The voice, however familiar it was, had surprised her and the lunging blur coming in from her left side caused her to bristle up in a defensive manner. She pivoted to take on the unknown assailant with a snarling visage until she realized it was her mother, of all beings. Unfortunately Myrria had effectively fucked up the affectionate tone of the event as Malleah’s dark face nuzzled into her right cheek. ”Mom, you know that I cannot see from my left,” she moans in an exasperated manner while reciprocating the loving gesture. But Malleah continues with an assault of questions and worry obvious on her face. It were as if Myrria had not done any wrong - or else she was not told.

The younger girl takes a step back from her bereft mother with a look of self-condemnation. ”I’ve been with a friend…” she replies honestly though with a bit of hesitation. ”And I wanted to find you so that I could explain everything. But it seems like Exodus never mentioned anything to you,” she continues after a short pause, her eye’s taking on a more concerned look. She remains standing as she faces toward her beautiful mother, and how lovely she did look despite her anxious frenzy.

She did not wait much longer to spill the beans, knowing that her mother would likely hang on every second that passes between breaths. ”When I was away…” she has to pause as lump rises in her throat and uncertainty flutters in her chest. She pushes it back down with as much mental willpower that she possesses and continues on. ”When I was away I did what I had to do to stay alive. I did things that weren’t morally acceptable here or there… I’ve found it difficult to shake these.. h-habits, as they’ve now become,” her voice cracks toward the end, not wanting to delve into the details of her sins. ”Exodus caught me.. doing this thing and I couldn’t bring myself to face him, or you, or Lucia again. Not if he was going to be speaking ill of me to both of you… I couldn’t handle the idea of you or Lucia seeing me any different than before,” she sighed heavily after pushing through the rest of her speech. Her dark eyes were cast downward as she couldn’t bear the thought of seeing the reaction that her mother wore in return.

It took a lot from her just to speak up about the incident and she felt as if she were putting it all on the line now she her secrets spilled out. Exodus had not been her undoing but she may have just started it on her own.