“Where to?”

“You’ll see.” She let the next car go by before she turned out into traffic towards the highway. She pointed her hood ornament towards Tugalo County, making me wonder where she could be taking us. She didn’t let me get too deep into thought about it because a hand reached over and made its way between my legs and caressed my crotch. I took my eyes off the road to make sure she watched where she was going. It was hard to care too much because the way she touched me made me squirm.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about how good you felt earlier.”

“It’s gone feel even better here in a few minutes.”

She squeezed me again hard enough to make me yelp. I damn near stood up in my seat, and she said, “Sorry, sweetie, you got me too excited.”

I looked back at the road and saw we were heading toward downtown. I asked, “Where is it you’re taking me?”

She worked her hand faster, and it made me want to melt right there in the seat, but she stopped and turned the steering wheel hand over hand. That’s when I saw the thick crimson letters painted on the plywood sign that read, LAST WAVE REVIVAL CENTER. Under that, in smaller black letters, it read, HERE WE HAVE SIGNS WONDERS AND MIRACLES FROM GOD!!!

Before I could ask why the hell she brought us here, the truck from the bar pulled in behind us with its brights washing out the dusk in the cab of her car.

4.

My body slammed onto the concrete. Any fight left in me went with the breath forced from my lungs. Two giants jerked me off the ground and tossed me into the side of Jessa’s car, and gravity took over. A bootheel stomped my back twisting back and forth, grinding me into the pavement, leaving me feeling like a smashed bug.

That’s when I heard Jessa get out of her car, slam her door, and holler over, “Y’all ain’t gotta hurt him too bad. He was nice to me all night.”

The defense she made for me didn’t matter a damn bit to the men manhandling me. I got shoved back into the side of her car, where Cory and Cody Eli’s ugly mugs stared at me confused.

“You brought us the wrong brother.”

Jessa’s cowboy boots clinked along the pavement when she made her way over to our side of the car. “Excuse me?”

I shoved the Eli brothers while Jessa distracted them, but Cory gut-punched me hard enough I thought I crapped myself. I sat pinned against the car, and Cody grabbed Jessa by the arm. She asked him what the hell he thought he was doing and tried to take her arm back, but he rag-dolled her over and made her look me in the face.

Her expression was no longer grave. She was scared now. Her eyelids blurred like hummingbird wings while her bottom lip quivered, and tears fell.