After spending the first half of the night making love with me, my husband spent the rest of the night helping my sister-in-law nurse the baby in her room.
I cried and made a fuss, but only got his indifferent remark.
"Who told me I had to take over my brother's job? Now, I have to take care of both families."
For the sake of my one-year-old daughter, I gritted my teeth and endured it.
But tonight, my daughter had a fever and was crying, refusing to let him leave for her aunt's room.
For once, he agreed.
When my sister-in-law found out, she tried to kill herself in her room by lighting a kerosene lamp.
She was rescued afterwards, but my husband was furious.
He blamed me for not raising our daughter properly and dragged me to the pigsty, locking me inside.
The starving pigs in the sty went crazy, trying to devour me. My one-year-old daughter crawled out to save me, but was killed instantly when the pigs bit through her neck.
I banged my head against the wall like crazy and begged my husband to save my daughter, but all I heard were the sounds of him and my sister-in-law making love.
Three days later, my husband finally opened the pigsty door.
By then, I was entirely out of my mind.
——
"What's going on?"
"Caitlin is still locked in the pigsty?"
"Didn't I ask you to let her out before I left?"
Charlie gasped in shock as he flung open the pigsty door, only to find me lying beneath the hulking sow.
"Caitlin, wake up!"
Charlie's fingers trembled slightly as he reached under my nose.
After confirming that I was still breathing, he breathed a sigh of relief, followed by another burst of anger.
He roared.
"Caitlin, if you're not dead, get up now!"
"Your brother's back from the army today, clean yourself up!"
"Don't make him think I've been mistreating you!"
Still, I didn't move. Instead, I patted the pig's back rhythmically.
I was humming a lullaby, the one I used to sing to put my daughter to sleep.
Charlie frowned, feeling irritated and kicked the pig.
The pig stirred awake, its foul-smelling mouth chewing sluggishly as it blinked open its eyes.
I also got up in a panic.
"Nicole, are you awake?"
"Are you hungry?"
"Mommy will feed you."
As I said this, I pulled open my clothes, ready to breastfeed.
Charlie's eyes widened in terror. He pointed at me, stammering incoherently.
"Caitlin, what the hell are you doing?"
"That's a pig! Snap out of it!"
He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me up.
Yet like a madwoman, I desperately struggled to nurse the pig, clinging to it tightly.
"Don't cry, Nicole, Mommy will feed you."
"You'll feel better once you eat."
Charlie's frown deepened. He held my arm tightly and turned to my sister-in-law, Jane Wagner.
"Jane, hold Caitlin. I'll grab the pig and we'll separate them!"
Jane was already too scared to speak. She stepped into the pigsty, trembling and cried out of fear again.
"Charlie, I don't dare. It's so scary."
Charlie had no choice. He pulled me backward while kicking the pig.
"Get out!"
"You damn animal!"
"I'll slaughter you today and eat you!"
The pig squealed in pain from the kicks, shrinking into a corner.
I screamed, struggling with all my might and rushed over to protect the pig.
Charlie couldn't stop his foot in time and it landed heavily on my back.
I felt no pain and only cared about comforting the pig under me.
"My good girl, it doesn't hurt."
"Mommy will blow it and make it feel better."
I lay beside the pig's ear, coaxing it gently.
Its gradually calmed down, grunting softly and nuzzling me.
Charlie was frozen. His eyes were wide open as he realized something was wrong with me.
