Our Family

Acceptance

"Let's have a chat, shall we?"

Lexi inwardly cringed at the sarcastically sweet tone dripping from that sentence. Moving slowly, she went over to sit in the arm chair directly across from her mother.

"Now, I frankly have no idea of where to start in this situation," Jen began sternly. "In the nearly 5 years that I've known you, I cannot remember a single time where I was this disappointed in you."

Watching the young girl flinch noticeably at her words, Jen continued gravely.

"You are going to explain every single detail of what happened today, from the beginning. If I get even the slightest inkling that you're leaving something out or thinking of leaving something out, the already severe consequences will increase."

Lexi gulped discreetly, biting her lip trying to figure out how to begin. "Well...it started this morning. I went to school and um, Hannah suggested that we skip."

"And you just went along with it immediately? How many times have we had the talk about peer pressure?" Jen scolded, shaking her head in disapproval.

Lexi shrugged. "It just sounded like a good idea at the time. So we skipped, and...yeah."

"So that was the skipping part. What about the lying?"

"I didn't l-"

"Alexia Marie, you sent Ziva a text saying you'd be at Hannah's after school, did you not?" Jen cut her off sharply.

Lexi sucked in a breath, she had forgotten about that. "I did..."

"And you ended up not being there, didn't you?"

Lexi sighed. "I did..." she repeated sheepishly.

"So, you did lie to Ziva, Lexi. What do you think would've happened if she came to collect you and found out that you never got there? Did you not think of the worry she'd feel?" Jen lectured, her 'Director' voice in full effect.

"I guess not..." Lexi whispered, looking down at her crisscrossed legs in shame. She had never meant to cause her older sister any worry, she loved Ziva dearly. Lexi felt so selfish then as her actions were being laid out in front of her.

"What is rule number 3?" Jen asked.

Lexi closed her eyes, momentarily cursing herself. "Never be unreachable...But I didn't mean to turn my location off! My phone was dead, I-I...forgot to plug it in last night..." she trailed off at how terrible that excuse sounded.

"So we can add irresponsibility to the long list of infractions," Jen stated grimly. Lexi winced, thinking it couldn't get any worse. She was so wrong.

"Next point. How on earth did you both end up in South Anacostia?" Jen demanded ominously.

"Hannah wanted to meet some friends somewhere..."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous it is in that part of town? You could have been kidnapped, or worse!" Jen yelled, her original anger resurfacing. "And to top it all off, you were a witness to a crime scene!"

Lexi's eyes filled with tears as she remembered what had transpired between the two men earlier. "That wasn't my fault, Mom, I didn't cause them to argue or for that guy to get killed," she whimpered.

Jen moved forward to put a gentle hand on the teen's knee. "I know you didn't, honey. That was his choice, not yours. But think about what could have happened had those men seen you girls there. If you'd been at school in the first place, you wouldn't have been witness to such a terrible thing. You are too young to see things like that, Lexi. We try our best to shield you from the horrors we see everyday."