Wholeheartedly.
I nodded and rinsed out my mouth. “Ah, yeah… sorry. I’ll get back to cleaning.”
I kept my head down, attempting to walk around the three man-mountains in the kitchen.
Each smelled as bad as the other.
“Stop.”
The command in my uncle’s voice made me freeze. Or as close as I could, considering I was shivering like a leaf in autumn.
“What…” My uncle bent down and smelled me, sniffing loudly. “You smell even worse than normal. Almost like a…. wolf.”
My eyes fell shut as my stomach dropped to my feet.
They knew. They knew, and they would punish me for my mistake.
Rough hands grabbed my chin and forced my head up.
Uncle Dennis’ eyes bored down on me.
“Tell me. Now.”
“What… I mean… Tell you?” I was stammering, I was so scared.
My arms and legs shook. Goosebumps covered my skin.
“Lou, Davie, come here and smell her. Tell me if you smell what I do?”
Oh, God, no!
I kept my arms pinned to my sides and didn’t breathe.
This was the most humiliating thing about being part of this family. They all said I smelled weird.
Worse than weird. Bad. Disgusting.
Or that’s what the bears said.
So, I scrubbed myself clean three times a day, even taking betadine into the shower some days to disinfect myself.
It hadn’t changed anything.
They still hated me.
“She’s knocked up,” Lou grunted.
“Yeah, but by who?” Uncle Dennis growled.
He wrapped a hand around my throat and forced me back until my spine touched the wall and I gasped for air.
No!
I grabbed for his hands and pulled on them, the pain making my head spin. I couldn’t breathe.
Oh God...
“None of us wanted you, it can’t be a bear’s baby. So, who was it, you little slut?”