“You realize you were seen, don’t you, you tramp?”
Becky staggered home, exhausted. Her mind was running in a circles, her emotions all over the place, and for half a second she wasn’t even sure who she was talking to. Who was this woman in her kitchen, dripping contempt, spitting verbal acid at her?
She halted upon realizing that this woman was, in fact, her mother.
“Did you think I wouldn’t find out? That the whole town wouldn’t find out? Or were you too busy picking up boys in restaurants to think?”
Oh, god, I can’t start again, was all that passed through Becky’s mind as she felt her body begin to react to the emotional overload. She didn’t have time to process the information, what her mother thought and felt. Not in front of her.
“Well?”
She couldn’t help it, though. To her horror, giggles started to bubble out of the young woman’s throat. Becky felt trapped in her own body, unable to do anything but stare helplessly. And giggle.
“You think this is funny?” the older woman growled. “This is a laughing matter to you?”
Finding the situation anything but humorous, Becky clamped her hand over her mouth, to no avail. The hysterics were building exponentially, and she found herself doubling over, her mouth stretching wider than her petite hands could block. The high-pitched laughter rang through the air. To Becky, the sounds coming from her own mouth sounded like a siren. A river of pain burned down her cheeks.
“You’ve disgraced our family, turned your back on the Goddess.” Becky was helpless as her mother stomped over to speak directly into her face, unable to quiet herself, unable to make her mother understand what had happened. “You’re no longer welcome in this house.”
Insomniatic 