Chapter 4 - The Reunion and the Truth
When I pushed open the heavy glass door of the gas station, the bell chimed cheerfully, a jarring contrast to the raw panic vibrating through my veins.
The manager waved me toward the back hallway. I practically flew down the corridor, pushing open the breakroom door.
Sitting on a metal folding chair was my little girl. Her cheeks were streaked with dried, crusty tracks of tears, her clothes were dusty from the road, and her small hands were wrapped tightly around a cold bottle of water. The moment she saw my face, she burst into a fresh wave of sobbing and launched herself forward, wrapping both arms around my waist with a desperate, crushing force.
"Mommy! Mommy, I'm sorry!" she wailed into my jacket. "Please don't be mad! Please don't send me back there!"
I dropped hard onto my knees, paying no heed to the dirty linoleum floor. I gripped her small shoulders, pulling her back just enough to look deeply into her tear-stained face. I cupped her cheeks between my palms, my thumbs gently wiping away the remaining tears.
"Look at me, Maya," I said fiercely, ensuring my voice was steady, absolute, and filled with unwavering love. "You did nothing wrong. Do you hear me? Leaving that house when people were being cruel to you was the smartest, bravest thing you could have done. You found a safe adult, you remembered my number, and you kept yourself safe. I am so, so proud of you."
Her sniffles slowed down, though her small frame still trembled. "Am... am I allowed to come home? Truly?"
"Of course you are, sweetheart," I whispered, kissing her forehead. "Why on earth would you think you weren't?"
Maya lowered her gaze, staring down at her scuffed sneakers. She bit her lower lip, glancing nervously over my shoulder toward the doorway.
I turned my head. Chloe had just entered the breakroom, her children trailing timidly behind her. Clara was nowhere to be seen—evidently, my mother lacked the basic human decency to check on the child she had cast out into the street.
Maya tightened her arms around my neck, burying her face in my shoulder. Then she asked the question that made Chloe freeze dead in her tracks in the middle of the doorway.
May you like
"Then why did Auntie tell Grandma I needed to earn my place?" Maya whispered, her voice cracking. "Auntie said you were tired of my attitude... and that you and Grandma agreed I needed to work for my shelter, or else I was just a burden."
The air in the breakroom vanished.
