There was a small farewell a few days later for the little babe that never was.
It wasn’t truly a funeral since there was no baby to bury, but a small ceremony to say goodbye to what might have been. Mara-Joy wore a black dress with a matching black veil fashionably covering her face so no one could see the expression that blanketed it.
Jobeth had insisted that Alan get a wheelchair for Mara-Joy to sit in. She didn’t want her child to strain herself. They had nearly lost her through the whole ordeal as it was. Jobeth wasn’t having Mara-Joy overdoing it.
Chad stood beside the tiny headstone and wept real tears for the child he had never really wanted. He had tried to fantasize about playing ball with a son or showing his friends how beautiful his daughter was. He really believed that when the child was born, he would have begun to feel good about the marriage he felt forced into. The child was supposed to do that. It was supposed to take away that feeling of being an animal trapped in a snare. Or at least the baby was supposed to make his bondage bearable. But, then again, it was the baby that had put him in this prison in the first place.
And now the baby was dead and he was in a pit he didn’t know how to get out of. He looked over at Mara-Joy who sat stiffly in her wheelchair. Her mother was next to her holding tightly to her hand, hovering like a bobcat ready to pounce. Mara-Joy had not exaggerated when she said her parents would hunt him down and make him pay for getting her pregnant. The way her mother hovered over her sent chills down Chad’s spine. What was it that made him shudder when he thought about how possessive his mother-in-law was over his wife? He couldn’t help but think it was destructive in some way.
He shook himself briefly and looked again at Mara-Joy’s somber form. She wouldn’t talk to him. He had received the message about the miscarriage shortly after it had happened.
Jobeth sent Alan from work to the grocery store to deliver what Chad considered his life sentence.
He looked up into the gray sky as clouds began to form quickly. Soon they would drop their tears on all of them.
In his mind Chad screamed repeatedly, Why me? Why has this happened to me?
Then it dawned on him.
There was nothing holding him to Mara-Joy anymore.
There was no baby.
Mara-Joy couldn’t threaten him anymore. It was obvious she had wanted to marry him. No one would believe he raped her now. He could do it. He would have to wait awhile. Get his plans together.
His heart began to beat. Could it be over? Could the hell that he had brought into his life finally come to an end?
He would have to leave town, of course. He would never be accepted after abandoning Mara-Joy.
Chad shook his head. It didn’t matter. He’d be glad to see the last of this hellhole town. Good riddance to bad rubbish. It would be great to start fresh in another town. Away from his father’s damn grocery store and away from the responsibilities of being a husband to Mara-Joy.
As the plan formulated in his mind, Chad knew he could do it. He could be young and carefree once again.
A hand tapped him on the back of his shoulder, crashing him back to reality.
He turned to the assailant.
Mara-Joy stood before him. She looked weak and tired. Dark circles etched her torrid blue eyes. Jobeth stood a short distance behind her, her tissue twisting nervously in her hands. Mara-Joy had insisted on walking over to Chad instead of using her wheelchair, causing Jobeth great amounts of anguish. By the look on her daughter’s face, the walk had been an immense burden.
“Take me home, Chad,” Mara-Joy looked coolly into Chad’s wooden face.
He looked down at the ground, unable to look into Mara-Joy’s enchanting blue devil eyes, feeling she could see into the very core of his soul.
“I want to go to our home.”
Chad’s head shot up nervously. He began to break into a cold sweat. Mara-Joy reached out and grasped Chad’s arm with surprising strength.
“Chad, please!”
He nodded idiotically and took her arm in his, obediently. Mara-Joy smiled up at him wickedly.
“That’s a good husband,” Mara-Joy purred. Chad began to tremble. Where had he seen her smile like that before?
They drove in silence as Chad turned into the driveway of their home. He stopped the car and was about to open the door to help get Mara-Joy out when she reached across and placed her hand gently on his lap, very close to his privates. He felt her fingers lightly brush against him and was ashamed at how he responded.
Mara-Joy chuckled.
“Chad darling, you are such a walking hormone.”
Blood surfaced on his face and he pushed Mara-Joy’s hand away, disgusted with himself. She leaned back in her seat and laughed maliciously, her hands cupping her jacket snugly around her neck. The black veil half covering her eyes couldn’t shield the menace behind it.
“Cut it out, Mara-Joy, let’s just get into the house and I will make you some hot tea,” Chad shifted uneasily in his seat and opened the door again.
Something was frighteningly familiar with this scene.
“That is a wonderful idea,” Mara-Joy simpered as she unbuttoned her coat.
Chad tried not to look as she expertly unfastened the snaps on the front of her black dress.
“Mara-Joy?” He swallowed the lump forming in his throat, and uncomfortably shifted in his seat.
A perky breast popped free from her bra. It was big and swollen from the pregnancy. Chad swallowed hard unable to sustain his growing arousal. He hated himself for wanting her so much, when moments ago they had stood at their unborn child’s grave.
“Touch me,” Mara-Joy ordered as she caressed herself. “Touch me.”
He reached out and grabbed her eagerly, diving into her warm, waiting breasts. He nuzzled them shamefully, unable to control himself, feeling himself heat up with want.
Mara-Joy cried out in delight, clutching his head to her tightly.
“Oh, you are mine,” she mewled, “you will always be mine, Chad.” She pushed his back against the seat, her chest naked and heaving in front of him. “Do you want me?” she asked, straddling him. She pinched her nipples hard, tossing back her head in a frenzy.
Chad encircled her waist, his mouth sucking up her body. She pushed him away, reaching down between his legs.
“Do you want me?” she cooed again as she rubbed between his legs. Chad reached up and grabbed a bobbing breast. Again she pushed him away. She sat back in her seat, Chad’s hands reaching for her. Slowly, she bent her head down between his legs. She breathed hot air on the protruding member buried under his pants.
Chad shuddered, unable to contain himself. He was going to have her, miscarriage or not.
Mara-Joy unzipped his pants, letting his member jump free from its confinement. She pressed the tip of her lips to the smooth tissue. Chad looked down, anticipating Mara-Joy’s next move. She looked up, her eyes glinting with mischief. The dark circles were still there under her eyes, but there was something else too. Something that frightened and excited him at the same time.
“Do you want me?” Mara-Joy said, almost pleading, her lips caressing him, her tongue flickering.
“Yes, yes,” he snarled, forcing her head down onto him. He closed his eyes and leaned back, letting the pleasure envelop him.
As he succumbed to wave after wave of Mara-Joy gratifying him late into the night, he felt each nail hammered deep into his own coffin.
Lying awake naked in bed with Mara-Joy sleeping deeply on his chest, he realized where he had seen Mara-Joy smile like that before. It had been on their wedding day. When she married him, it had been for life, and she would do anything to keep him hers, forever.
Chapter 31 —