61. "Say it for God's sake, SAY it" / Part Six
My life had, hitherto, been so simple, carefree and far from involved with problems of any significance. Mum and Dad had hastened always on winged feet to free me from the bother of working out single-handedly the few problems that I had encountered thus far, most of which were ludicrous and trivial. My parents’ abundant love surrounded me as if I were a priceless treasure to be guarded. But the likelihood of my being bruised like a little kitten by the overly protective mummy cat was not a far-fetched scenario. How I was going to deal with such a hydra as confronted me, and which defied an easy solution, was totally beyond me. And then, in my heart of hearts, I knew that Dina was right about everything she said. Offending religion, notwithstanding my enormous love and affection for Martin, appeared like an insane enormity that would inevitably make the blood of tradition boil, and spill into a disgraceful disaster. Tradition and religion bore arms and ruled, and such harebrained defi...