“Piper!” I heard my mum yell from the hallway so I hurried under the bed. I was used to hiding from her.
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“Piper,” this time her voice sounded nearer but she called me like she was having fun even though I knew that wasn’t the case. “Piper, come out now and I will be gentle with you,” that convinced me but I stood still under the bed.
My mum stood in front of the bed and I could see her legs which kind of scared me.
“P-i-p-e-r,” she called again, stressing on every letter. This time, I knew she already knew where I was but she walked away from my bedside and I immediately let out a deep breath.
“There you go!!” My mum said out of nowhere, dragging my body from under the bed, scaring the hell out of me.
“Mum!!” I yelled as she dragged my body with my feet on the ground. “Mummy, I’m sorry. Mummy!” I begged but she wouldn’t listen.
She dragged my body for a while before she finally stopped when we got to the kitchen. The place of ruin.
I looked all around while still on the ground and back at my mum who was glaring at me. I slowly stood up and stared down at my feet.
“What are you sorry about?” she asked me but I couldn't look up at her face.
“Look up!” her voice sounded stern and I knew she was mad at me. I slowly raised my head and my eyes met her gaze but I quickly looked away. “Eyes on me!” she said in the same tone and I looked at her instantly.
“I’m sorry, mum.”
“What are you sorry about?” my mum asked.
“I…I’m…I’m sorry for getting you mad,”
“What did you do?”
“I didn't…I'm sorry, mum!” I ran to her and hugged her tightly. I was expecting to feel her hands wrap around me but they didn't, instead, she pulled me away.
“Listen. You need to start taking accountability for your wrongs. You need to be responsible! Look over there by the sink,” she pointed towards the sink and I followed in that direction.
“I’m sorry, mum.”
“Stop saying that and tell me what you are sorry about!”
“I’m…I'm sorry for messing up everywhere without cleaning up.”
“Why didn't you clean up?”
“I wanted to play with my toys.”
“Does it look right to leave the whole place like that?”
“No.”
“Do I have to always clean up after you?”
I could feel the tears burning up my eyes. She seems so harsh with me and it breaks my heart.
“No, mum. I’m so sorry,” I said but my voice broke off in a cry.
She let out a breath before she bent down on her toes in front of me.
“Look at me, baby,” she said, raising my chin to look up at her. “I’m not being harsh on you. I just need you to learn. I need you to face things instead of going into hiding. I need you to start taking accountability instead of trying to find other ways around it. This will help you in life, my child.”
Her voice soothed my heart and her words struck my mind. She pulled me in for a very tight hug, wiping the tears off my face and placing a kiss on my forehead.
“I’m so sorry, mum.”
“It’s okay, my baby.”
After she had consoled me, I rushed over with a broad smile on my face to clean up the sink area. She chuckled lightly before she went over to the laundry room.
We all stood in silence with no one saying a word except for my boss who was not saying a word now, waiting for us to reply to her.
“I would speak again. If you know you made the alteration on the audit records, step forward now or I will fish you out and if that happens, you will not be forgiven by then!”
I looked over to my sides at everyone’s faces but no one was planning on stepping forward. My heartbeat rose and my palms started to sweat. I was going to keep quiet like the rest except they deserved to be quiet since they did nothing wrong.
“I did it!” I shut my eyes as I conceded.
She had almost turned to walk out of the room when my voice made her turn back. She stared intensely at me. I wasn’t looking up at her but I could feel her eyes bore holes into my skin.
She moved closer to me so that she was staring directly at me now. She stood silent for a while before she spoke.
“And you are?” She asked.
“Pip…Piper Adams,”
“Hmmm,” she nodded. “A round of applause for her,” she said and everyone looked confused as well as me but the clapping resounded regardless.
After the clapping had stopped, she smiled at me. “The alteration was necessary and if it wasn’t made, it would have cost our company a huge amount of money which might have caused a few of you to lose your jobs, including me!”
Everyone gasped but they clapped again.
“Thank you, Piper,” they all said in turn and I could not explain the joy that filled my heart.
I thought back on what my mum taught me. What if out of fear, I hadn’t taken accountability? Probably someone else would have been bold enough to and would have gotten credit for what I deserve.
This is my submission to the Inleo prompt suggestion for the month of April. The topic is "Something learned as a child and used in your adulthood". You can join here. This is the calendar
