Psalms 42 || Tori Kelly

Table Talk

6:36 PM

The house was finally settled. The rooms were claimed. And everyone sat around the huge round table, eating and conversing. Abiah watched more snowfall as her family discussed simple nothings. That was until Laura poses an interesting question. "How many of you actually waited or are still waiting until your married?" She asked, sipping her wine. The only hands that were raised belonged to Addi, Irie, and Abiah. Knowing that her sister was lying through her teeth, Abiah kicked her sister's shin under the table.

"Awe," Vera grinned. "Our girls are learning well." Irie shot Abiah short glare as Abiah started to cough.

"Liar," she muttered through her fake ailment. Addi, along with the rest of the table, gave Abiah concerned stares.

"You okay, babe?" Tori asked, afraid that the question had gotten to her child in the wrong way. Abiah simply nodded, moving her plate back.

"Yeah. I just don't get why anyone would lie about willingly not being pure. It doesn't make sense. You were bold enough to do it, so why not own up to it?" Abiah baited. Irie slowly dropped her head, hear the specific word her sister used. Tori placed some more pasta on Sampson's tray with a short shrug.

"Sometimes, people are afraid I guess. I know I was. Until I realized that lying to the people I loved was worse." Abiah was feeding off of the guilt festering on her sister's face but pretended to still be dumbfounded.

"I'm glad that we can all be honest with each other. And trust each other enough, to be honest," Abiah smirked. Irie slammed her hands on the table forcing everyone to jump a bit and stare at her.

"Abiah!" Irie yelled. The smirk on the fourteen-year-olds face grew.

"Come on, Irie. I'm just saying how proud I am that we are willingly waiting not to give in to temptation," she said. Irie shot up from the table, tossing her fork into her plate.

"Just because you got raped, doesn't mean you have the right to be a bitch! I try to help you. Tell you something in confidence. And this how you repay me? By trying to expose me? I'm not helping you ever again. Suffer on your own!" Irie stormed out of the room as Abiah rolled her eyes, folded her arms, and sat back in her seat.

"Abiah, really?" Tori said, getting up to follow her eldest. The mother had no idea what was said, but she was not for exploitation.

—

Downstairs, Tori slowly came into the younger girls room and sat on the free-standing bed across from the bottom bunk Irie laid on. "Mama, what's going on?" Tori asked. Irie wiped her tears and sat up.

"I'm sorry, mommy," Irie whispered. Tori ran her hand over her face.

"Irie, why didn't you tell me about the abortion?" Irie's face dropped along with her heart. She could see the pain on her mother's face. The expression.

"That," Irie said, watching her mother's eyes stray from her pupils to her abdomen before landing in her lap. "I didn't want you to look at me differently. As if I was disgusting or horrible. I'm not. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about my baby," she cried. Tori couldn't deny that she was feeling some type of way about Irie not being a virgin. However, she was only feeling angry because Irie lied. If she has been honest, Tori wouldn't have given her a second glance. But because she didn't say anything, Tori's perception of their relationship changed.

"How far along would you have been?" Tori asked, trying to get a good gauge of how long ago this might have taken place. Irie's tears started to pour at the thought of her horrible memory. The cold of the stirrups and the pressure of the clamps hit her brain like a title wave, igniting her senses.