it would start an argument that was certain to turn venomous. He could hear the anger in her voice.
"You can't begin to imagine how much support I've gotten here," she said. "I wish you were half as supportive."
He tried reasoning with her. "This is going to go public, Liv; I'm sure it will. A woman who disowns her gay son and years later wants her house, the same house she threw him out of, to be made into a shelter for gay teens—it's too good for them to pass up. There'll be a stink. Have you thought about how it would affect the children?"
"It will be worse for them in the long run if we don't stand up for what we believe in."
Again that we . "Won't you come home, Liv? Please. You're doing no good where you are. The results will be the same whether you stay or leave."
"If I'm here I can hurry things along."
"Does it look to you like they're hurrying? And hurrying to what? You're going to lose, Liv, whatever happens."
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"Your brother, for one. How can anyone doubt Alma's intentions now? His very existence explains why she wrote the will she did. She never got over having rejected her own child. It was tearing her apart."
"She didn't reject him. He rejected us."
"Oh, come off it, Liv. What do you mean he rejected you ?" Either she was repeating what she'd been told or she was making the whole thing up. "For God's sake, you have no idea what happened with Ronnie. You were only four years old."
"He could have stayed with us if he'd been willing to turn to Christ and be healed."
How could she be so stubborn and dense? Wasn't it obvious the same thing could happen to her? Had she not picked up on it or was she choosing to ignore it? And what was with this "turn to Christ"?
"Have you thought of this, Liv? There's mounting evidence that homosexuality could be genetic. Your brother's homosexual. What if Li'l Eric—"
She cut him off. "You don't believe that crap, do you? It's all a lot of gay propaganda."
"But if your own son—"
"How could it be genetic? Wouldn't that line have died off long ago? Nature meant us to reproduce. God created—"
"Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. I've heard all that." Homophobes always spouted those religious arguments. Now Liv was spouting them too.
"Even if they were born that way, they're still freaks. They have no place in a God-fearing society."
Where did all this talk about God come from? They'd never been very religious; they hardly ever went to church. It had to be Jessie and Dennis saying grace and all that Christian literature they had on the coffee table rubbing off on her.
"I know my Bible too, Liv, believe it or not. The Old Testament says that cripples, the infirm, deformed people mustn't enter the Temple. But Jesus's message includes everyone. He went out and healed the sick."
"As God would heal homosexuals if only they'd turn to Him. I don't know my Bible well enough to answer you, Eric, but Pastor Rich could shoot down all your arguments in a second."
"Pastor Rich?"
"The minister in Dennis and Jessie's church."
"You've been going to church with them?"
"Once or twice, to be sociable. What harm is there in that? The children enjoy the singing."
Sweet Jesus, he thought, what poison were his kids being exposed to?
Harvey Anderson
Harvey Anderson, Eric's boss, called him into the office.
"You seem really down today, Eric," he said, "more so than usual. I've noticed you've been looking kinda down lately. Miss the wife and kids?"
"Of course I miss them."
"It's only been a few weeks, and you've been down since you got back. Is it that this house thing is going to take a long time? It would be easy enough to fly there for the weekend a couple of times a month. We could find work you could take care of over the Internet if you'd like to stay for a longer stretch occasionally. It would only mean moving a couple of accounts around."
"Thanks, Harv, but I'd rather stay here. The last place I want to be right now is in Macon."
"Is
"You can't begin to imagine how much support I've gotten here," she said. "I wish you were half as supportive."
He tried reasoning with her. "This is going to go public, Liv; I'm sure it will. A woman who disowns her gay son and years later wants her house, the same house she threw him out of, to be made into a shelter for gay teens—it's too good for them to pass up. There'll be a stink. Have you thought about how it would affect the children?"
"It will be worse for them in the long run if we don't stand up for what we believe in."
Again that we . "Won't you come home, Liv? Please. You're doing no good where you are. The results will be the same whether you stay or leave."
"If I'm here I can hurry things along."
"Does it look to you like they're hurrying? And hurrying to what? You're going to lose, Liv, whatever happens."
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"Your brother, for one. How can anyone doubt Alma's intentions now? His very existence explains why she wrote the will she did. She never got over having rejected her own child. It was tearing her apart."
"She didn't reject him. He rejected us."
"Oh, come off it, Liv. What do you mean he rejected you ?" Either she was repeating what she'd been told or she was making the whole thing up. "For God's sake, you have no idea what happened with Ronnie. You were only four years old."
"He could have stayed with us if he'd been willing to turn to Christ and be healed."
How could she be so stubborn and dense? Wasn't it obvious the same thing could happen to her? Had she not picked up on it or was she choosing to ignore it? And what was with this "turn to Christ"?
"Have you thought of this, Liv? There's mounting evidence that homosexuality could be genetic. Your brother's homosexual. What if Li'l Eric—"
She cut him off. "You don't believe that crap, do you? It's all a lot of gay propaganda."
"But if your own son—"
"How could it be genetic? Wouldn't that line have died off long ago? Nature meant us to reproduce. God created—"
"Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. I've heard all that." Homophobes always spouted those religious arguments. Now Liv was spouting them too.
"Even if they were born that way, they're still freaks. They have no place in a God-fearing society."
Where did all this talk about God come from? They'd never been very religious; they hardly ever went to church. It had to be Jessie and Dennis saying grace and all that Christian literature they had on the coffee table rubbing off on her.
"I know my Bible too, Liv, believe it or not. The Old Testament says that cripples, the infirm, deformed people mustn't enter the Temple. But Jesus's message includes everyone. He went out and healed the sick."
"As God would heal homosexuals if only they'd turn to Him. I don't know my Bible well enough to answer you, Eric, but Pastor Rich could shoot down all your arguments in a second."
"Pastor Rich?"
"The minister in Dennis and Jessie's church."
"You've been going to church with them?"
"Once or twice, to be sociable. What harm is there in that? The children enjoy the singing."
Sweet Jesus, he thought, what poison were his kids being exposed to?
Harvey Anderson
Harvey Anderson, Eric's boss, called him into the office.
"You seem really down today, Eric," he said, "more so than usual. I've noticed you've been looking kinda down lately. Miss the wife and kids?"
"Of course I miss them."
"It's only been a few weeks, and you've been down since you got back. Is it that this house thing is going to take a long time? It would be easy enough to fly there for the weekend a couple of times a month. We could find work you could take care of over the Internet if you'd like to stay for a longer stretch occasionally. It would only mean moving a couple of accounts around."
"Thanks, Harv, but I'd rather stay here. The last place I want to be right now is in Macon."
"Is
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