Read Online Jericho (A Redemption Novel) by Ginger Jamison - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ginger Jamison
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she’d started her morning. Mrs. Sheppard gave her a short stack of pancakes, four pieces of bacon and a big of cup of coffee with so much sugar and milk it made her teeth hurt. That much carbs, bacon and sugar would lift anybody’s mood.
Plus Mrs. Sheppard had told her that Abby didn’t sleep well the night before. Georgia wanted to feel bad about it but she couldn’t, because her baby had taken a three-hour nap after breakfast, which meant Georgia got to sleep for three blissful hours in a row.
Feeling energized, she took her daughter to the park. Even if she didn’t have any energy she would have made the trip. It was important for Georgia to do as many things with her baby as possible.
Wednesday was the free day at the zoo. Fridays they went to the children’s reading hour at the library. Some days they went down to the waterfront and fed old bread to the seagulls. And on weekends they went to the museum. It was a place that Georgia had never been allowed to go as a child. Her father, being a minister, was strictly against it. There were naked bodies there. Naked bodies performing acts of depravity. Or so he said.
When she was a teenager she had taken a book out of the library about Michelangelo’s life. She had heard about the Sistine Chapel and was amazed by the amount of work it took to create such a masterpiece. She didn’t see any lewd artwork. She only saw it as art, but when her father found the book, he got angry. He told her that looking at those pictures was a sin, that the only naked man a woman should see was her husband. And instead of making her return the book he threw it in the fireplace.
Her father wasn’t always so radical. He used to be nicer. A friendly preacher who taught the word of God and welcomed everybody to church on Sunday. But that had all ended when her oldest brother, Abel, died when she was twelve. He had been murdered by his girlfriend’s estranged husband.
She’d never known her brother well and she’d been too young to understand the circumstances around his death. Her parents had thought it was too sordid to explain to them, and maybe it was. But ever since then her father had become harsh. Strict. Even his sermons had changed. He no longer preached about love, but about sinners and repentance.
My daughters will not be the kind of women who lead men into temptation.
From that point on everything a normal teenage girl thought or felt became a sin. They were barely allowed out of the house without an escort. They weren’t allowed to watch TV, listen to the radio or see any movies. Georgia and Carolina were woefully ignorant about everything. And that had become clear when Georgia was finally allowed to attend college. It was a women’s Christian college, but those girls knew a hell of a lot more about the world than she ever did.
She was not allowed to take up residence there. Only go to class and come back, but even then she relished her tiny bit of freedom. She stayed in the library as long as she could, looking at art books and studying classics. She was just trying to learn a little more about the world she was a part of. But while she did it she knew she was doing something her father disapproved of. She felt guilty then.
It took her nearly two months of counseling at the women’s center to realize that what she had done wasn’t wrong. It was normal to be curious about the world.
Now she made sure her daughter was exposed to as much as possible. She wouldn’t have her feeling left out or less than others. And if she had questions about anything, Georgia would do her best to answer them. She wouldn’t make her daughter feel guilty for wanting to live life.
“You want to go down the slide again, baby?”
“No!” she said, smiling. That was Abby’s favorite word these days, and Georgia was never sure if she didn’t really want something or she just liked saying it.
“No?” She took her daughter by the hand and led her to the bench. “Well, how
Plus Mrs. Sheppard had told her that Abby didn’t sleep well the night before. Georgia wanted to feel bad about it but she couldn’t, because her baby had taken a three-hour nap after breakfast, which meant Georgia got to sleep for three blissful hours in a row.
Feeling energized, she took her daughter to the park. Even if she didn’t have any energy she would have made the trip. It was important for Georgia to do as many things with her baby as possible.
Wednesday was the free day at the zoo. Fridays they went to the children’s reading hour at the library. Some days they went down to the waterfront and fed old bread to the seagulls. And on weekends they went to the museum. It was a place that Georgia had never been allowed to go as a child. Her father, being a minister, was strictly against it. There were naked bodies there. Naked bodies performing acts of depravity. Or so he said.
When she was a teenager she had taken a book out of the library about Michelangelo’s life. She had heard about the Sistine Chapel and was amazed by the amount of work it took to create such a masterpiece. She didn’t see any lewd artwork. She only saw it as art, but when her father found the book, he got angry. He told her that looking at those pictures was a sin, that the only naked man a woman should see was her husband. And instead of making her return the book he threw it in the fireplace.
Her father wasn’t always so radical. He used to be nicer. A friendly preacher who taught the word of God and welcomed everybody to church on Sunday. But that had all ended when her oldest brother, Abel, died when she was twelve. He had been murdered by his girlfriend’s estranged husband.
She’d never known her brother well and she’d been too young to understand the circumstances around his death. Her parents had thought it was too sordid to explain to them, and maybe it was. But ever since then her father had become harsh. Strict. Even his sermons had changed. He no longer preached about love, but about sinners and repentance.
My daughters will not be the kind of women who lead men into temptation.
From that point on everything a normal teenage girl thought or felt became a sin. They were barely allowed out of the house without an escort. They weren’t allowed to watch TV, listen to the radio or see any movies. Georgia and Carolina were woefully ignorant about everything. And that had become clear when Georgia was finally allowed to attend college. It was a women’s Christian college, but those girls knew a hell of a lot more about the world than she ever did.
She was not allowed to take up residence there. Only go to class and come back, but even then she relished her tiny bit of freedom. She stayed in the library as long as she could, looking at art books and studying classics. She was just trying to learn a little more about the world she was a part of. But while she did it she knew she was doing something her father disapproved of. She felt guilty then.
It took her nearly two months of counseling at the women’s center to realize that what she had done wasn’t wrong. It was normal to be curious about the world.
Now she made sure her daughter was exposed to as much as possible. She wouldn’t have her feeling left out or less than others. And if she had questions about anything, Georgia would do her best to answer them. She wouldn’t make her daughter feel guilty for wanting to live life.
“You want to go down the slide again, baby?”
“No!” she said, smiling. That was Abby’s favorite word these days, and Georgia was never sure if she didn’t really want something or she just liked saying it.
“No?” She took her daughter by the hand and led her to the bench. “Well, how
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