Chapter 3
There was a small irrigation pond in the backyard. It wasn't big, but it was deep enough to come up past an adult's waist. A few dead leaves floated on the murky surface.
Sophie was in it, and Henry had her pinned in the water while she struggled in panic.
And Stella was sitting right there in a wicker chair with one leg crossed over the other, smiling as she watched. She was even saying, “Henry's so strong. What a tough kid. He'll definitely be somebody someday.
"Hold her down a little longer. Let her swallow some water. Then she'll learn to behave.”
My mind went blank. My body moved faster than my thoughts.
I charged over and kicked Henry away from her. An eight-year-old couldn't take a kick like that. He tumbled into the mud and burst into tears.
Then I kicked the wicker chair Stella was sitting on. It flipped over, and she crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
“Sophie, Sophie!” I threw myself into the pond. The water rose past my knees, and icy muddy water poured into my shoes, but I didn't care. I grabbed Sophie and hauled her out.
She was soaked through and coughing hard, barely able to steady her breathing. As I held her, my hands shook and tears poured down my face.
By then, everyone in the house had rushed outside.
David was the first over. I thought he was coming to check on Sophie, but he only grabbed my arm and roared, “Claire, have you lost your mind? You kicked my mom? You kicked my nephew?”
Frank ran over and scooped Henry up. Henry was crying so hard he could barely breathe, and Frank's face twisted with fury.
He turned and glared at me like he wanted to eat me alive. “Claire, what the hell is wrong with you? Who gave you the right to hit my son?”
Linda screamed and threw herself toward Henry. Then she looked up and shouted at me, “What did you do to my son? If anything happens to him, I'm not letting this go!”
Julian helped Stella up off the ground. A huge lump was rising on the back of her head.
She clutched it with tears and snot all over her face, slapped her thigh, and howled, “What kind of evil did we bring into this house? What sort of daughter-in-law did my son marry?
"She hits her mom. She hits a child. God, open your eyes. Why doesn't a vicious woman like this drop dead?”
Holding Sophie while she kept coughing, I shook all over. Even my voice trembled. “Henry was shoving Sophie's head into the pond. Didn't any of you see that? And mom was sitting there praising him. He could've killed her. Do you even get that?”
“They were just kids messing around. Did you really have to do this?” David flung my arm aside and pointed at my face. “Look at what you did to my mom. She's old, and you kicked her? What kind of person does that?”
“Messing around?” I stared at him in disbelief. “Sophie almost drowned, and you're calling it messing around?”
“But she didn't drown, did she?” David waved his hand impatiently. “They were just kids playing with water. Why are you blowing up like this?
"Henry's only eight. What bad intentions could he possibly have? And how could a pond like that kill anyone? You're making a mountain out of nothing.”
I stared at David for three full seconds. This man, my husband and Sophie's own father, blamed me first for kicking his mother and then said, “But she didn't drown.”
In that moment, the last bit of attachment I had to this marriage died completely.