“You’re Tia’s boy, right?” Mr. Blanchard smiled tightly at Sam. “Only got you for two summers in VBS.”
“Yes, sir.” Sam ducked his head. “My mom had to work and couldn’t always take me.”
“A shame,” Mr. Blanchard tittered. “Letting worldly matters interfere with the instruction of a young soul.”
I could feel, more than hear, Everett’s scoff. I knew what he was thinking: Herman Blanchard was the grown son of Augustus Blanchard, owner of Blanchard Hospital. Their family was the richest in town. Herman Blanchard hadn’t needed to worry about “worldly matters” a single day in his life.
He could write us a big check, though. I smiled as widely as I could, prepared to make a pitch, but just then Mrs. Anderson frowned at Sam.
“Can you even wash cars, dear? On account of your…” She wiggled her fingers at his head. “Disability.”
There was a stretched-taut moment of silence, then Sam said curtly, “Of course I can.”
An uncomfortable pall fell over the group. A few of the women shot glances at each other, followed by small, private smiles, a promise of gossip to come.
“Well, unfortunately, we don’t have the time,” said Mr. Anderson, pulling on his belt. “We’d better bid y’all good luck.”
“Wait,” I said, shocking everyone, most of all myself. “If you don’t have time to get your cars washed, could you at least consider a donation?” I nodded at Sam. “He would be a local legend—the first person from Bottom Springs to attend Duke. He’s worked hard for it.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam’s shoulders tense. He was embarrassed I was trying to sell him to these people.
Mr. Anderson cleared his throat. “Uh, the reverend—your daddy. He said y’all would be down here today. But that we shouldn’t, uh, encourage you. These colleges, he says they’re brainwashing factories, tryin’ to teach kids the sky is red even though Christ says it’s blue. Your daddy says one day Jesus is going to come in all his wrath to demolish them. So we have to steer y’all away, especially, uh…” He glanced at Sam. “The weakest among you.”
“Psalms 82:3,” Mr. Blanchard explained, like he was being helpful. “We must defend the weak and the fatherless.”
Of course my father had put his sword through my gut even from far away. But it was one thing to do it to me. It was another to do it to Sam.
The Bible study group ambled away. We sat in heavy silence.
“I’m sorry,” I said finally. “The next people will be different.”
“I’m not,” Sam said quietly. “Weak, I mean.”
I turned to him. His cheeks were pink, eyes glued to the table. Under it, his foot tapped. “Of course you’re not. You were valedictorian of Sacred Surrender. You’ve made it through seventeen years in this place. And nowyou’re going to be the one who gets away. You’re going to go out there and succeed, and one day Bottom Springs will be nothing but a distant memory.”
I was feeding him my own dream, measured out in spoonfuls.
Sam gave me an appraising look. “You know, I didn’t expect you to be like this. I always thought you were nice, with a better-than-average vocabulary, but still one of them. ’Cause of your parents.”
“Heads up,” Ever murmured, and I jumped at his voice in my ear. I hadn’t even heard him approach. He pointed to a truck rolling down Main, headed our way.
My stomach dropped.
The windows of the truck rolled down. It was packed with kids from school, former football players like Barry Holt and the quarterback Jace Reynolds and cheerleaders like Lila LeBlanc. So many they were squished into the cab and hanging out of the truck bed, clearly on their way to Starry Swamp for a party.
“Look, y’all,” Jace called from the driver’s seat. The truck slowed to a crawl. “We got ourselves a freak show!”
“They’re all gathered in one place,” snickered a young cheerleader from the truck bed. “Creepy how they stick together.”
“Even freaks need friends,” Jace cackled, and the entire truck started laughing. I could see Barry’s eyes squeeze shut next to Jace in the cab, Lila’s white-toothed grin in the back.
“Good luck with your car wash,” the young cheerleader yelled. “Looks like y’all are super busy!”
Lila blew Sam a kiss. “Have fun at Duke!”
They were still laughing when Jace gunned the engine and took off, making the cheerleaders squeal. The truck raced to the stop sign at the end of Main, then peeled around the corner.
The moment they were gone, Sam stood up. “This was a mistake.”
