Back to square one

The girl’s grandmother took her straight back to the house, where she found out that the woman had lied about her parents coming to pick her up. As soon as they entered the house, her grandmother whirled on her and gave her a resounding slap that had her ears ringing as though she had placed her head inside the huge bell of the Catholic Church down the road while it rang.

“We had a fucking agreement!” The woman screeched, worsening the headache that the girl was already feeling. “How dare you disobey my orders? How dare you do whatever the fuck you want? How dare you?!!!”

The girl winced, wishing she could raise her hands and block out the screeching, but she knew better than to do that. The babies inside her shifted a little, as though in sympathy with her or distress, and she longed to raise her hands to pat her belly and comfort them, but she left them hanging limply by her side as she faced her grandmother.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said eventually.