Page 84 - NS 2024

we do besides have kids?”
“I don’t know. I just meant, you know, if we could do other stuff. It was a dumb thought,” Lyssa stuttered, eager to rectify her mistake.
“It wouldn’t matter anyway” Odeliah said quietly, her eyes fixed on her hands in her lap, “What do you mean?” Lyssa asked. Odeliah glanced around, making sure none of the other girls were within earshot. Luckily, Lyssa had chosen a bed in a corner, one that was slightly removed from the rest. The other girls in the room were clearly caught up in their own conversation and paid them no mind. They all gathered closer to Odeliah, eager to hear what she was about to say.
“I’ve heard some of the older women talking when my mom had them over for tea. When none of the men are around, they talk about things like that.”
“Like not wanting to have children?” Elaine clarified.
“Yeah. I can’t always hear their conversations, but I’ve heard some of them talking about how cruel their husbands are and how they forced them to have children. I heard one woman say that she told her husband that she didn’t want to have kids and she said that he hit her and told
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her that she had no choice.” Odeliah paused, the pain clear in her voice. Lyssa could tell that she didn’t want to say whatever happened next.
“What else did he say?” Lyssa prompted.
Odeliah drew in a sharp breath before continuing. “He told her that since he was her husband, she had to obey him no matter what. That if he wanted her to have children, then she would have children. That she could only be a real woman if she fulfilled her duty and had his children.”