After spending his first three years of imprisonment at the West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Henning, Tennessee, Ennis was given the opportunity to serve out the remainder of his sentence at the Giles County Jail in Pulaski. Despite the danger of being incarcerated next to inmates who he might’ve had a role in arresting, he jumped at the chance to be closer to home. With his family gone, Pulaski was all he had. The town. The people. His people.

Then Finnegan Pusser began visiting him in the jail. The hope of an early release and a large sum of money began to become a reality. His prayers had been answered.

He never thought he was doing anything wrong. He didn’t lie to Finn. He simply shared information about a few of the townspeople who were bad apples anyway. If Finn used the information to hurt them, then so be it. He should have known there would eventually be a catch for him to receive that much money, but at the time, he didn’t think about it. Beggars can’t be choosers . . .

Ennis took the $100,000 he received from Finn Pusser, rented a car, and drove to Portland. After finding his daughter’s house, he waited until he knew she was home. Then he put the briefcase full of cash on his daughter’s doorstep, rang the doorbell, and waited a block away. He saw her open it and cried when she cried. The only thing he’d put in the case other than the money was a faded picture of Mae and Belle sitting on Santa Claus’s lap when they were both toddlers. He’d kept the picture with him at all times during his incarceration.

He drove home, praying that the money would serve some helpful purpose. He had known he didn’t deserve to be in his daughter’s or his grandchildren’s lives, but he had hoped to one day give restitution for the sins of his past.

Did Jesus approve of his actions?

Ennis wasn’t sure. The ambiguities and different interpretations of the Bible confounded him. After reading the whole book during his four years on the inside, he found that the only parts he could stomach to read again were the gospels. Stick to Jesus, he thought. When he thought of the other characters in the good book, it was hard not to see the hypocrisy. King David, having Bathsheba’s husband murdered so that he could sleep with her. Solomon and his horde of women. Jacob, who tricked his brother, Esau. The ridiculous rules and laws of Exodus and Numbers. It was so easy for a person to use a section or passage of the Bible for his or her own agenda.

Ennis thought of his encounter with Bocephus Haynes the night before. He’ll never forgive me, and if I were him, I wouldn’t either.