Governing Passions by Chris Cheek

Author:Chris Cheek [Cheek, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781999647971
Publisher: 2FM Limited
Published: 2020-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

“Yes, I see that – having a bunch of guys into each other would reduce the population and make survival more difficult. In the same way as eating pork or shellfish was dangerous in the heat of the desert.”

“Indeed. But life has changed a bit in the interim. I suppose that I’ve concluded that the rules need to be re-written every now and again.”

My mother looked genuinely shocked at that. “But it’s the word of God.”

I shook my head. “No, Mum, it was the word of God two or three thousand years ago. Has anybody asked Him what He thinks lately?”

She looked at me blankly. Clearly the thought had never occurred to her.

“I know it’s difficult for you to accept, but you have to understand that my being gay is not a choice I’ve made. Do you think I would willingly have put myself through all the heartbreak and fear I suffered when I was younger if there’d been a way out? God made me this way, Mum, and so, as Dad says, I simply can’t accept that expressing my sexuality is in any way a sin.”

She looked at us both doubtfully but didn’t argue. We knew from experience that this meant we’d probably won the argument. “I’m sorry, but I think it’s a shame. And I bet that bloody Alice Reeves makes hay out of it for weeks. Now I’d better go and see to the lunch if we’re to eat this side of Christmas.”

My father winked at me. Alice Reeves was the wife of the Archdeacon at the Cathedral and my mother’s sworn enemy – though nobody could remember the precise cause. The ladies of the Chapter seemed to regard her as the arbiter of taste in the Cathedral Close community and the wider diocese. This enraged my mother, who felt that role should properly fall to her. Since Alice had lived here for many years, whereas Mum and Dad were comparative newcomers, the woman retained her leadership role, and a sort of armed truce existed between them. From experience, though, my father and I knew that invoking Alice’s name meant that my mother didn’t have anything else to grumble about, which was tantamount to acceptance.

“I’m sorry if she upset you,” my father said as she flounced out of the room.

“Don’t worry. It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. I knew she’d throw a bit of a wobbly.” I grinned at him. “It’s what she does.”

“She loves you very much and she’s extremely proud of you, you know, in her own way. She’ll be worried that it is all somehow her fault.”

“Her fault? Why on earth would she think that?”

“Because I suspect it’s what every parent of a gay son or daughter worries about. Always wondering whether there was something they did or didn’t do, or could have done differently.”

“That had never occurred to me.”

“The other thing is that she’ll worry that people will think less of you.”

I snorted. “That’s certainly a fear I’m familiar with.”

“I can imagine,” he replied with a sigh.

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