Finn held out his hand. Carissa nodded, took a deep breath, and walked in the direction he was pointing. She stopped when her mother suddenly appeared. Finn stepped up to her and studied her mother.
"Debra Marshall," he said.
"I hate her," she whispered.
"Then tell her," he said.
"You don't understand," she looked at him. "You don't understand what she did."
"I'm not here to understand. I'm simply here to be your tour guide," he said.
"That's a damn lie, and you know it. You killed the first sheep," she said.
He grinned at her and looked over at her mother again. The message was clear. She had to move forward or decide to go home. She hadn't come this far to give up now. She had dealt with her high school bullies and her ex boyfriends. Now it was time to face her mother. She took a step forward and got her mother's attention.
"Carissa," Debra smiled. "It's been so long, sweety. Why don't you ever come home to visit?"
"You know why," Carissa said.
"Not that imaginary nonsense again. We talked about this," Debra said.
"No, you talked. I wasn't allowed to say anything. You didn't believe me," Carissa said.
"You always had a vivid imagination," Debra said. "Come have a cup of tea with your old mother. You at least owe me that much."
Debra walked over to a café table where two cups and a pot of tea were. She poured tea in both cups and picked them up. She kept looking at Carissa who finally walked over to her mother.
"Here you go, Carissa," Debra handed Carissa one of the cups. "A nice cup of earl grey with a bit of sugar. Just the way you like it."
"That's how you like it," Carissa said.
"You like it that way too. I remember that. You always wanted to be like your old mother," Debra said.
Debra took a sip of her tea and smiled. Carissa looked down on her cup. She didn't want to drink it.
"I don't even like tea," Carissa said.
"Nonsense. You love it," Debra said.
Carissa raised her eyes to look at her mother. No matter what she had said over the years, her mother always brushed it aside and created her own version.
"I don't like tea," Carissa repeated.
"Let's not fight over something this silly. Just drink your tea, sweety," Debra said.
"I don't want to drink it. I don't like tea. When will you listen? You never fucking listen, mom!" Carissa shouted. "And I don't have a vivid imagination. I told you the truth. You just refused to believe me."
"Shut up!" Debra yelled. "He would never do that!"
"He did!" Carissa screamed.
Debra's hand came flying fast. A slap landed on Carissa's cheek. It burned just as bad as her other cheek when Dean backhanded her. She had enough. She would no longer take this abuse. She responded by throwing the hot tea in Debra's face. Debra screamed in pain and moved back. Carissa followed and grabbed Debra's throat.
"You listen to me, you pathetic excuse of a mother!" Carissa growled. "Everything I told you was true. Everything I told you he did, he did. I never lied. I wanted your help and you refused to help me. This is why I never came back to visit. This is why I don't see you as my mother. This is why I don't love you."
Carissa let go of Debra and walked past her. She heard Debra cry for several seconds and then the sound stopped. She turned around and saw Finn walk towards her.
"We don't choose our family, unfortunately," he said.
"I don't wanna hear it right now," she said.
"Alright," he smirked. "Ready for stage 6?"
"I got a feeling what I'll meet in there," she sighed. "It's not gonna be pretty."