“Hey,” Harper started but stopped when the preacher turned to him.

“Don’t fret, Brother Harper, a man of the world, will use the language of the world. It does not influence me one bit.”

The preacher leaned down on a knee and looked towards the back of the shelter where I was. It felt like he was trying to use that one good eye to poke around inside my head, and I focused my thoughts on keeping him out of there.

“What terrible things could Brother Harper have to say about your brother?”

Marshall laughed. “One time, my brother and his daughter over there wore out some shock absorbers in the back of one of his cars. Told him if he saw them like that again, he’d blow his damn head off.”

The preacher’s eyebrows raised at that, and he turned to look at Andy. Her cheeks burned like she caught a fever, and she couldn’t look him in the eye. He turned back to Marshall and said, “Friend, the Word of God says in the book of Isaiah that God blots out our transgressions for His own sake and does not remember our sins.”

“Well, preacher, I can tell you my brother remembers every sin he committed with Andrea Lewellen clear as yesterday.”

The preacher’s snarl became a scowl, and he stood. He dusted dirt from the knee of his pants leg and looked down at the two of us. He didn’t speak for a long time. All anybody could hear was the breathing in the room. Once he sorted through his thoughts, he turned to his men and said, “Get them outta that hole.”

8.

The Eli brothers were both built like a pair of feral hogs. They were hard round men who were all shoulders and no neck. They’d knock the hell out of anybody who got in their way. Their fists balled when the preacher told them to help us out of the hole, hoping for a fight. I started having doubts about following Marshall’s lead, but this all seemed part of his plan. He threw his hands back up and said, “Whoa there, preacher! You ain’t gotta sic them boys on us. We’ll come out willingly.”

Cody and Cory both stopped. My brother’s claim confused them, and they looked back at the preacher. Randy Jessup grasped his Bible tight in both hands like the power of its words would bleed from the pages into him. I thought my brother might have the preacher stressed out a little bit, and he tried not to show it. He closed his eye to think—and then opened it. “If the Lord is moving on his heart to come out of that hole willingly, then let him come. Just keep a close eye on him and make sure he don’t try nothing funny.”

“Now, preacher, if the Lord is moving on my heart—why would you think I would try anything funny?”

Randy Jessup kneaded his fingers into the Bible like a baker molding a piece of dough and gave Marshall a long look with his one eye. He dropped his tone close to a whisper, and I strained to hear what he said, “Friend, the book of Jeremiah says the heart is deceitful above all things and is desperately wicked. The Lord might move on our heart, but we are still sinful beings who want to fulfill the desires of our flesh.”