Page 77 of His Stepdad Wears Leather

“It’s okay. After learning your conservative father was once the Grand Marshall of the local pride parade, I think you deserve to screamfuckat the top of your lungs at least once. If not more.”

Noah chuckled, before shaking his head. “So he shoved himself back into the closet… for Abbie Lee?”

“Your father was lost for a while. I’d been friends with him all through school. Neither of us were out of the closet way back when, but maybe we both sensed it in one another. Being different. It brought us close. As Walt got older, he really seemed to struggle with his sexuality. There’s so much more pressure put on a man and his sexuality. More stigma. He did some really dangerous and self-destructive things before he finally came out of the closet. And then once he did.” She paused, her eyes widening. “He really wentall out. Partying a lot. Sleeping around. Lots of unsafe situations. Then he got himself addicted to heroin.”

Heroin?His holier than thou father was gay and an ex-addict?Fuck…

“When he hit rock bottom, Geena and I helped get him clean and back on some sort of path to living again. He stayed with us for a while. Once he’d detoxed and gotten over the roughest parts, it was calm. He seemed to find himself. Then things went sideways. One night when Geena and I had had a little too much vino, things got a little weird, to say the least—I won’t go into the details other than to say it wasn’t the best choice any of us have made—and then you happened.”

“So I was a mistake?”

“No!” his mother barked. A smile spread over her face. “You were the happiest of accidents. Geena and I had always talked about potentially having a child. When I found out I was pregnant…” Her smile grew. “We wereecstatic.We became a family.” She squeezed his hand. “After that night, though… your dad fell off the wagon. He nearly overdosed and ended up in rehab. That’s where he met Abbie Lee—who was a volunteer there. She convinced him he needed to change his life completely if he wanted to get better. He bought into her brand of salvation lock, stock, and barrel.”

“Religion is a joke,” Noah snapped.

“I’m sure the religion you’ve been exposed to might seem like that, but I like to believe God is a loving spirit, not spiteful. Geena and I attend a very open church whereeveryoneis welcomed and worthy of God’s love.” She caressed his hand. “I’d love for you to come with us sometime—so you could see it’s not the religion that’s bad, but the person who wields it like a weapon against others.”

“I think I’ve had enough of religion for a while,” Noah murmured. “Good or bad.”

“That’s understandable… but the offer isalwaysopen if you ever want to come down the road. Until you ask, I’ll never speak of it again. Okay?”

Noah nodded.

His mother grew quiet, and Noah sensed there was something she wanted to say. He tensed simply from her tension.

“What do I need to know about your life with Walt and Abbie Lee? The attorney is likely going to ask some hard questions, and I want to be prepared.” Her jaw clenched. “Have they ever… abused you? In any way?”

“Not really.”

“What does “not really’ mean?”

“There were a lot of punishments for what Abbie Lee thought I’d done wrong—which was practically everything I did. When I was younger, I’d get spanks, but once I could read, I ended up on my knees in the kitchen for hours, reading passages from the Bible while she cooked dinner. Then I’d get screamed at by Dad when he got home from work.” He paused, taking a cleansing breath. “Dad drinks sometimes… and he gets really ragey. Throws things. At the wall or me.”

His mother’s face was pale. “I’m…so… sorry, sweetheart.” She shook her head. “And you’re wrong. Thatisabuse. It’s not just about being hit with a fist. No child should have to live a life where they constantly cower in fear of a parent’s rage.”

Noah eyed her. Perhaps she was right, but he didn’t like feeling like a victim, either.

“Was there anything more?” his mother asked.

“Manipulation? I mean, they wouldn’t let me get a job because I had duties at the church. I was able to apply to a couple of colleges thanks to my guidance counselor, and got into three. I then tried to apply for financial aid to start college in the fall—so I could get away from them. Dad and Abbie Lee said they would do it for me—some excuse about me not needing to see their finances—and then claimed they had applied. By the time I found out they hadn’t, it was too late. I found some of my paperwork for college in Abbie Lee’s desk—deadlines had passed there, too. When I confronted them, they said I wasn’t ready to leave for college yet.” He sighed. “I got angry. Started acting out and doing things I would’ve never done before. It was stupid and I shouldn’t have, but I was just so mad. Now they might use some of those things as weapons now.”

“What did you do?”

“Didn’t go home for a few days. I couch surfed at a few friends’ houses to scare them. A friend got me a fake ID and we snuck into a gay club in Nashville. Uncle Dave dragged me out of there and drove me home.”

“The sheriff?”

“Yeah. He cuffed me and put me in the back of his patrol car. Rode all the way back to town with the lights flaring. He made a big deal of escorting me home in front of all the neighbors.”

His mother let out an exhale. “Your father seemed like a much different man when he came to our door the other day. Angrier.” She scoffed. “But then, if I’d spent sixteen years forcing myself back in the closet, I’d be angry, too.”

“You think that’s the reason he is the way he is?”

“Possibly,” his mom said. “It explains why he felt the need to pull you out of our home. He thought he was on a mission to save you from becoming like him. In his mind, he’s likely the hero of this story.”

Noah cringed. “A hero? Not hardly. He’s the villain. HeandAbbie Lee.”

“As parents, we can only give our children all the love and support they need and hope they find their own way. I’m sorry you didn’t have that growing up. But you have it now.”

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