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McKenna’s face reddened, a mixture of embarrassment and anger.
“Ainsley, I can’t believe you took this outside the family?—”
“You hurt me!” Ainsley snapped and held up his wrist.
Evie’s eyes widened, and we exchanged glances. I nodded, which was enough to confirm what had happened, and there was a new determination in her stance.
“Sit down, Pastor McKenna."
“Ainsley McKenna, you will not stand there and?—”
They spoke over each other, but it was Ainsley who stopped them both.
“I’m bisexual, okay!” Ainsley’s voice echoed in the still room. He stared straight at his father, a silent plea for understanding in his eyes, as if his dad might understand, and apologize, and somehow become a better man in an instant.
“No. You’re not.” McKenna was calm, but his jaw was set and his eye twitched with suppressed temper. “No son of mine islike that.”
Ainsley reached back and pulled Clarke, with his pink hair and his lip gloss, into the room. “And this is my boyfriend, Clarke,” he added, his arm around Clarke’s shoulders.
McKenna’s face turned a shade paler, shock and disbelief replacing his frigid expression as Ainsley’s words hung in the air. The man who had been so vocal in his criticism moments ago was now rendered speechless, his gaze darting between Ainsley and Clarke.
“Okay, I need everyone to sit down,” Evie began.
But even as Evie attempted to defuse the situation, McKenna’s voice rose, infused with a fervor stemming from his deep-seated convictions. “This goes against everything you believe in, Ainsley,” he declared, his words sharp and unyielding.Yep, here comes the quotes.“The Bible clearly states that homosexuality is a sin. It’s right there in the scriptures!”
“You’re wrong!” Ainsley shouted.
I moved a little closer to him, given how McKenna’s hands were clenched into fists. Maybe it was the one-handed air quote his son had used, but McKenna was turning purple.
“Leviticus. Romans. How can any reasonable person ignore these teachings?”
I wanted to shout that a reasonable person wouldn’t be forcing his son to stand there and be told he waswrong.
“I’ve called the sheriff,” Evie announced in the hateful silence.
McKenna rolled his eyes. “Now why would you do a silly thing like that?” he said, and it was so oily and repulsive I didn’t know where to move, or who to protect first.
As if you could protect anyone.
I shoved all the negative thoughts to one side, and took another step between McKenna and Ainsley, pressing my hand to his chest.
“You need to move away from Ainsley, Mr. McKenna.”
McKenna stiffened and poked at me. “People like you are drifting away from the word of God, and it’s leading our children down a dangerous path. I can’t stand by and watch.”
“No one asked you to watch,” Ainsley muttered.
McKenna lunged, but I was steady on my feet, my prosthetic lodged under my wheelchair, which had its brakes on. No one was moving me, and McKenna wasn’t getting through me to his son.
McKenna’s voice softened, but only a little, his tone cajoling, but tinged with desperation. “Son, you need to understand. This lifestyle, it’s not what God wants for you.” As McKenna continued, citing more scripture, and lamenting the perceived moral decay of society—all down topeople like me—the tension in the room escalated, and I wished to hell that Neil would get here quick. McKenna’s tirade had started with his belief I was the corrupting influence, and he’d circled into hate.
“I’m queer, but there are plenty of churches who will love me as I am.” Ainsley tipped his chin.
Fuck. McKenna’s face contorted into an expression of pure fury, and I braced myself as he shoved, the pain in my knee as it twisted was enough to make me nauseous, but I kept my position, and as much as he tried, he still couldn’t get past.
“This is unacceptable!” McKenna bellowed, his voice reverberating through the room. His eyes blazed with a mix of outrage and disbelief as he stared at Ainsley. “You can’t be serious. This is not how I raised you!”
His words were like daggers, and I glanced back at Ainsley, who flinched, but also stood his ground, Clarke firm at his side.
