TJ didn’t have an answer as she didn’t have any plan at all. The only thought she’d had last night was just drive, get the hell out of Tibbehah County, get the hell out of Mississippi, and then maybe some kind of light or roadside inspiration would show them the way. A billboard. A message in the clouds. A song on the radio. Ladarius kept on promising that Domino was going to be a big help, that she was tied in with some real powerful people. Something about a man she knew named Marquis Sledge who ran South Memphis. But when they rolled up on her place at two a.m., TJ knew it was another one of Ladarius’s lies, or what he called harmless bullshit.

As soon as Domino left the room, TJ turned to Ladarius and asked if he’d gotten any money.

“Hundred bucks,” Ladarius said. “All Domino’s got.”

“And what about you?” TJ said.

“Ten bucks,” he said.

TJ shook her head, feeling for the first time in this whole fucked-up week that she just might cry. Thinking about what her momma looked like right now, chopped into a million pieces, and the hell that TJ might have to pay even though she hadn’t done a damn thing. That hadn’t made her sad, only angry that her momma had put her in such a tight spot, running with men who wanted to use her up till there was nothing left. Leaving TJ with no one to help them but their worthless aunt and fucking stealing and lying Chester Pratt. John Wesley tugging at her coat, looking up at her and asking which way they were headed.

“I got people in Chicago,” Ladarius said.

“I’m not going to fucking Chicago,” Holly Harkins said, quickly turning away from the TV. “We’d freeze our asses off. Not to mention, those folks are plain mean and crazy up there.”

“Where you want to go then, Holly Harkins?” Ladarius said. “Disney World? Want to ride that Pirates of the Caribbean? Run around Fantasyland? Maybe hop on Dumbo’s back for flight up into the clouds? Yeah, we’ll just roll on down and see the big mouse and party with all the money we got.”

“You know what the hell I’m getting at,” Holly said, turning away. Never being one for a fight. “Just not Chicago. It’s too damn cold. Okay?”

“Y’all shut your ass up and think,” TJ said. “Think. We need gas bad. We ran into Memphis on fumes last night. And maybe something to eat. After that, we’ll get as far as we can get and look at where we are then. If we need to, me and Ladarius can get some money.”

“Please,” Holly said. “I thought you both had a come to Jesus this summer and had given up all the break-ins and thieving.”