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On Sunday athered in one of its three churches The Church of Redee part of the religious pie It was a sray box smack in the center of town It had been built in 1926 on the site of the original First Methodist Church which had washed away-along with Reverend Scottsdale and the church secretary he&039;d been breaking several commandments with-in flood waters in &039;25

On the south end of toas Innocence Bible Church, where the blacks went to worship There was no law of God or ated the churches But tradition was often stronger than law

Every blessed Sunday the sound of rich voices raised in song flowed through the open ith a clarity the Methodists couldn&039;t compete with Across from Redemption and down a block was Trinity Lutheran It was fae of such h lassThat had inspired Happy Fuller to organize three catfish suppers for Redeer

Those down at the Bible were content with their clear glass and clear voices

Sundays were a time for prayer, contemplation, and fierce competition in Innocence Fro out and sin was put in its place In hard wooden pews old men and children nodded off in the heat, and woans blared and babies wailed Hard-earnedplates Sweat rolled

In all three holy places, preachers bowed their heads and reer Prayers were requested for Mavis Hatinger, her husband-in none of the churches was Austin referred to by na children

In the back pew of Rederief and confusion, Mavis wept silent tears Three of her five children ith her Vernon, who&039;d inherited his father&039;s sullen looks and mean temper, sat beside his wife, Loretta She hushed their toddler as best she could with a well-used pacifier and practiced knee bounces Her cotton dress stretched tight across her pregnant belly

Ruthanne sat beside her, dry-eyed and silent She was eighteen, and ten days out of Jefferson Davis High School She was sorry her sister had died, though she hadn&039;t loved Edda Lou Sitting in the stifling church, all she could think of was how quickly she couldhe were anywhere else was young Cy His feet were cramped inside the hard black shoes that were already a size too small, and his neck was chafed from the starch his mother had sprayed into his collar His family was an embarrassment to him, but at fourteen, he was stuck with the about them like they were to be pitied and prayed for Too ation, and his face flamed every tireat relief to Cy when the service ended and they could stand up As sachet-scented ladies made their way to his mother to express sympathy, he ducked out the back of the pew and hurried off to have a smoke behind Larsson&039;s

It all sucked as far as Cy could see His sister was dead, his father and his brother were in jail Hisher hands and talk to the Legal Aid guy in Greenville All Vernon could talk about was paying soreed with every word; she&039;d learned to agree fast and avoid a fist in the eye A real quick study, that Loretta

Cy lighted one of the three Pall Malls he&039;d swiped froed at his tie

Ruthanne had more sense than the rest, Cy decided But she was always busy counting her money-just like Silas Marner and his coins Cy knew she hid her cache in a box of sanitary napkins-a place her father would never look Because Cy had a sense of loyalty-and he&039;d be just as happy to see her go-he kept Ruthanne&039;s secret to hiured that theout hie for him As Cy had a keen and thirsty h he&039;d yet to find real pleasure in s

"Hey" Jily, with skin the color of ?"

In the way of old friends, he dropped down beside Cy

"Just having a s" Comfortable with each other, they lapsed into silence "Sure ath

"Yeah" Cy wasn&039;t about to e he liked school "Got the whole suet you a job?"

Cy moved his shoulders "Ain&039;t no work"

Jiht red tie and put it in his pocket "My daddy&039;s doing some work for that Miz Waverly" Jim didn&039;t consider it politic to mention that his father had replaced the s Cy&039;s father had blown out "Going to paint her whole house I&039;"

"Guess you&039;ll be a rich an to draw patterns in the dirt "Get ht now"

"That&039;s two ot"

Lips pursed, Jim slanted a look at his friend They weren&039;t supposed to be friends, not according to Cy&039;s old ed to re on for field work"

Cy hooted and passed the Pall Mall to Jim to finish off "My daddy&039;d skin me alive if I went near Sater"

"Guess so"

But his daddy was in jail, Cy reet work, he could start his own secret fund, just like Ruthanne "You sure they&039;re hiring?"

"What I heard Miss Delia&039;s down at the church bake sale You could ask her" He set one for two dollars Sure would be nice to take some lemon pie down to Gooseneck Creek and catch sorin was slow and surprisingly lovely "I really oughta help you eat it, or else you&039;ll just pig it down and puke it up"

While the boys were negotiating for pie, and wo off their Sunday dresses, Tucker was spread over his bed, luxuriating in a half doze

He loved Sundays The house was quiet as a tomb, with Delia off to town and everyone else asleep or sprawled somewhere with the Sunday paper

In his mother&039;s day it had been different Then the whole house had marched off to church-spit and polish-to take their place in the front pew His randmother&039;s pearls

After service there would be a varied critique of the sermon, talk of weather and crops New babies would be admired and clucked over Grown children come back to visit would be shown off by proud parents, and the young would take the opportunity to sashay and flirt

Afterward, they would sit down to Sunday dinner Glazed ha in pot liquor, and maybe some pecan pie And flowers, there would always be flowers on the table His mother had seen to that

Out of respect for her, Tucker&039;s father never touched a bottle on Sunday, not fro afternoons took on a pleasant, drea one

Part of Tuckerto be said for snoozing in a quiet house with the chatter of birds piping outside, the hu air, and the happy notion that there was no place to go and nothing to do

He heard a car engine and rolled over in bed Thefor the discomfort and the disturbance to pass

The knock on the front door had Tucker opening one eye Sunlight speared it, causing hi possus But Josie&039;s room was on the other side of the house, and Dwayne was probably just as coht when Tucker hauled hiled into the pillow and illing hi stopped Before he could congratulate himself, Burke&039;s voice rose frootta talk to you Daoddamn important," Tucker muttered as he pushed hian to awaken Naked and irritable, he pushed open the terrace doors

"Jesus" Burke tossed his cigarette aside and took a long, slow scan of Tucker&039;s body It was a palette of black, blue, and sickly yellow "He really worked you over, didn&039;t he, son?"

"Did you come all the way out here and wakeobservation?"

"You come on out and I&039;ll tell you why I&039;m here And put some clothes on before I haul you in for indecent exposure"

"Up yours, Sheriff" Tucker stuled sheets with so pants and his sunglasses That was as close to dressed as he intended to get

Since he wasn&039;t feeling kindly toward Burke, he took a detour into the bathroom to empty his bladder and brush his teeth

"Haven&039;t even had a cup of goddaru on one of the rockers From the shine on his shoes and the crispness of his shirt, it was obvious he&039;d coet you up so early Can&039;t be arette, you bastard"

Burke obliged, waited until Tucker had finished his little routine "You really thinkto help you quit?"

"Eventually" Tucker pulled in sain, felt ?"

Burke frowned at the peonies Tucker had tried to salvage "Talked to that Dr Rubenstein a while ago He was having breakfast at the Chat &039;N Chew Waved ht to breakfast hi up sos-mostly because he knows it&039;ll yank Burns&039;s chain He&039;s strictly by-the-book-Burns, Iover ot o back to bed now?"

"Tucker, it&039;s about Edda Lou" Burke fiddled with his sheriff&039;s badge He kneasn&039;t purely professional for hi to Tucker, especially since the FBI still considered him a suspect But some loyalties ran deeper than the law "There wasn&039;t a baby, Tuck"

"Huh?"

Burke sighed "She wasn&039;t pregnant Caht you had a right to know"

A rushing sound filled Tucker&039;s head as he stared down at the tip of the cigarette When he spoke, his voice was slow and deliberate "She wasn&039;t pregnant"

"No"

"For certain?"

"Rubenstein knohat he&039;s doing, and he says she wasn&039;t"

With his eyes closed, Tucker sat back and rocked He realized a large portion of his guilt and grief had been due to the child But there wasn&039;t a child, had never been a child, and grief easily transfore

"She lied to me"

"I&039;d have to say that&039;s true"

"She stood there, in front of all those people, and lied about soht you should know It didn&039;t seeht you should know"

Thanks didn&039;t see his eyes closed until he heard the cruiser start, listened to it purr down the long, winding drive

His hands clenched at his sides There was a black, bubbling rage in hi up from the pit of his stomach until he tasted the vileness of it in his throat He recognized the signs, and at another tihtened hi, srind it to dust

His eyes hen he opened the into the house, up the steps In his rooave hi a lamp He snatched a shirt froh as he stalked out again

"Tuck?" Heavy-eyed and wrapped in a red silk robe, Josie started down the hallway "Tuck, I have solance he sent her before he flung himself down the stairs cleared the sleep fro, "Tuck! Wait!" She caught up with hi open the door of his car "Tucker, what&039;s wrong?"

He shook her off, fighting to hold the animal inside him on a choke chain "Stay away from me"

"Honey, I just want to help We&039;re faasped when his hand clahtly around her wrist

"Get the hell away"

A film of tears coated her eyes "If you&039;ll just let me talk to you Tucker, Tucker, I went out with the doctor last night The FBI doctor" She raised her voice to a shout as the Porsche gunned to life "Edda Lou wasn&039;t pregnant There wasn&039;t a baby, Tuck It was a trap, just like I told you"

His head whipped around, his gaze speared into hers "I know" He sent gravel flying as he tore up the drive

Josie hissed and grabbed her calf where one of the stones struck Furious, she snatched up a handful and flung them after the car

"Jesus H Christ What&039;s all this racket?"

Josie turned to see Dwayne on the porch His hands were over his eyes He squinted out fro but his Jockey shorts

"It&039;s nothing," Josie said on a sigh as she started back up the steps There didn&039;t see she could do for Tucker, but she could tend to Dwayne "Let&039;s go get us some coffee, honey"

The wheel vibrated under Tucker&039;s hand when he whipped it to ive a da

She wasn&039;t going to get aith it That single thought ran circles in his head She was daet aith it Teeth clenched, he punched the accelerator and juhty

Even with the curves and twists the road took, he could see for miles The heat waves shimmied up froe He didn&039;t knohere he was going or what he was going to do, but it would be done now Right now

He closed a hand over the gearshift, preparing to downshift for the curve just before the McNair place But when he tugged the wheel, the car stayed arrow straight He had time to swear, to wrestle the wheel, and to tramp on what turned out to be nearly useless brakes