Part 8 (1/2)
He rubbed his head. ”Daisy, you know that the whole Christianity stuff is kind of your thing, right? I think it's cool that you're so into it, but I kind of have a wider view of spirituality. I told you this before.”
She set down her fork. ”No. I don't think you did.”
He looked fl.u.s.tered. ”That night. The night we had the big, long discussion about it.”
She shook her head slowly. ”No. That's not exactly what you said before. You made it sound... better.”
”I think Christianity is awesome,” I said. ”Jesus was cool. But I don't like all the judgy stuff. Being told not to do things.”
”Yeah,” said Griffin. ”Well, discipline was never one of your strong suits.”
I sucked in a breath. ”That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that there's this whole aspect to Christianity that doesn't make sense to me. I mean, if G.o.d made everything, then why would he make things that humans are never supposed to experience?”
”You mean like drugs?” said Daisy brightly.
This was coming out all wrong.
”Right,” said Griffin, ”like when G.o.d created cocaine, he put it in the Garden of Eden and said, 'Go on, get high.' Oh wait. That never happened.”
I was getting annoyed. ”It's not about drugs. It's about an att.i.tude. There's a difference between cutting yourself off from experiences and embracing everything life has to offer. And some Christians seem to think that everything fun is bad. I mean, you're not supposed to have s.e.x, and you're not supposed to get drunk-”
”And what would life be without that, right?” said Griffin. He glared at me. ”That's what it's all about, isn't it? Getting wasted and f.u.c.king whoever's willing.”
He picked up his plate and dropped it in the sink with a clatter. Then he stalked out of the kitchen.
It was quiet.
”Oh, dear,” said Daisy.
I gave her a withering look.
She smiled at me. ”Griffin told me about why you guys broke up.”
”Did he.” Great. She was going to lambast me now, wasn't she? I knew exactly what she'd think about what I did.
”I know you were only unfaithful to him because you must have been frustrated that he wanted to wait until marriage.”
”What?” I got up from the table. There were so many things messed up with that statement. So many messed up things. ”First of all, I never cheated on him, and I have told him this over and over again. He refuses to believe me.” I rested a hand on the table. ”Second of all, where did you get the idea that Griffin and I weren't having s.e.x?”
They were in Griffin's bedroom, the door shut behind them, but I could still hear everything they were saying, and I felt a little bit embarra.s.sed about it. I busied myself with clearing the table and loading Griffin's dishwasher. I figured it was the least I could do.
”You lied to me,” Daisy was saying. She sounded like she was crying, and I felt guilty about that. I mean, I didn't like the girl on principle, because she was dating Griffin. But I found that I didn't feel happy to know that she was hurting.
”Not about anything important,” Griffin said. ”You push a lot, Daisy. You want everything explained all neat and tidy. And sometimes things aren't like that. They're messy and complicated and confusing.”
”You lied about everything.”
I sc.r.a.ped leftover eggs into the trash can.
”I didn't.”
”You said you were a Christian, and you're not.”
”I am,” he said.
”No. Because if you have a wider view of spirituality, then you aren't.”
”Why not? Why does it have to be so cut and dry, Daisy?”
”Don't,” she said. ”Don't turn this around on me. Because you're the liar. And I believed you, because you never once tried anything with me. We could sleep in the same bed, and you were a perfect gentleman, and I thought it must be true.”
”I never told you that I'd never had s.e.x before, did I?” he said.
”You said you didn't anymore.”
”And you a.s.sumed it was like a G.o.d thing,” he said.
”And it's not?”
He was quiet.
I turned on the sink and ran water over the dishes. As I rinsed each, I stacked it in the dishwasher. When I turned off the faucet, Daisy was talking again.
”If our relations.h.i.+p isn't built on a strong spiritual foundation, then I don't know what kind of future it has.”
”Future?” said Griffin. ”It's only been a month.”
”A month and a half,” she said.
”Look, can't we wait until Leigh's gone and talk about this then?”
”How long is she going to be here?”
”A couple of weeks, maybe.”
”A couple of weeks?”
”Yeah.”
”No way, Griffin.” The door to the bedroom opened. ”You better figure out some way for us to talk before then. Because I'm not waiting around for you while a woman that you were sleeping with is staying in the same apartment with you.” She stalked out into the living room.
I busied myself wiping down the counters.
Griffin came after her, catching her by the arm. ”Don't run off like this.”
She wrenched her arm away. Tears were streaming down her face. ”You should have thought of all of this before you lied to me.”