Ethic went after her, storming into the women’s restroom behind her. She was sobbing. As she stood over the sink, her head bowed in shame, she cried from her soul.

“Do you know what you just did? You took my job away. He’s been coming at me for a year, trying to fuck, trying to pay me for it. I always said no, even though other girls here jump on the opportunity to make the extra money. I said no, until today; and you know why? Because I thought that my integrity meant something! I thought that if I stood for something I’d be able to teach my daughter to stand for something, but then she disappeared…right before my eyes. She’s gone, almost like she never even existed, and I need to bury her. I’ll do anything to make sure that happens! Even this! You just fucked things up even more for me!” She was screaming, and Ethic stood there, watching with sympathy.

A canyon-sized hole filled him, as he witnessed her undoing. She was drowning in an emotional flood that he had caused. Her turmoil, her pain, was the realest thing he had ever witnessed. It reminded him of his own, but he knew that her loss had to be greater. He had lost a woman, but she had lost a seed. Flesh of her own flesh, blood of her own blood. It was like walking around with half of you in a grave. She was the living dead, as well as every mother who had ever lost a child. It was devastating to watch and even more heartbreaking to be the root of it all.