Godsend

Until You're Reformed

March 29th, 2015

The air outside was warm, but it did nothing to stave off the chill that Lacie felt as she walked home from Audrey's. Lacie wasn't sure what had happened, but she knew it wasn't good. What if people  remembered what she did, what would she do, how would she explain it? Everything felt nasty and unclean; she felt about as comfortable in her skin as the clothes she was wearing. 

Lacie trudged up the stairs and around the corner to apartment 26, praying that nobody was home to ask questions about her night. She opened the door, immediately disheartened by the sound of the Moms talking in the other room, they sounded as if they were arguing. Lacie closed the door quietly and took off her borrowed shoes. To her horror, Lacie heard hurried footsteps coming from the living room in the direction of the main hallway. Dupe Mom appeared in front of her.

"Get in here, now." Dupe Mom hissed at Lacie.

Lacie frightfully walked down the hall and into the living room where the Moms were; both of them were situated on the couch, staring at the screen of a laptop that was placed on the coffee table. The Moms looked up at Lacie, a look in their eyes that she had never seen before; from what she could tell, it appeared to be shame. Real Mom spoke up,

"I thought you said you were going to Audrey's for a movie night." She spoke very darkly.

"I was at Audrey's last night though!" Lacie was instantly on the defensive.

"Okay, then what is this?" Dupe Mom's words were sharp.

Real Mom turned the laptop around and let Lacie look at the screen; let her look at the horror. Lacie saw that it was a video on her Facebook wall, taken on what she suspected was a phone. The video showed what looked like the inside of Audrey's house, which instantly caused Lacie's stomach to sink. The camera panned around the room, showing the multitude of people from the party last night, all of them staring at something off screen. As soon as the camera panned over to the spectacle in the room, Lacie instantly felt sick to her stomach. 

Lacie saw herself on the couch, a blank look in her eyes, like the lights were on, but nobody was home. She was already naked, sitting on the couch with one of the boys she was drinking with. Lacie tried to turn the laptop away, but Dupe Mom held it in place.

"Watch it." She commanded in a very quiet, almost sullen voice.

"I don't want to." Lacie could barely vocalize the words.

"Watch the goddamn video, Lacie." Dupe Mom held the screen, her knuckles turning white.

Lacie continued watching, seeing the things she did made her stomach wrench. Her eyes began tearing up; it was everything she could do to keep from crying. The video went on for a few minutes longer, but it was without a doubt the longest period of time Lacie ever had to endure. As the video ended, Lacie let out a quivering sigh and looked up at her expectant mothers.

"Why would you do this to us, to our family? You do realize that this is on the internet now, it will never go away. This is going to haunt you for the rest of your life; and not just you, our whole family has to deal with this now. You're my daughter, and I love you, but this is sick." Real Mom stood up from the couch and walked out of the room.

Dupe Mom stayed seated, her eyes locked with Lacie, 

"You know what your father is going to do when he finds out." She whispered under her breath.

"Fuck you, you're not my mom." Lacie snapped.

Dupe Mom reached over the coffee table and struck Lacie in the face with her hand, sending her to the floor.

"I may not be your real mother, but we both have to share this burden that you've put on us! You have no right to speak to me that way after you were out all night being a whore. Your father-- both of them, work very hard to keep food on the table, especially with the drought coming soon, and you go out and do this? What is wrong with you?" She stepped over Lacie and left the room.

Lacie stayed motionless on the floor, crying.