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Description

Tesia’s POV:

For the past few days, Tesia had been awaiting this moment wracking her brain about what she would say, how she would act. All of that endless worrying just felt so pointless at this moment, the warmth of her parent's bodies, their smells, their sobs, and the many other small sensations that she felt were something that she did not know she missed so deeply.

She remembered how her Dad tended to hug her with all the subtlety of a bear when she was a child, while her Mom was more subtle and soft about it. Once again she felt the tightness of the handcuffs around her wrists and how much she wanted to return the hug that she was given, but it was fine, everything was exactly how it was supposed to be at this point.

They stayed like that for a minute or ten, it is somewhat difficult to tell the passage of time when you are finally experiencing something that you had been looking forward to for so long, but not much time could have passed since Dezra was at the entrance with her arms crossed under her chest and a subtle smile on her face.

“Well you have 30 minutes, I will be waiting outside. If I hear any shouting or feel that there is any sort of aggressiveness I will enter and take the inmate away. Now I will give you all some privacy” Dezra said in a voice lacking any emotion that was so uncharacteristic of her, but before she could close the door.

“Mrs. Guard we appreciate this, and I apologize if it’s too much, but could you remove her handcuffs? I.. no we trust our daughter, would that be possible?” Mom asked this of Dezra in a soft tone which took Tesia by surprise, but she did not dare hope what had already been denied.

“Sorry Maam, but this is the extent to which I am willing to risk it. Inmate Ditersia is well-behaved, but I do not know how she would react if a problem arises, so I will need to deny your request. Enjoy your 30 minutes together”

With that said she closed the door behind her.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ….oh Mom your haggling skills are still unchanged but at least you gave it a shot, believe me, I tried”

“Oh shush, a mother’s pleas can cause miracles from time to time, and like I have told you before you miss every shot that you do not take, the way I see it there was a fifty percent chance of my request being granted, so no reason to be embarrassed for just asking” Mom showed a rueful smile, many were the street merchants that she had been able to pull one over because of her gullible facade, but the woman knew how to haggle.

Just for that moment, it was almost as if the last two years had not passed and she was back home having her usual back and forth between them, only Maisey was missing showing her head at the most inappropriate of times to ask questions out of nowhere due to her inquisitive mind.

She should have grown so much at this point.

Tesia suddenly thought, imagining how big her sister must have gotten.

“Tesia we have something to…” Dad started to say.

“Dad shush, anything that makes you make that face can wait for the last ten minutes or so, right now we have 20 minutes where I want you to fill me out about everything that wasn’t in your letters. You may not know it, but it is extremely hard to be allowed an in-person meeting when the visitors are not your legal council, your girl had to use her connections for this. Now chop chop we don’t have all day so begin with Maisey”

Dad let out a heavy sigh combined with a chuckle, Tesia’s suspicion that his news were not good, got another piece of evidence since her Dad was not good at keeping his emotions in check, but she already had a suspicion of this so she did not allow any disappointment to show on her face.

They looked at each other and a silent message passed between my parents, something that can only happen after your relationship has lasted as long as theirs has. This used to annoy Tesia in the past, but now she could grasp the silent agreement about letting their daughter have this small win.

So Mom began speaking about Maisey, how she had grown, how she was doing in her new school, how she was still a bright girl despite the circumstances, and how she missed her sister. Apparently, she had begged them to bring her with them, but they knew that this was an impossible trip at her age. They had left her with Dad’s brother while she was sulking about it

Tesia could imagine how well that would have gone since she remembered the many arguments that she had with her family in the past. Now this was just another bittersweet memory that she could hold in her past because no more of those arguments were they could act as if nothing happened the next day would ever occur again.

Then they spoke about how Mom had taken a job to gain some extra money, which caused Tesia to feel a slight heartache because she knew her mom enjoyed taking care of the household chores and took joy in knitting, reading, and cooking. Now she was working as a salesperson in a bakery. She mentioned that occasionally she helped in the back end and was learning a lot about different things that she did not know she ever thought possible to do herself and that every day felt like a learning experience.

Then they spoke about Dad, whose story was drier than the other two, Tesia suspected that he was also working extra since there were bags under his eyes and some white hairs that she did not remember him having. He also spoke about different organizations that they were contacting about her case, and how some were fighting against the injustices of the system. Tesia feared that her Dad would go down a path of obsession against the government, but there was not much she could do about it now.

Then it was her turn, Tesia had kept mostly quiet about her daily routine in her letters, but at this point, she revealed these aspects of her life. Not all of them since she did not feel the need to tell them about the loneliness and fear that she felt on a daily basis, but about the caverns, how they were almost like a completely new world existing down below, about her crew: Ger, Nix, Sig, and Ryg. About their work and how it was hard but mostly repetitive and boring, she did not want to make them think that she was being overly flowery with her descriptions but also did not want to paint everything as grim and dark since she did have some good moments of true enjoyment with her crew.

Her parents were kind enough to not ask much about her crew, after all, they were all technically criminals, dangerous enough to be isolated from society for a really long period of time, but so was she and they knew there were enough weird circumstances surrounding her case to make a small mountain of documents about it. Mom even had the idea of sending a gift to Ger and Ryg for taking care of her daughter, but Tesia quickly discarded the idea.

And just like that after bringing back a little bit of joy and laughter from a time that felt so distant only 8 minutes were left. She could see how her Dad was looking at the essence clock, dreading every minute that passed with a grimace, but also knowing that he had to drop a bomb that he did not want to since it would ruin the atmosphere of their reunion.

“Ok, Dad tell me what are the news that you are so nervous about, I imagine they are regarding my case, right?”

Dad looked at her and she could see the sadness in his eyes, and that told her everything that she needed to know.

“I am sorry Tesia, everything was going so well, we had found a good lawyer that was going over the police reports, the witnesses at the party, and Maria who was the key witness was even ready to turn around. We all had a positive outlook towards the appeal….”

“I know there is a but in there, so come out and say it”

“But bureaucratic blockages started to appear out of nowhere, dates were procrastinated and in the midst of it all, Maria just disappeared, we or her family have not heard from her in over six months and without her testimony we barely have a case, I am sorry”

Sigh….. Why am I not more disappointed at this? Did the RCAE pay Maria off? Last time she had mentioned that her family had some issues, but….. No, that point is moot now.

“We will continue to fight this, no worry Tessy this is not the end. The organization I got acquainted with said there is…..”

Wow, that is a name that she had not heard in a long time, Tessy. It was the way that her Dad called her when she was little, the memory almost caused her tears to form, but before Dad could continue.

“Stop” Tesia said with a firm and resolute voice.

“Tessy, what do you mean?”

Tesia had reached a state of calmness that she did not think was possible for her, but this was important and she had to emphasize it so that they get in their heads, so she stood up from her bench and looked at them from a standing position.

“I want you to stop all that you are doing for me, and let it go. This is a losing battle and you both know it”

Prev: 19. Tesia's Resolve - A Daugther's Love

Next: 21. Tesia's Resolve - Good bye

Description

Tesia’s POV:

For the past few days, Tesia had been awaiting this moment wracking her brain about what she would say, how she would act. All of that endless worrying just felt so pointless at this moment, the warmth of her parent's bodies, their smells, their sobs, and the many other small sensations that she felt were something that she did not know she missed so deeply.

She remembered how her Dad tended to hug her with all the subtlety of a bear when she was a child, while her Mom was more subtle and soft about it. Once again she felt the tightness of the handcuffs around her wrists and how much she wanted to return the hug that she was given, but it was fine, everything was exactly how it was supposed to be at this point.

They stayed like that for a minute or ten, it is somewhat difficult to tell the passage of time when you are finally experiencing something that you had been looking forward to for so long, but not much time could have passed since Dezra was at the entrance with her arms crossed under her chest and a subtle smile on her face.

“Well you have 30 minutes, I will be waiting outside. If I hear any shouting or feel that there is any sort of aggressiveness I will enter and take the inmate away. Now I will give you all some privacy” Dezra said in a voice lacking any emotion that was so uncharacteristic of her, but before she could close the door.

“Mrs. Guard we appreciate this, and I apologize if it’s too much, but could you remove her handcuffs? I.. no we trust our daughter, would that be possible?” Mom asked this of Dezra in a soft tone which took Tesia by surprise, but she did not dare hope what had already been denied.

“Sorry Maam, but this is the extent to which I am willing to risk it. Inmate Ditersia is well-behaved, but I do not know how she would react if a problem arises, so I will need to deny your request. Enjoy your 30 minutes together”

With that said she closed the door behind her.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ….oh Mom your haggling skills are still unchanged but at least you gave it a shot, believe me, I tried”

“Oh shush, a mother’s pleas can cause miracles from time to time, and like I have told you before you miss every shot that you do not take, the way I see it there was a fifty percent chance of my request being granted, so no reason to be embarrassed for just asking” Mom showed a rueful smile, many were the street merchants that she had been able to pull one over because of her gullible facade, but the woman knew how to haggle.

Just for that moment, it was almost as if the last two years had not passed and she was back home having her usual back and forth between them, only Maisey was missing showing her head at the most inappropriate of times to ask questions out of nowhere due to her inquisitive mind.

She should have grown so much at this point.

Tesia suddenly thought, imagining how big her sister must have gotten.

“Tesia we have something to…” Dad started to say.

“Dad shush, anything that makes you make that face can wait for the last ten minutes or so, right now we have 20 minutes where I want you to fill me out about everything that wasn’t in your letters. You may not know it, but it is extremely hard to be allowed an in-person meeting when the visitors are not your legal council, your girl had to use her connections for this. Now chop chop we don’t have all day so begin with Maisey”

Dad let out a heavy sigh combined with a chuckle, Tesia’s suspicion that his news were not good, got another piece of evidence since her Dad was not good at keeping his emotions in check, but she already had a suspicion of this so she did not allow any disappointment to show on her face.

They looked at each other and a silent message passed between my parents, something that can only happen after your relationship has lasted as long as theirs has. This used to annoy Tesia in the past, but now she could grasp the silent agreement about letting their daughter have this small win.

So Mom began speaking about Maisey, how she had grown, how she was doing in her new school, how she was still a bright girl despite the circumstances, and how she missed her sister. Apparently, she had begged them to bring her with them, but they knew that this was an impossible trip at her age. They had left her with Dad’s brother while she was sulking about it

Tesia could imagine how well that would have gone since she remembered the many arguments that she had with her family in the past. Now this was just another bittersweet memory that she could hold in her past because no more of those arguments were they could act as if nothing happened the next day would ever occur again.

Then they spoke about how Mom had taken a job to gain some extra money, which caused Tesia to feel a slight heartache because she knew her mom enjoyed taking care of the household chores and took joy in knitting, reading, and cooking. Now she was working as a salesperson in a bakery. She mentioned that occasionally she helped in the back end and was learning a lot about different things that she did not know she ever thought possible to do herself and that every day felt like a learning experience.

Then they spoke about Dad, whose story was drier than the other two, Tesia suspected that he was also working extra since there were bags under his eyes and some white hairs that she did not remember him having. He also spoke about different organizations that they were contacting about her case, and how some were fighting against the injustices of the system. Tesia feared that her Dad would go down a path of obsession against the government, but there was not much she could do about it now.

Then it was her turn, Tesia had kept mostly quiet about her daily routine in her letters, but at this point, she revealed these aspects of her life. Not all of them since she did not feel the need to tell them about the loneliness and fear that she felt on a daily basis, but about the caverns, how they were almost like a completely new world existing down below, about her crew: Ger, Nix, Sig, and Ryg. About their work and how it was hard but mostly repetitive and boring, she did not want to make them think that she was being overly flowery with her descriptions but also did not want to paint everything as grim and dark since she did have some good moments of true enjoyment with her crew.

Her parents were kind enough to not ask much about her crew, after all, they were all technically criminals, dangerous enough to be isolated from society for a really long period of time, but so was she and they knew there were enough weird circumstances surrounding her case to make a small mountain of documents about it. Mom even had the idea of sending a gift to Ger and Ryg for taking care of her daughter, but Tesia quickly discarded the idea.

And just like that after bringing back a little bit of joy and laughter from a time that felt so distant only 8 minutes were left. She could see how her Dad was looking at the essence clock, dreading every minute that passed with a grimace, but also knowing that he had to drop a bomb that he did not want to since it would ruin the atmosphere of their reunion.

“Ok, Dad tell me what are the news that you are so nervous about, I imagine they are regarding my case, right?”

Dad looked at her and she could see the sadness in his eyes, and that told her everything that she needed to know.

“I am sorry Tesia, everything was going so well, we had found a good lawyer that was going over the police reports, the witnesses at the party, and Maria who was the key witness was even ready to turn around. We all had a positive outlook towards the appeal….”

“I know there is a but in there, so come out and say it”

“But bureaucratic blockages started to appear out of nowhere, dates were procrastinated and in the midst of it all, Maria just disappeared, we or her family have not heard from her in over six months and without her testimony we barely have a case, I am sorry”

Sigh….. Why am I not more disappointed at this? Did the RCAE pay Maria off? Last time she had mentioned that her family had some issues, but….. No, that point is moot now.

“We will continue to fight this, no worry Tessy this is not the end. The organization I got acquainted with said there is…..”

Wow, that is a name that she had not heard in a long time, Tessy. It was the way that her Dad called her when she was little, the memory almost caused her tears to form, but before Dad could continue.

“Stop” Tesia said with a firm and resolute voice.

“Tessy, what do you mean?”

Tesia had reached a state of calmness that she did not think was possible for her, but this was important and she had to emphasize it so that they get in their heads, so she stood up from her bench and looked at them from a standing position.

“I want you to stop all that you are doing for me, and let it go. This is a losing battle and you both know it”

Prev: 19. Tesia's Resolve - A Daugther's Love

Next: 21. Tesia's Resolve - Good bye