Nyssa

The woman who answered the door looks at Mom as if she's trying to figure out if she knows her. "Emma? No, you're not Emma. Martha! That's who you are, right?"

"No. I'm Martha's twin sister, Mary. Don't you remember me, Nyssa?"

"No. I don't remember Martha having a twin sister."

Mom seems a bit hurt by what Nyssa said. "How could you not remember me? Sure, we haven't seen or talked to each other in years. But we spent lots of time together when you were dating my sister. When did you two break up?"

"Uhh... I think... Close to 20 years, I'd say."

"20 years?! You broke up with Martha shortly after you left Wingston?! Did you still help Martha raise her baby after you two broke up?"

Nyssa's face quickly changes to an annoyed expression. "Why should I tell you anything? What are you doing here? I don't think I ever told you where I was going before I left Wingston."

Mom is taken aback by the sudden change of tone in Nyssa's voice. "Martha told me where she was going before she left. We're trying to find her."

"Well, she's not here."

"I gathered that," Mom says, now becoming annoyed with Nyssa's behavior. "If she's not here, do you know where we can find my sister?"

"I do know where she lives. But I doubt she'll want to see you. After all, if I remember correctly, she wanted to leave Wingston to get away from you."

I almost feel like I can hear Mom's blood pressure rising. Mom rarely gets angry. However, when she does, I fear for my life. But thankfully, her anger isn't directed toward me. But I do feel a little bad for Nyssa now that she has to deal with the wrath of Mom.

"Martha didn't leave Wingston to get away from me! She left to get away from our parents! She wouldn't have to leave town in the first place had you not talked my sister into doing that threesome with Jason! What were you even thinking, making Martha do a threesome?"

Nyssa doesn't seem fazed by Mom's shouting directly in her face. "I wanted to make our sex lives more interesting. And I don't think Martha regrets having that threesome. Seriously, you should've seen her while she was riding Jason. She was loving every second of it. Had she not gotten pregnant, I would have asked her to do it again."

As Mom shouts more at Nyssa, I notice the people living in the neighboring houses are coming out of their homes to see who's yelling. Not wanting to escalate things further, I quickly pull my phone out of my pocket and open the Alteration App. I find Nyssa's name and tap on it. I don't look at any of the information the app provides about Nyssa and start typing.

Nyssa will listen and do everything John tells her to do. Nyssa will answer all of John's questions honestly. Nyssa will believe everything John tells her, no matter what it is.

After quickly typing this into the app, I hit enter and put my phone away. I put my hand on Mom's right shoulder. "Alright, Mom. That's enough. I'll deal with this. Hello, Nyssa. My name is John. I'm Mary's son. Can you please let us inside your house so we can talk?"

Nyssa looks at me, and despite glaring daggers, she steps to the side and tells us to come in. Mom is left speechless as she follows me inside the house. Rachel, on Mom's behalf, asks what Mom is wondering. "How did you do that, John?"

"I have my ways," is all I say. I take a seat on the nice-looking couch in the living room. I gesture for Mom and Rachel to join me, but I can tell they're hesitant. Especially when Nyssa enters the room, still staring daggers at us. "You're fine with us sitting on your furniture. Right, Nyssa? Also, can you please stop staring angrily at us?"

Instantly, Nyssa's expression chances. While she's no longer glaring at us, she still speaks with an annoyed tone in her voice. "I'm okay with you sitting on my couch. But how long are you going to stay in my house?"

"Until you answer all of my questions. Did you help Martha raise her baby after you two broke up?" I could ask Nyssa where Martha lives so we can leave and find her. But I'm curious about what happened between Nyssa and Martha.

"No. After Martha and I broke up, I bought her a house for her and Clara to live in. Clara is the name of Martha's daughter. After I-"

"Martha had a girl and named her after our grandmother! Oh my god! That's so sweet," Mom says, interrupting Nyssa. She turns to look at me. "I wish you and Rachel could have met Grandma Clara. She was such a lovely person and would have loved you two."

I always laugh as Mom looks back at Nyssa to see the glare she's giving her. Mom apologizes for interrupting and quietly sits next to me on the couch. Meanwhile, Rachel sits next to me on the opposite side.

"As I was saying. I haven't seen or talked to Martha since I helped her move into her house. I haven't once thought about visiting her to see how she's doing in all the years since we separated."

I can tell Mom is getting angry again. I'm starting to develop a strong dislike toward Nyssa. But I put my arm out in front of Mom, telling her not to say or do anything. "Why did you break up with Martha, Nyssa? What happened? If you left Wingston together, your relationship must've been doing well at that point."

Nyssa lets out a sigh before answering. "We were doing well. But our relationship started to go downhill shortly after Clara was born. Before she was born, Martha kept doubting herself, believing she'd be a terrible mother. I tried telling her she'll be a great mom, but she didn't believe me, and we ended up arguing."

"What did you argue about," I ask.

"She blamed me for getting her pregnant, which doesn't make sense. How could I impregnate Martha? I don't have a penis."

"But you're the one who talked Martha into having a three-"

"Mom," I shout. "That's enough. I'm sorry, Nyssa. Proceed. What happened to your relationship after Clara was born?"

"We were doing well for a while. But after... I'd say... Maybe two months after Clara was born, we started arguing again. Martha kept yelling at me, wanting me to help her with Clara. But if she was a good mom, she could take care of her daughter on her own. Anyway. Eventually, I had enough of arguing with Martha and listening to Clara crying constantly. So, I dumped her and kicked her out of my house."

"Was it your idea to buy Martha a house," I ask angrily.

"No. Martha managed to talk me into buying a house for her. I didn't want to. But she promised she'd vanish from my life completely if I found her a place for her and Clara to live."

This time, I allow Mom to go off on Nyssa. Rachel even joins in yelling at her. As the women scream at each other, I stare at my phone screen. Using the app, I could punish Nyssa for what she did to Martha. But how will I punish her?