborn baby girl, screaming her head off.

Marina was lying on her side, gently stroking the baby. Her face looked calm, as if she didn't have a care in the world.

Marina didn't even flinch when we burst in.

That was the first time I ever saw Marina's face.

Seriously, if fairies were real, Marina would be exactly what they looked like.

Her looks, her body, and her skin were flawless. She was on a whole different level from anyone in our town. My jaw dropped. No wonder all those guys went crazy for her.

But I had some questions. She'd been at our place for over a month, and not once did I see her shower or wash her hair. That busted old bed was filthy as hell, but she always looked squeaky clean.

Marina had no clue how to take care of a baby. She kept petting the baby, but she never tried to feed her.

Mom and Dad were totally lost. Marina's belly never got big. They had no idea when she got pregnant and whose kid it was.

They were clueless.

To keep the other people from finding out Marina had a baby, Mom and Dad rushed the baby into the house and gave her some water.

After the baby was taken away, Marina lay back on the bed and closed her eyes like she was meditating. She was not the slightest bit worried about the baby.

I mustered up my courage and walked over, calling out to her softly. "H-Hello."

She shot me a lazy look, a half-smile tugging at her lips, then turned her head away and closed her eyes again, lying flat on the bed.

I didn't dare stay alone with her any longer. I quickly locked the door behind me and rushed out of there.

"Man, Marina is a real jackpot. She even popped out a kid for me. Make sure you look after the baby. I'll go find someone to buy the baby tomorrow," Dad said.

Mom gave him a look of pure disgust. "You really think you can sell her baby? Don't you think she'll come after you for payback?"

Dad snorted. "She just lies there like a lump and never says a word. I'm telling you, she's probably not right in the head. We took her kid and she didn't even blink. Payback? Yeah, right."

Mom didn't say another word, but I was really anxious.

Hadn't Mom and Dad noticed how serious this was? That woman was a complete mystery, and honestly, she gave me the creeps.

"I have this bad feeling that something's about to go down. Maybe we should get rid of Marina and her baby," I muttered, barely daring to speak up.

Dad lost it and smacked me right across the face. "What the hell do you know? Marina is my cash cow. If I send her away, who's gonna make money for me? You?"

The slap knocked me to the floor, right at Mom's feet. She didn't miss a beat. She gave me a hard kick and booted me straight out the door.

"I told you to stay out of grown-ups' business. Stop talking nonsense and get lost," she snapped.

I held my face, my eyes full of tears, and I didn't dare bring up Marina ever again.

*****

The next day, Mom sent me to the kitchen to cook for Marina. Same old potatoes and bread. Mom stayed in the back room, looking after the baby, while Dad went off to other towns, trying to find someone who'd buy the baby girl.

Ever since Marina had the baby, she became even more seductive. One look at her and one's heart would itch with desire.

The guys whose wives tried to keep them in line couldn't fight Marina's temptation. They started sneaking over to our place again, like addicts who couldn't get enough.

Even the men who used to head out for work found any excuse not to leave town. They were coming by more and more. Men who used to show up once a week were now showing up every other day.

Marina didn't care if those guys were old or young, ugly or handsome. She always had a smile for them, whether they were coming or going.

My mom was the happiest about all this. She'd make several trips to the bank in the city every month.

She was there to deposit money.

She even bought herself a phone and got someone to teach her how to shop online.

My dad had always forbidden her from having a phone, but since he was so obsessed with Marina, my mom managed to buy one behind his back, and he never even noticed.

One night, around midnight, Jack Jones's wife, Mary Jones, and Paul Tanner's wife, Aliya Tanner, showed up at my house, raising hell and demanding Marina be handed over to them.