Chapter 14

When I arrived home my parents and Julie were visibly displeased. But they had no time to interrogate me as I barely had time to change clothes before we had to leave for Mass. I felt very uncomfortable because Julie glared at me throughout the service. I saw no smiles from my parents either. They treated me like a dog that had rolled in something smelly before coming into the front parlor. As we exited the church, my Dad muttered that we would have a private talk when we got home.

It was our custom that Mom fixed a big breakfast after Sunday Mass. They had grown up in the time when parishioners fasted overnight before receiving communion. Even though the church had changed, they had not. When we got home, Mom and Julie went into the kitchen to start the breakfast while my father steered me outside saying that we were going for a walk.

As soon as we went outside, he glowered at me and asked, "Did you spend the night with Amy?"

"Yes sir, I did." I replied.

"So," he said, "You admit to fornication?"

"Yes sir, I do."

"Is Amy's mother aware that you defiled her daughter?"

"Yes sir, she is. Although I contest the word 'defiled.' We made love last night and her mother knows about it. As a matter of fact, she told me to have you call her if you are concerned about it."

"I will do just that although I have to wonder what kind of woman can be so nonchalant about her daughter participating in illicit sex."

With that remark, I was really pissed, and started to rant, "Mrs. Scott really loves Amy. She is a widow who has sacrificed all her personal interests to take care of Amy. She works hard to provide a good home for her daughter. Unlike you, she has no hang ups about normal human behavior. You can punish me any way you like, but I won't accept any criticism of Amy or Mrs. Scott."

My dad was taken aback by that outburst and he paused for a while before speaking again. I could tell that he was choosing his words carefully.

He started by asking, "Do you think you love Amy?"

"I don't know," I answered. "I'm only 17. Amy is the first girl I've had more than one date with. She's really smart, much smarter than I. But we are friends, and now we are lovers, at least in the sense that we had sex with each other. I won't pretend to understand love beyond that."

My dad stared at me and asked, "How did you get to be so wise?"

"Do you mean how did I get to be such a wise ass?" I retorted. "If I have any wisdom at all, I have to credit you. You always emphasized that I have to take responsibility for my own actions. I believe that to mean that I have to think things through and try my best to consider all the consequences. I know that I'm not always successful in doing that, but it is my guiding principle. I haven't done anything with Amy that she didn't want to do. But before you start thinking she's some kind of slut, last night was her first time. And I'm the only person she's ever dated. If you and Mom won't judge us, I'll invite her to dinner so you can get to know her as I do. But I have to tell you that we'll walk out the instant you or Mom treat her badly."

"OK, Mike," my Dad said. "I accept your explanation. I know that your mother doesn't always treat you fairly so give me some time to work on her before we plan to invite Amy to dinner. And we'd better get back inside. Your mother will have breakfast ready by now."

"Thanks, Dad," I said. "I appreciate your hearing me out. I know you don't approve of pre-marital sex, but I don't think we are hurting ourselves or anyone else."

Then we walked back into the house and went to the dining room to eat our Sunday brunch. At first we ate in silence before my mother started in on me, "Well, Mike. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Well," I replied. "If you are looking for apologies or excuses, I don't have any. I sent Dad a message as soon as I knew I was not coming home so you wouldn't worry about me and I have done nothing else that I regret or that I am ashamed of."

"Nothing you're ashamed of?" She threw back. "So you are not ashamed of spending the night with your girlfriend and doing God knows what all night long?"

"That's right," I retorted. "I am not ashamed of anything I did last night nor will I discuss it as it's none of your business. A gentleman does not discuss his private affairs nor those of others."

"How dare you take that attitude with me," she screeched. "As of now you are grounded for two months and I forbid you to see that girl again."

I paused for 10 or 15 seconds to get control of my anger and said in a very controlled voice, "Very well, you can set the rules as long as I live in your house. But I turn 18 next month and I assure you that I will move out of the house on my 18^th birthday. When that happens, you will not see me again. I would rather live in a flop house and flip burgers for a living than be treated so unfairly."

Dad's face turned red with anger and I could see him trying hard not to yell too. Then he said, "Let's all calm down and stop making threats we will regret. Mike, you will apologize to your mother for speaking to her the way you did. Mary, we need to discuss this further before you say something else we'll all regret."

Mom looked apoplectic when I replied, "I'm sorry Dad, but I will not apologize to her. For as long as I can remember I have been punished by her disproportionately to my behavior, real or imagined. That's also what caused a lot of the conflict between Julie and me because Julie took advantage when she realized that she could get away with anything as long as she blamed it on me. Julie and I have resolved our differences, but it doesn't seem to make any difference to mom. Like I said, you can punish me once again as long as I live here which will be only as long as it takes me to find someplace else to live. As soon as I turn 18, you can't stop me. Now if you don't mind, I'll go to my room since I'm grounded and I have nothing else to say."

With that, I got up from the table and left the room. Julie was white faced as I walked out and both my parents looked shocked. I could hear the raised voices of my parents as I went up the stairs. As soon as I got to my room, I called Amy. When she answered, I said, "Hi Amy, how are you feeling today?"

I could almost hear the smile in her voice when she answered, "I feel wonderful." She paused before continuing, "Well, actually I am a little sore, but I still can't get over how fantastic it felt to make love with you and then wake up with you in the morning. How about you; how do you feel?"

"I loved making love with you and waking up with you too. I am so glad it was a good experience for you. Unfortunately, my parents aren't as understanding as your mother. My mother has declared me grounded for two months."

"Oh my god," she exclaimed. "That's awful!"

"It wasn't altogether a surprise to me," I replied. "But don't worry. If they insist on going through with this unfair punishment, I'll move out when I turn 18. My birthday is three weeks from now and I have some money saved from my web business. I won't have to take a minimum wage job; I have more requests than I can handle right now. Once the school year ends, I can do web work full time until college starts. My parents saved money for college and my grandparents set up a trust. Even if my parents disown me, they can't interfere with the trust money. It will be enough to get started with college."

"Let me talk with my mom," Amy suggested. "Maybe you could stay with us for a while until you could find your own place."

"That sounds wonderful," I said. "Let's talk tomorrow at school. I hear my father coming up the stairs and I think I need to hang up for now. Maybe we can catch up on chat later, assuming they don't try to deny me my computer."

"OK," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Love ya'"

"Love you too, sweetie. Bye"

Just as I disconnected, Dad knocked on the door.

"It's open," I said.

Dad walked in and said, "Come back to the kitchen. This discussion is not over."

He turned around and headed down the hall toward the stairs. I followed him in silence. When we got to the kitchen, mom was still sitting at the table but Julie was gone. I assumed that she had been dismissed because they wanted to talk to me in private. Dad took a seat at the table and when he saw that I was still standing, he said in a stern voice, "Sit down."

He started by saying, "Mike, you know your behavior was unacceptable."

Before he could continue, I interrupted, "I know spending the night with Amy was unacceptable to you and especially to Mom. I can imagine a few other people who would find it unacceptable too. But I don't care. I didn't hurt anyone and I didn't damage anyone's property. So as far as I'm concerned, I did nothing wrong."

"You find nothing wrong with pre-marital sex?" she exclaimed.

"Were you and Dad virgins when you married?" I asked. Ignoring their shocked expressions, I continued, "Whether you were or not, these days that's more the exception than the rule. As far as I'm concerned as long as you aren't forcing someone to do something against her will and you don't risk an unplanned pregnancy or an STD, anything goes. I think you have to be responsible and consider the consequences of your actions, but I don't care about arbitrary rules made just for the sake of controlling people."

"I don't believe this," she said. "Where have we gone wrong? We raised a sociopath who believes that he can do anything he wants as long as it feels good."

"I didn't say that and you know it," I retorted. "Let's just cut to the chase. Are you going to insist on punishing me for nothing or not? Do I have to start looking for another place to live? As far as I'm concerned that's all we have to discuss. If you want to sit here and rant at me about your outdated rules, I'll sit here but I'll tune you out."

Dad looked flabbergasted. Clearly this discussion had not progressed the way he had intended and he had lost control. He finally said, "Mike, go back to your room. We'll continue after dinner."

Mom looked like she wanted to get the last word in, but Dad just stared her down. I rose from the table to go back upstairs. I imagined that Mom and Dad would be having a long unpleasant conversation in the afternoon.

I did some homework until around 2:00 when I heard another knock on the door. Again, I said, "It's open."

This time to my surprise, Julie walked in and closed the door behind her. She started by saying, "Boy, you really did it this time!"

Before she could continue, I interrupted her and said, "If you are here to dump another load of shit on me on top of what Mom already laid down, I'd just as soon not hear it."

"No," she said. "That's not why I'm here." She paused and then continued with a soft, scared voice, "When you weren't home this morning, at first I was really scared that something had happened to you. Then when I heard Dad tell Mom that you probably had stayed with Amy, I was really angry. At breakfast when you started fighting with Mom, I was scared again. Mike," she continued in a small voice, "you aren't really going to move out and never come home again, are you?"