against the works of the flesh//frerard

chapter six

"He invited you to his house?" Frank's mother asks, in a shocked voice. Frank tries to look at her, but reading her expression makes it harder than he thought. He hates when his mother is in this mood, because anything can happen.

"No. I need a few rare books for the essay, and he has them. He said he won't let me bring them to school and I understand why, and that I can't study on them at church because it's not a library. So I thought I could go over to his house to do my research," he replies, simply. He's trying to keep it honest at this point. There's no use of lying to her about this, otherwise she really won't let him go.

"Well, I suppose—"

"I don't think you should let Frank go," Frank's grandfather interrupts her, abruptly. He speaks quite loudly too, like he's making sure no one will stop him from sharing his opinions on the matter. Like anyone ever could. "God knows what books that sinner will make Frank read."

"How can you be so disrespectful, Grandpa? He's a priest like any other," Frank stands up for Father Way and the close relationship they've got going on for years.

"I doubt that."

Frank rolls his fists around the cutlery he's holding and bites his tongue, refraining from arguing even more and being disrespectful himself.

"You seem very defensive of him, Frank," his mother points out, clearing her throat.

because he's helped me. I was assigned to a very difficult topic and I have to write twenty pages on it and if he has the books I need, why should I doubt that? He's willing to help me doing research." Frank pauses, dropping down his fork. "Not only that, but he doesn't care that I'm gay. Unlike you, he wants me to be free. You prefer to throw me out because I disagree with your views on religion."

There's silence for a moment, while Frank stares down at his plate and waits for any kind of response. He's willing to take anything by now, but he surely won't back down on his own opinion and religious views.

"Frank, you were raised in a Catholic home," his mother says, sounding much calmer than she ever did after he's reminded them about his sexual inclination. "How can you deny every teaching we gave you? How can you want to live in sin?"

"It's not only a sin, but a moral evil," his grandfather intervened, pointing his fork at Frank. He's the one who is always very loud and assertive while discussing this, using everything within his reach against Frank. "The Pope said it himself, and God spoke through him in his time. You need me to read you the Bible before bedtime again?"

"Well, I can get you books that teach otherwise! If only you'd cut your crap and let me do research on them!" Frank threatened, but moderated his tone so that his lie isn't revealed. He has in fact told his family that he was going to write an essay about the several English translations of the Bible and compare the biggest differences in language and tone and specific words, and his father had actually covered for him. He can't give himself away, or he'll lose everything.

Frank should go," his father says immediately. Frank actually sighs in relief, because it means that his father understood Frank's slight moment of panic of almost revealing the truth about his essay to his mother and grandfather. And how much of a disaster it would have been. "It's his final essay and he needs a good grade to graduate in peace and go to college. This is important."

Then he turns to Frank's grandfather and says, matter-of-factly: "And if it was such a big sin, God wouldn't have made him this way." The reaction he gets, though, is obvious. Frank's grandfather scoffs and looks elsewhere, like he's offended.

He can't feel worse than Frank, though. He says, "I thought you'd all love me no matter what, because that's what families do. I thought that's what mothers do."