The Right and the Real Read Free

most religions would call that sacrilegious bullshit. I definitely did. But my dad couldn’t see this, and I knew the reason was Mira, the first woman besides me to pay attention to him in a decade. That, and he had an addictive personality. His therapist would say this was another addiction. Except he’d fired Dr. Kennedy a couple of months ago, saying he didn’t need him anymore because he had the church.
    “Fellow pledges,” the Teacher said. “Please repeat after me: Our lives can be lived only if we give them over to the idea of Headship.” Around me, the pledges repeated his words. “God is the head of Christ,” he continued. “Christ is the head of Man.”
    This was it. With every word spoken, the gap between me and my father, the only adult in my entire life I could count on, widened. Dizziness almost overcame me, and I thought for sure I’d faint from the stress of it all. Would that stop him? Probably not. I took deep, slow breaths to calm myself, like before I go on stage, but I still felt way more nauseated than I ever did when I performed.
    “Man is the head of Woman,” the Teacher said.
    “Man is the head of Woman,” they repeated.
    I stared hard at Dad, willing him to look at me, but it was already too late. He couldn’t see me anymore.
    “I have here on this podium a scroll with your names on it,” said the Teacher. “The choir will sing ‘Here I Am, Lord’ as you take your turn signing and receive a blessing from me.”
    Each of the pledges stepped forward to sign the paper. My dad was at the end of the line, and the closer he got to the podium, the more rage and panic welled up inside me. I considered trying to drag him outside, where the cold January air might somehow miraculously clear his head, but before I could act, he signed his free will away with a flourish of the pen. He smiled brightly at Mira, a glazed look in his green eyes, his balding head shiny from the hot lights. And then he took his place beside her, ready for the wedding.

chapter 2
    THE TEACHER TURNED TO THE BRIDESMAIDS WHO had pledged. “And now you may sign,” he said to them. The girls stepped forward, their eyes revealing that same blank submissiveness so many of the women had here. The first girl signed her name and then she lifted up her face to the Teacher, and he laid his hands on either side of her head. I seriously thought he was going to kiss her on the lips, but instead, he murmured something and laid a wet one on her forehead. Still, totally gross. I swear I heard the juicy smack. I was still standing there, reeling in disgust, when the Teacher snapped me out of it by saying my name.
    “Jamie?” He motioned me to the podium.
    “What?”
    “Please sign.”
    “Oh, no.…”
    He looked at my father, and so did I. Dad nodded at me.
    “Ummm…no,” I said. “I’m not signing the Pledge. I’m just a bridesmaid.” And after those kisses he gave the others, I wasn’t going near him.
    The Teacher smiled, but anger flared in his eyes. “You’re a memberof our flock and over the age of thirteen. It’s time you committed to us.”
    “I can’t.” It came out weak and unconvincing, even to me.
    “Jamie,” Dad said, “sign the Pledge so we can begin our new family under God’s guidance.”
    I stood where I was, feet planted, growing roots through the ugly gold carpet right down into the concrete below. They couldn’t make me sign. In three months, I’d be a legal adult.
    “I’m sorry,” I said, “but I don’t believe. I mean, I believe in God, but not the Pledge.”
    A murmur ran through the crowd. I knew the microphone had picked up what I’d said and amplified it. Josh was the only person in the whole room who wouldn’t hold it against me. I didn’t want to think about what his parents would say.
    “Your father is the master of his daughter,” the Teacher said to me. “And he has spoken. Step forward and sign the Pledge or prepare to be recognized no more as a daughter of this true