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"I can't believe it," Minnie breathes. "You... you wanted them to do that to you? But why?"
"Because it's the only way I can hurt Dexter," I mutter. "The only way to get back at him for what he did to me."
"What about the other boys?"
"What about them?"
"Don't they matter to you?" Minnie's words aren't accusatory, but confused instead. "Don't you care about their feelings?"
"No," I reply firmly. "They didn't care about mine, either, did they?"
She doesn't answer. She ponders my words as she picks up the hairbrush again and once again begins to brush my hair. Her next words are spoken so quietly I nearly miss them.
"You're going to have a baby, aren't you?"
"It's too soon to tell."
"Your father's going to kill you."
"He hasn't yet," I mutter. "Besides, that kid will be privileged. And I'll be giving Father the heir he so desperately wants."
"So you're going to keep it?"
I shrug. "I don't care. I don’t even know if it’s going to happen. But maybe if I can give Father the heir he's wanted his whole life, I can use the baby as my ticket to get out of here."
"You'd give the baby up?" Her eyes widen. I don't know whether she's appalled or impressed. "You'd just walk away from a child?"
"It means nothing to me." My hands form fists in my lap and I close my eyes firmly, pretending I'm telling her the truth. Pretending I don't give a damn at all. "The sooner I have it, the better. The moment I do, I'm a free woman."
Minnie ponders my words, and we sit there in strange, but companionable silence as she continues to brush my silky mane.
"I found out where my mother lives."
"W-What?" she stutters.
"She's alive and well, as it turns out." I deliver the words with cool indifference. As if it doesn't matter at all that my own mother abandoned me. That she hasn't made a single attempt to reconnect with me. It must run in the family - am I not planning on doing the same thing to my child, once the time comes? "And she lives only a couple of hours away by train."
"Are you going to see her?"
"Yes," I nod. "As soon as I can get away. But you can't tell anyone."
"So you're leaving this town for good?"
"Maybe."
"What if..." She bites her bottom lip, obviously nervous to ask the question, and I squeeze her hand to reassure her. "What if she doesn't want you to stay with her?"
"Then I have another family waiting for me in Wildwood." Once again, the memory of my parents who aren't really my parents, of my sister Andromeda, hits me hard and cuts deep where it hurts the most. "I'm sure they'll take me in, protect me from my father."
"You're underestimating him," Minnie whispers, and for the millionth time, I wonder how far Father's abuse has gone when it comes to the pretty blonde maid. "He's going to find you wherever you go. And he'll drag you back by your hair, if he has to. He has enough money and power to do that."
"I'm of a legal age now," I remind her. "Nobody can tell me what to do. At least in the eyes of the law. And I know half of the cops in Eden Falls are on Emilian Oakes' payroll, but it's not that way in Wildwood."
Minnie nods, pondering my words as she finally sets the brush down. As she does, I spot the faint hint of bruises on her wrist, barely there, but noticeable enough for me to make out the shape of fingers where someone held her.
"He did this?" My fingertips gently touch the bruised skin, and Mignonette winces when I touch her, nodding without saying a word. "I'm going to help you, Minnie."
She smiles at me, but it's not a sign of happiness. She doesn't believe me, and neither do I. Minnie has no one looking out for her. She has nowhere to run. At least I have options, places to go if all else fails. Even Minnie's mother would betray her.
