Page 111 of Robbin’ the Rich

“We’re not doing this here. Come to the house tomorrow for dinner,” my father commanded.

“No.”

“Excuse me? Micah, this had gone on long enough. We will see you at the house.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m not sure what you’re not getting? I’m not coming. Not until you’re interested in looking into the harm this church has caused and what you are going to do to make it right.”

“Micah,” my mother whispered harshly. “Keep your voice down.”

“No. You’re the ones who showed up at my place of employment. I will talk to you how I see fit.”

“What has gotten into you? Is this about the girl from Thanksgiving?” my father asked.

“Don’t put this on her. This is about me. I should have done this a long time ago.”

I took a deep breath and looked my parents square in the face. “I will not be returning to church. Ever. Whether I return to this family is up to you. We need to have a real conversation without pretense. We need to figure out how it looks if I’m not a part of the church.”

My father’s brow drew together as he took me in. “The church is our family. You can’t separate the two.”

“Well… then I guess you have your answer.”

“Honey, let’s just go. Give him some space,” my mother said as she pulled him out the door.

The cold of the tile wall steadied me as I leaned against it. Just a few short months ago that conversation would have been impossible. I was a braver man because of Robin, too bad it was too late.

“Is everything okay?”

I turned to see Jess standing next to me. She is the last person I wanted to talk to.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just taking a breather.”

“It was nice to see your parents here. It is always weird to see your dad out in public. It’s like when you see the local news anchor at the pharmacy.”

“He’s just a man,” I say as I start making my way down the hall. She doesn’t take the hint and keeps following me.

“Are you still seeing Robin?”

I stop and turn to her, “That is none of your business.”

“Ahhh, I see,” she said as she followed me down the hall. “You got Robin-ed.”

I turn back on her; irritation flared in my voice. “What is that supposed to mean?”

She put her hands up, “I’m just saying this is what she does. Let me guess, you did something she thinks is wrong and just like that she cuts you out of her life. She won’t even hear you out, just decided it’s over.”

I shook my head, trying to get a hold on the anger pulsing through me. This was not the place to unleash it no matter how much I wanted to. “I know what you did, Jess. I know the pain you caused her and your supposed friend. So don’t talk to me like you’re some great victim.”

Her mouth dropped. “She told you?”

“Yeah, she did. And not that it’s any of your business who I am seeing or why we’re no longer seeing each other, Robin did nothing wrong.”

“Okay,” she shrugged. “I’m sorry, I just thought I might understand.”

“Well, you don’t. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”

I turned and made my way down the hallway to my classroom.

“I’ll see you at church,” she called behind me.