"Try to remember, sweetheart," said the Detective.
Jupiter frowned, shifted slightly in her seat. It was stupidly easy to lie, she realized. It made her uncomfortable because it was a skill she had inherited from Seraphi. It was not one she practiced often as herself. But it fell off her tongue easily.
"They always had their faces covered," she uses the stress that she had been holding back in the last few days to make her voice tremble. She shifts again in her seat, presses into her mother's side, "And they kept me in a dark room. I don't remember how long I was with them. I just knew I had to get away. I stayed in the park… Until Miss Greyson found me. I… I didn't know where I was."
Here she presses her face into her mother's side. Presses against the smell of her lotion, oats, and honey, sweet and warm, the scent of cleaning products not smothering it for once. A warm arm brings Jupiter closer, heavy, and more centering than she remembers. As always, it's her mama, it's Aleska that reminds Jupiter why she is doing what she is doing. She isn't lying for the sake of herself, to make things easier for herself. She's lying for Grey, she's lying to protect her mother, her grandfather, and her cousins and uncles and aunts. This isn't to make things better for herself. It's for them.
After nearly two weeks of being away from her mother, Jupiter couldn't help but cling. It was nice but sad that her mother was being just as clingy. Her mother wasn't unaffectionate, but this was showing just how scared she had been. Her guilt over this was stark, and Jupiter made sure to not push away the emotion even if she could logic her way into understanding why she had done it in the first place.
I have to live with all the consequences, good and bad. Lying to Mama and staying a few days away from her was hard, and it made her even more scared for me. I hurt Mama, and I have to acknowledge that. I can't be like Seraphi and push down all that pain and pretend that it's okay. It isn't okay. But I did what I did for a reason. It sucks. But it is what it is.
"That is enough. My daughter has told you near five times what has happened. Miss Greyson has given you a statement more times, and from what I know you have already sent officers to the park where my daughter was staying. Please, let me take her to the hospital."
The Detective gave a sympathetic smile.
"We just want to get the full story, it's important to get it when it's fresh in her-"
"ENOUGH," Grandfather Sergi's voice was a boom, and Jupiter wondered if her father's voice had been anything like it, "We are leaving now."
Jupiter sighed in relief.
