My mother's eyes were red-rimmed, her finger jabbing at my chest.
"You really do have that disgusting disease! What the hell have you been doing?
"I thought—yes, your face got scarred, but at least you were still a good kid at heart. I never imagined you'd let yourself sink this low!"
I tried to explain. "That's not it, Mom. I—"
"Stay back!"
She cut me off.
"What did I always teach you? A person doesn't have to be good-looking, but they must have integrity. Did all my words go in one ear and out the other?
"Do you have any idea how hard it was to raise you? And this is how you repay me—running around doing God knows what?"
My eyes burned.
"Mom, I really didn't. That report isn't mine—I picked it up for someone else!"
"Irvin, why are you still lying?"
Cedric stepped forward, gently steadying my mother's arm.
"That day, it was just the two of us getting tested. If you 'picked it up for someone else,' you're basically saying you picked it up for me, right?
"I know you don't want to accept that you have this disease. But you can't drag me down with you by spreading lies.
"Apologize to your mother. Now."
Mom wiped her tears.