Page 37 of Love Legacy

“Momma, I—”

“Stop! Just stop! I knew you going to school up in New York was a bad idea. You’ve been led astray from the path to the heavenly kingdom.”

“Momma, if you just listened—”

“No, Naomi, you listen to me. Your father’s going to have a field day when he finds out,” she says, getting up from the table and heading down the hall, presumably to tell my father.

It’s not long before I hear my father’s booming voice coming from down the hallway. “We said it, Adora, we said if she went away to school, she would be tempted and corrupted from the faith!”

I groan, resting my head on my arms on the table. Here we go…

“How dare you come into this house and say such vile nonsense?” my father roars as he comes into the kitchen.

“But Daddy, it’s not nonsense. I’m a lesbian, I’m in love with Sage,” I say, trying to plead with him. It’s futile, but I’m hoping that deep down, there’s some part of him that’s willing to put me first rather than the church.

“That’s the devil talking Naomi. You don’t love a woman, you can’t love a woman. You won’t be allowed to enter the Kingdom of God if you choose to continue on this path of sin and sodomy.”

I roll my eyes. “Daddy! It’s not sodomy, it’s love. What Sage and I have is no different than what you and Momma share.”

“Don’t you dare compare your father and I to your disgusting lifestyle. I can’t even believe that you would think that they could possibly be the same thing!”

“But Momma, please! Don’t y’all want me to be happy? To find someone who loves and cares for me, supports me, and pushes me to be the best version of me I could be? Sage does that!”

“Blasphemy! You can find that with a nice, sweet boy in the parish. I’m sure if you apologized, Josiah would take you back.

You can drop out of school and come work for the parish’s mission organization with your mother.

After all, that’s what you were planning on doing anyway, right?

You don’t need a degree to do that. This whole college dream was foolish, to begin with.

I feel tears prick the back of my eyes, but I quickly blink them away. I was determined to maintain my composure and approach this from a place of rationality, even if they might not see it or feel the same.

“Daddy, I’m not coming back home. I’m going to finish my degree and take a job in New York with a nonprofit organization.

You might think the degree is foolish, but I don’t.

I want to get an education and carve a path for myself.

I don’t want to marry Josiah, I want to be with Sage.

I want to do what makes me happy and be with someone who makes me happy. Why can’t you respect that?”

“Naomi, don’t talk back to your father,” my mother warns me.

“Now you listen here, little girl. You are my daughter, and I am your father, your leader, your protector, your master.

You are to heed my wishes, and what I say goes.

If you wish to remain living under my roof and continue being part of this family, you will end things with this Sage character and move back home.

You will not return to Pinebrook University, and if you wish to go back to school, you will only be able to do so if you return to High Valley University. "

If his booming voice wasn’t enough, I can clearly see his anger right now.

That one vein that always pops up when he’s animated is practically throbbing; it’s so pronounced on his forehead.

The one that’s in his neck looks like it’s about to burst out of his skin too.

I’ve only ever seen him this angry once—when the old church was broken into and vandalized when I was a kid.

While it ended up working in our favor because the insurance and donations from the community allowed us to create the modern building that turned into the megachurch we have now, I remember how furious my father was when he saw what they had done, especially since he knew who did it.

It's heartbreaking that, in his eyes, my developing into my own person and finding love is equivalent to the destruction of his temple. He’s willing to turn his back on his only child, all because the future I’ve crafted for myself is not the one he had planned for me.

I knew going into this conversation that my relationship with my parents would change significantly; however, I really didn’t think that I could lose them altogether.

“Daddy, please. Calm down. Don’t make me choose between you and Momma and my happiness.” I try in vain to plead and reason with him, but I know I’m not going to get through to him.

My father’s a proud and stubborn man; he rarely admits when he’s wrong, and once he’s set his mind on something, there’s no persuading him to do or believe anything else.

Ironically enough, pride is one of the seven deadly sins, but of course, the classic catholic hypocrisy led him to believe that me being gay is the worst of all.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Naomi, this is just a silly little crush. You’ll find new friends and find true love when you return home and go back to High Valley,” my mother says, trying in her own convoluted way to be reassuring.

My father crosses his arms across his chest, foot tapping, signifying to me that his mind is made up and that he won’t be going back on this one. “So what is it going to be, Naomi?”

I sigh, getting up from the table. This is it.

No turning back. “Well, then I guess I’m no longer part of this family.

I’ll get the remainder of my belongings out of the house by tomorrow.

What Sage and I have is real, and I’m thriving at Pinebrook in New York.

I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and I’m not going to give that up just because it’s not what you would have imagined for me.

I hope you guys can come to understand and accept me for who I really am, not who you wish I was.

If you ever change your mind, you know how to get in contact with me. ”

I turn to head toward the door when my mother grabs my arm. Now it was her turn to convince me to change my mind. “Naomi, wait, think this through,” she says, her eyes pleading.

The way Granny Mae tells it, my father’s the one who radicalized my mother.

She was never this devoutly religious until he came along, and it put a major strain on their relationship.

I hope that deep down, my mother realizes this and she finally wakes up.

She’s already broken the connection she shared with her mother, I hope she doesn’t allow my father to completely sever the connection she has with their only child.

I give her a sad smile. “I already thought this through, Momma. I knew this conversation could go this way, though I had really hoped it wouldn’t. I made up my mind before I came over,” I say, peeling her hand off my arm.

My father stared at me incredulously, I think he secretly hoped I was bluffing and would have just given in to his demands.

But I knew if I didn’t get out now, I never would.

I’d be stuck in this controlling, hypocritical web that is the Church, and I just want more.

More out of my life, out of my career, out of my relationships, and that just won’t happen if I come back to Georgia.

“I’ll come by tomorrow to get the rest of my things while you both are at the Three Kings Day celebration. That way, we don’t have to cross paths again. And then I’ll be out of y’all’s hair for good.” I make my way toward the door and open it, my father’s voice stopping me in the doorframe.

“You’re going to regret this, Naomi,” he calls after me.

I shake my head as I turn to look him in the eye.

“No, Daddy, I think you’re going to regret it,” I say before I leave my parent's house, shutting the door behind me.

The loud thud of the deadbolt locking the door just emphasizes the end of my relationship with my parents.

I can only hope that one day, they will come to their senses.