“No, it’s Jesus. Without Him, we might never have seen the light of day again,” Milton said in a serious tone. He finally smiled and a split second later so did Yvonne. “We got out yesterday afternoon but was too tired to come over last night to let y’all know. Besides that, we got a few scrapes, knots, and bruises during the process.”

“They beat y’all, too?”

“Yup. But not as bad as they could have,” Milton added, sighing with relief.

I shuddered. “My Lord. I can’t imagine what being in jail is like. But since y’all spent time locked up before, I guess y’all knew what to expect.” They stopped smiling as I went on. “I hope y’all learned your lesson and will be more careful about who you let come to your house. Jesus might not come through the next time. I’m glad those roughneck deputies didn’t break any arms and legs.” I was talking so fast, I had to pause and catch my breath. “We don’t carry anything in the store to treat injuries that serious. But I’ll have Odell bring y’all some salve that’ll help heal those other injuries. He told me Sheriff Potts didn’t have enough evidence to keep y’all.”

“That scoundrel didn’t have no evidence at all!” Yvonne blasted. Now they looked upset and hostile enough to cuss out the world.

“I declare, y’all look so worn out. Go home and rest. I’ll come over in a little while. It’ll be nice to be around folks and have a few drinks again,” I gushed. I thought it would help if I kept up a cheerful attitude, but they still looked upset and hostile.

“We’ll be glad to have you, Joyce,” Milton muttered, glancing toward the street and then at my front door. “I hope Odell will come over when he gets back from his daddy’s house Sunday night . . .”

“He will. But I’m sure he’ll be thinking about y’all the whole weekend. He’s probably on his way to his daddy’s house as we speak.” I looked over their drab gray work smocks. “I’m glad to see that y’all went back to work at the grill already.”

“We couldn’t afford not to,” Yvonne said in a bone-weary tone.

“It’s a shame y’all couldn’t take off today just to rest and heal. But I understand about the money situation. I’ll talk to Odell and see if we can give y’all a hundred dollars. And it’ll be a gift, not a loan.”