Cadence chuckled. “Well, no. I’m going to a dorm tomorrow night for a study session, though.”
Fanny cracked a smile. “Okay. You let me know what you think after your study session. ‘Cause I have a feeling you’ll be happy that you live in a cute little apartment instead.”
Cadence chuckled. Fanny watched her carefully.
“Have you heard from your mom or dad?”
Cadence grimaced. “I saw Mom at Bed Bath and Beyond the other day.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to change the subject?”
Cadence shrugged.
“Are things better between you two?”
Cadence shook her head. She tried to block that day from her memory. She was embarrassed about her breakdown in the bedding section of the store. Falling asleep in Mark’s car on the way home helped. He actually carried her into the apartment and put her to bed. When she woke up, she felt an emptiness in her heart mixed with the determination to forget. She had to forget her parents if she had any chance of moving on and feeling normal. She was tired of crying over them.
“No,” Cadence said. “She explained that she had to respect my dad’s decision to cut me off from the family. She said she was being obedient.”
“Obedient?” Fanny asked. She bristled.
“That’s what she said.”
“Excuse me when I say that your mother is an idiot.”
“You can say whatever you like,” Cadence replied. “Mark did. To her face.” At this point, Cadence almost didn’t care.
“Has anyone ever explained submission to you?”
“No. I just ignore that part in the Bible. Plus, it doesn’t apply to me anyway. I’m not married.”
Fanny smirked. “Well, I’m sure you’ll be married one day.”
Cadence brightened at that. She remembered fantasizing about marrying Mark when she knew him as “Mr. Connelly.” It happened in the last stall of the upstairs bathroom at school. She read his note over and over and dreamed of a future with him.
She giggled.
“What?” Fanny asked.
“I’m just thinking about when I fantasized about marrying Mark. While I read his note.”
“Ah, yes. The Mexican food note,” Fanny said, and Cadence nodded.
“But back to what you were saying. No one’s ever explained it to me. I just figured it meant that women weren’t as important to God as men were, so he put men in charge.”
Fanny’s eyes went wide. “Excuse me?”
“How should I know? I mean, I don’t think that women aren’t as important as men. I’m not sure God looks at us that way either, but let me tell you: All evidence in the Bible points to ‘men lead, women follow’.”
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!” Fanny cried.
Cadence shrugged. “I don’t understand it! Give me a break!”
Fanny sighed. “Eh, no one does. Wanna talk about one of the most contentious verses in the Bible? There she is.”
“What does it mean?” Cadence prodded.
“Well, it was explained to me like this. How effective are two leaders in a group?”
Cadence stared.
“I’m guessing not as effective as one leader. Why? Because two leaders will often argue with one another, and then shit never gets done.”
Cadence nodded.
“If there’s only one leader making the final decision—and notice I said final—then shit usually gets done.”
“Okay. I see that.”
“Now, in a marriage, if you have two people trying to lead, you end up with what looks like a two-headed monster. Not pretty, right?”
Cadence laughed.
“Lots of arguing, no decision-making, nothing getting done.”
“Uh huh.”
“So God had to make a decision to put someone in charge.”
“Why the man? Why not the woman? I mean, we’re pretty much better at everything. Multi-tasking. Making decisions. Getting shit done. That’s a woman thing.”
Fanny chuckled. “Very true. But I think maybe God chose the man to lead to give us a break. Because we do so much. If the husband leads, the wife can take a breather. If the husband leads, he’s held accountable. And I don’t know about you, but I liked the idea of my husband being the one who answered to God in our marriage. Since, you know, that’s a pretty heavy thing.”
Cadence thought for a moment. “So what? The wife is absolved of everything?”
“Seriously, honey? Um, no. But I do believe that when God looks at the family unit, he’s looking to the husband. ‘How are you leading? How are you being responsible? How are you caring for your wife? How are you showing her love?’—I imagine he asks these questions.”
“So wives don’t have a say in the decision-making process?”
“I never said that. Wives definitely have a voice. They are just as loved and valued by God as their husbands. In fact, I like to think that God loves his daughters just a little bit more.” She winked, and Cadence smiled. “Why do you think he saved us for last? The last creation. The best one.”
Cadence blushed.
“And any man worth having should recognize that,” Fanny said.