Family Line

two.

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"Afternoon, Abbi."

Maria Goode walked the settlement with a basket in her hand.

"The full moon rises before nightfall." Abbi said to her, Maria smiled, her eyebrows raised at the girl.

"A good night to enjoy the fruits of the land." Maria winked before walking alongside her.

"How are you?" Maria asked her, curiously. Abbi sighed, not knowing how to answer. The rumors of the town had truly worried her, people had said horrible things about her. They said she was a whore, that she would have intercourse with anyone who asked. But, it was coming from Mad Thomas. And there were idiots who believed him.

"I'm pleasant, how are you?" Abbi asked, Maria smiled.

"I'm well, thank you." She said, Abbi looked down at the grassy ground below them as they walked.

"When will you be wed?" Maria was going to be married soon. Her brother had chosen a man for her to marry, not Solomon, but Elijah. She was getting married to Mad Thomas himself, as disgusting and grimy as he was.

"In a week exactly." Maria said, faking the excitement to marry such a disgusting man. Soon, they'd be having children after they were married. Maria was disgusted by it.

Abbi's heart had dropped.

Maria was getting married.

Her Maria was getting married.

"Oh, very nice." Abbi had said, Maria nodding in agreement. She was down about it. She wasn't ready to devote her life to such scum, especially with the way she felt about someone else.

"Yes, very nice." She said before sighing.

"Well, I will be seeing you tonight, Abigail." Maria said to her, Abbi smiled at her. Maria tucked her hair behind her ear, nodding her head.

"I will be seeing you tonight as well." Abbi said before Maria had strolled away. Abbi watched her walk away, seeing how perfected her hair was, and how clean she kept her dresses. She was gorgeous. Her face was gorgeous, everything about her was.

Maria walked to her home, and into the kitchen. After her parents died so many years ago, she lived with her second eldest brother, Elijah.

"Elijah?" Maria asked, getting no answer from her older brother, who evidently was not home. Maria sighed, looking down. She placed the basket of vegetables on the table before taking a deep breath.

you're a sinner, maria

Maria thought to herself. She sat down in a seat, her head in her hands. Maria had been finding herself having an attraction for Abigail Berman. It was not in the friend way, she wanted her. She longed for Abigail. She wanted her, but she could not let herself partake is such devilish acts. Women belong with men, and men belong with women. That was the short and simple of it, and Maria good had a reputation to uphold, especially if her brother was on the board, he was an important man in the settlement.

Maria Goode could not love a woman. She could not marry a woman, she could not do things with a woman. She belonged to a man, she had to be a wife, and then a mother. Nothing more, nothing less.

Maria Goode had an obligation to be married to Thomas, and then one day having a children. If she had daughters, they do the same, and then after that. That was how it went.

Maria started dinner for Elijah. She nearly made 2 more plates for her other brother and his daughter, but, she went out of contact a few years ago.

Though hitting your wife wasn't uncommon, she hated the man her brother had become. Solomon used to be kind, and caring. Especially when it came to his sister, or women in general.

But when he got married to his wife, who was now dead, he was always beating his her. Right in front of his daughter as well. That was a message to the women of his household. Obey his rules, and you don't get punished for it.

Maria never forgot about the time at dinner many years ago. It was the last straw. After that day, she left him, and never had contact. It was when Solomon was still living in the settlement. Marjorie was making dinner for everyone.

When dinner wasn't ready in time of Solomon's arrival, he had done horrible things. He dragged her to their room, beating her and doing other acts to her. From that day on, Maria stayed away from Solomon.

That was when she decided she needed to leave. Maria wished she did one thing when she left her brother. She wished she took her niece with her.

She knew Adeline was scared of her father. She knew that Adeline was in constant worry of messing up and getting a beating. So she always did as her father requested.

When Adeline was a child, watching her mother get slapped, she grew afraid. Solomon always told her it was out of love, and that he was trying to help her mother fix her ways. That's what Adeline believed. She was never beat, but she had received plenty of slaps to her face. But, it was all out of love, as he said.

That's what everything in the Goode family was out of. "Love." If love means beating your wife. If it means scaring your daughter into complying for everything you ask of her. If it means scaring your own sister away from her brother. That was love. It was the Goode family's love.

As Maria thought of everything, she had continued dinner, cutting each vegetable with delicacy. She heard the door open, and she turned her head.

"Elijah, is that you?" She asked, leaning her head back. It was not Elijah. She heard something knock against the wall, nearly stumbling.

"No." Said the voice of her soon to be husband. She looked over at him as hr pranced into the kitchen. "I will be staying for dinner tonight, Maria." He said, sitting in a seat. Maria watched him and his cockiness. She nodded her head, taking a deep breath.

"Make sure you wash up beforehand." She said, Thomas looked at her. His black teeth showed as he grinned.

"You don't tell me what to do, Maria. In a week, you're my property, not the other way around." He said, standing up. He went up behind her, pressing his hands on her hips, feeling the hard corset she had on.

"Thomas, we're not wed yet. We can't do this." She said, knowing what he wanted. Thomas sighed, taking a step back.

"I suppose." He said, releasing his grip. He stumbled back into a chair, and Maria sighed.

This is how it is.

It will always be like this.