Four Deacons Drove Out My Father, So I Brought Them to Their Knees novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: Hard Hand
Naomi's POV
Lucius was sitting at the end of the camp dock with his boots off and his feet in the black water.
He had not turned on the lantern.
The frogs were loud, and the moon was low and orange over the cypress, and I could hear him before I could see him.
He was not humming.
I had never once heard him quiet on purpose.
I walked out along the boards and stopped behind him.
"Sit down, cher," he said.
"I'll stand."
"All right."
He kept his eyes on the river.
"Four years ago I drove to Atlanta," he said. "I sat across the street from your daddy's house in my truck for an hour."
He stared at the water.
"My name is painted on the door."
I did not move.
"He came out on the step with a cup of coffee. He read my door. Then he lifted his hand, Naomi, like this."
He raised one palm off his knee, not high, and held it there in the dark.
"And I didn't lift mine. I sat there until he put his down and went in."
The river slapped at the pilings.
"Samuel waved at me," Lucius said. "Samuel Gervais waved, and I did not wave back."
I hit him.
I do not remember deciding to.
My open hand came across his face with all my weight behind it.
The crack of it carried over the water and set the frogs silent.
His head turned with the blow.
He turned it back and looked up at me, and a thread of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
"That was my rule," I said. My voice shook. "You don't say his name to me."
"Then hit me again."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of Four Deacons Drove Out My Father, So I Brought Them to Their Knees are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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