My Cardboard Balcony

I Broke A Plate by Belinda Roddie I broke a plate, on purpose - an heirloom passed down on my father's side, just to spite my grandmother. While my mom fetched the broom, the crone flew into a great rage, a fright to my young cousins. She cursed and she shrieked, threatening to slap me silly. I shook my head and laughed, not taking the small Greek woman seriously. For years, she took my pride away, my happiness. She had been cruel and abusive to me as I went through childhood. She told me I was bad for being who I was. She wondered why, aloud, she had been cursed with such a girl, so I was willing to destroy her world.

"So, what's the real agenda, then?" asked Grandma. "Conversion? Witchcraft?" "Gram!" I knew she was joking, but it had taken her quite some time to accept the fact that I was gay. As a prank, I had given her a book entitled, The Gay Agenda , only to have it merely be a book on how to function as a proper human being. We had fun.