I walk into my office, going over to my desk, plopping down in the chair; very unladylike at that.

"Are you okay?" Gene asks, closing the door behind her.

"Truthfully, I'm trying to figure out how I feel." She nods in understanding.
"She's in my house." I say astonished at the fact. "Paralyzed because a sister I had no idea I existed, accidentally threw her down the stairs." I chuckle a bit at the end, and Gene laughs as well.

"God sure does have a sense of humor." Gene jokes and I laugh.
"It is however, honorable of you to put your discomfort with your mother aside for the sister you had no idea existed." Leave it Gene to make humor out of a time like this.

"I would of wanted someone to do the same for me." She nods, sitting down on the single chair to my left.

"Honestly I had prepared myself for a worse reaction from you, but you did well. A lot better than I thought." 

"After the incident when I was sixteen, I spent eight years preparing to leave Gene. Saving up the little stipend my mother gave me from the sales we got from my "holy poems", that she started selling in the village; Morphed myself into the "perfect" image she wanted, and the moment I turned twenty three, I was gone." She stared at me with a solemn look.

"I promised myself that the moment I am free, I will not let anything or anyone destroy the paradise I would build for myself." Her lips curve up into a small smile.

"And what a paradise you have built." A similar smiles appears on my face.

"What a paradise indeed." I repeat, and she chuckles.

"And what of the little girl?" I shrug.

"You're the mother of two; How do you take care of an eleven year old?" She chuckles at my uncertainty, like it was the funniest thing.

"It is not funny."

"A little bit." She holds two fingers closely together.

"Gene!"

"Alright alright. Let her settle in, and then we can ask her some more questions and get acquainted." I nod.
"Hopefully we'll be told nothing too horrid, she's only eleven." A knock sounds on the door, and Matilda enters after I called for them to come in.

"Has she settled?" She nods.

"She fell asleep almost instantly, as she laid down on the bed." Hmm.

"She must be really tired." Gene comments, and I chuckle.

"With a mother like mine's, you would be.
Thank you Matilda. Let me know when she wakes." She nods, turning to leave.

——

Upon entering the room, I find the child kneeling on the window seat, looking out the window. Her hair truly was beautiful. It looked very soft, and full.

"How did you sleep?"

"It's like living in a fairytale." She responds not looking away from the window.

"How are you feeling?" She turns to me, and smiles.

"At peace." My own lips slightly curl into a smile, and I glance at Gene, who smiles as well.

"We want to ask you some questions, if that's alright with you." She nods, turning to sit down. I walk over to her, sitting facing her, while Gene stands to my side. The room also had its is vast array of luxury, however it was more burgundy than gold, seeing as was Gene's.

"When did you say mother adopted you again?"

"When I was three." I nod.

"What caused her to first start her...sessions?" She begins to fidget, placing her hands on her lap, and playing with her dress.
"I know these questions are difficult to answer, but I need to know." She looks up to me with tears in her eyes.

"I was feeling really sad one day and wouldn't eat anything, so she had to get rid of the illness that plagued me."

"Oh for goodness sake! Because she was sad." Gene exclaims in anger.
"You do realize this is child abuse right Agatha!" I look to Gene, giving her a look that said to calm down, and she huffs, taking a breath.

"Why we're you sad? If it's too much you do not have to answer." I tell her, seeing as her fidgeting was seeming to become worse.

"She kept saying she has to make me perfect. Saying that I had to be better, do better than you. She wouldn't allow me to go outside, and I was not allowed near anyone." She explains.
"I don't think it got any better, seeing as I got my menstrual cycle earlier that the expectation. She became more adamant on making sure I remain pure, and not turn out like you."

"You speak very articulate." I make note, and she smiles.

"I've read the entire dictionary." She proudly proclaims.

"Good for you then." She looks to me, her lips stretching into a beautiful pearly white smile. No wonder she got frantic about the child, her beauty sees no bounds.

"Is it true that you right sinner's poems?" She suddenly blurts out, catching me off guard. Gene chuckles next to me and I glance up at her smirking.

"It's called Erotic Poetry darling." Gene tells her, making her awe.

"And you are too young for it." I tell her.

"Did you know God does not hate sex?" She asks and I chuckle.

"What do you know about that?"

"I found a book in the library that talked about many different things about God, and it said that. Do you also know that the book Songs of Solomon has mentioned very explicit writing in it." My face now has a full smile on it, intrigued by the young child.

"You read the forbidden book?" She nods.

"I never understood why our village doesn't allow women or girls to own a Bible but I found one hidden in..." she slaps her hands over her mouth when she realizes what she was saying.

"You entered my room." I stare at the shocked child amused. She sheepishly nods, shyly resting her hands back on her lap.

"Mother had left for prayer meeting, and I...curiosity got the best of me. It is how I saw a picture of you for the first time."

"Is that so?" She nods.

"Mom had disposed of all your pictures and placed them in there. But how did you get a Bible?"

"One of my classmates aunt had visited from the capital and she brought a bunch of them with her. Said she needed to shed light of the false doctrine the priest spewed."

"But why give you guys?"

"It takes a new generation of world changers, to bring forth change, she said." She awes.
"Eventually word got out, she was banished from ever coming back to our village, and everyone who read or own a book, were all punished for it; that being the reason why my father had started sessions with me." Her shoulders slack.

"Did she ever stop?" She asks and I nod.

"When I turned sixteen. She signed me up for sessions with the priest at that time, to help with my...problems; and when she discovered my gift of writing, she had me channel my temptations into writing holy poems for the village. I did what she wanted, and I remained unharmed."

"How did you leave?" I smile softly, thinking back at that day.

"It wasn't easy for anyone to just leave our village, but at twenty three you were considered more...independent. Limited, but still. I planned for eight years and then I left. Never looked back." She hums.

"And that's how you met her?" She points to Gene and I smile.

"Rain was falling pretty hard that day, and this soaked young woman came into the building. The rest is history after that." Gene says and I look to her with a smile.

"I always prayed that you had someone who cared for you." I look at the girl surprised.

"What?"

"I kept praying for your wellbeing. Hoping that you were doing well." I chuckle, shaking my head at the child.

"You are very anomalous." She begins to giggle, smiling like I told her the most amazing thing.

"Thank you." She sweetly replies, making Gene and I laugh.