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The girls sat silently, letting the reality of what Odeliah had relayed to them sink in. “I wasn’t going to say anything at first, but I thought I should let you all know what could happen. I thought I shouldn’t be the only one who was prepared,” Odeliah said, close to tears.
“But,” Penelope said softly, “it might not be like that. Our husbands could turn out to be nice.”
“But they could turn out to be not nice,” Elaine said, her face screwed into a tight, pensive expression.
Odeliah nodded solemnly. “It is a possibility. I don’t think all husbands are mean, but if the older ladies are talking about it, it must be real.”
Lyssa absorbed all of this silently. Her head was reeling with the possibility of this. Her comment earlier had simply been a thought that had flitted across her mind in a moment of doubt and weakness. But was it possible that other women had felt the same way, and not only that, but they were forced to have children anyway? The thought made her sick to her stomach.
Silence fell over the group of girls until Elaine yawned loudly, Penelope following suit a moment later. Odeliah was the first to stand from Lyssa's bed. “It’s time we get some sleep anyway. I’m sure we are all tired, it's been a long day.” The girls nodded in agreement and
11
slowly they extracted themselves from Lyssa’s bed and stumbled to their own. Someone shut the lights off and almost immediately, Lyssa was pulled into sleep.
The next morning, two girls woke up with white lilies laid on their stomachs. They squealed with delight and ran to the prayer room. The rest of the girls sat up in their beds, each wearing a matching mask of disappointment. The two girls went down to the docks later that