"I love him! You have no right to tell me not to see him!" she shouted.
"You know nothing when it comes to love!" her stepmother's voice was sharp and clear. That's when Sydney laughed. Why was she laughing?
"And you do?" she said. Her voice was followed by even more laughter.
"You are not to ever see him again and that is final! I will not have one of my husband's daughters running around falling in love when she his betrothed to a rich and exceedingly handsome gentleman. I expect you to write to Ian and the Jensens by tomorrow morning." As soon as she was done, I heard her shoes clacking to where, I assumed, the door was.
"I am pregnant with his child."
The six words Sydney said were loud and clear, making me suck in my breath.
The footsteps came to a halt.
"What did you just say?"
"I said, I am pregnant with his child," repeated Sydney. "Our child."
There was no air, I felt like I was suffocating. Sydney is pregnant? Since when? The closet felt too stuffy, the top too low and the sides too tight. I needed to get out. I needed to see Sydney. I have to-
SLAP!
I stiffened. A thud of someone falling followed, and I had no doubt that it was Syndey.
I wanted to run out to her, cradle in her my arms and tell her hell with it all. Our child she had said. But I held myself back; I knew that if I tried to do anything it wouldn't help, it would just make things worst. Having her mother know I was hiding in the closet would be like throwing hay at a fire hoping it would extinguish it.
"You!" her stepmother roared. That one word held so many feelings, from pure rage to horror, to disgust and disappointment. "You are no daughter of mine! You scandalous whore! Your father and Ian will know of this!"
Sydney, much to my surprise and horror, laughed again. She lost her mind I thought, shaking my head. Probably when she found out she's with a child.
"You actually think that Ian cares?" Sydney screamed in hysterics. "He spends all his free time with other girls, drinking and doing god knows what. He hits me for leaving the house, he doesn't care!"
"You lie," snarled her stepmother and again I heard the distinguished sound of someone getting
slapped again. "You will not leave this room until your father comes back from travel, and you will never see that boy again!"
By now there was no air for me to breath in. I couldn't stand here doing nothing while father's wife just kept laying her hands on her.
"Do you understand?"
The only reply that came from Sydney was a stifled sob that broke my heart in half. In no time, the door was slammed and locked. Even though I wanted to barge out and break the hinges on the closet doors, I couldn't risk the sound. I quietly opened stepped out and took a long, deep and much needed breath.
My eyes found Sydney standing by the window. Her hair was in a wild mess, cascading down her back. I couldn't see her face but when I got closer, I noticed that her hands were in shaking fists on her sides. I took the last steps to her carefully, just in case she might lash out on held back anger, the way I know she always does. Standing right behind her, I could hear her taking in deep breaths, calming down.
