Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
I smile as I realize what’s happening, what my brother and men I considered friends just yesterday are providing .
“Look at that grin,” Ezekiel hisses, disdain dripping from his words. “He’s an even bigger pervert than I thought.”
“He likes the pain?” Jacob snaps. “Give him all you’ve got.”
The rate and force of the kicks increase.
Maybe blood atonement isn’t their goal, but dying for my grievous sins is the only way forgiveness could be considered.
“I consent,” I manage just before another kick lands against my temple.
The world goes dark, my body turning light and pain free.
I pray for my brother and friends. I wish them well in all that they do.
But hours later, the cold is threatening to freeze the tips of my fingers as darkness surrounds me.
Tears burn the cuts on my face as I realize they didn’t follow through with my atonement. They refused me my chance to get into Heaven by leaving me alive. Men like me never get into Heaven.
My face feels twice the size it normally does, but I refuse to give in to vanity by lifting my hands to my skin to assess the damage. It takes great effort to rise to my feet.
I know better than to go back to the house. Showing my beaten-and-battered face would not be well received. I have no doubt my brother has shared my disgrace with anyone who will listen, including my parents.
Despite pulling all of my saved money from the slit in my thin mattress before work this morning, I didn’t pack a bag. I was holding onto hope that Jacob would dismiss my sin.
I walk toward the gate, wondering if the man on guard will even say a word as I leave the property.
When the gate swings open without a word, I know my exile is complete.
I also know when the gate slams at my back that I’ll never miss a soul inside. I never had to confess my sins for them to be known, and honestly, I’m shocked I’ve been allowed to stay as long as I have. I’ve been treated as an outcast for as long as I can remember. I’ve never been in my father’s favor, and as the sixth child of the nine my mother has, I’ve been overlooked more times than I can count.
Boys in our community are a dime a dozen. Only the girls and women hold any sort of value.
And even more so, those boys with sinful tendencies can’t be allowed to stay.
My ribs ache, my left leg incapable of bending right at the knee as I walk away.
I feel no eyes on me. No one rushes through the gate to beg me to stay.
I hold absolutely no worth to anyone inside.
I’ve thought of walking away for years, but I knew I’d never be brave enough to do it on my own.
The plans I made were more wishes and hopes than actual strategy.
When I finally make it back to town, I all but fall onto the park bench, knowing I won’t be able to stay here long before the local police arrive and make me leave.
I pull my cash from my pocket, the small, folded pile looking much smaller now that I’m on my own.
I watch as the card I was given a few days ago flutters to the ground at my feet.
I have no idea why I kept it, but right now it’s all I see.
The money I have won’t get me very far, but the promises made by the man who handed it to me echoes in my head.
“It takes discipline, bravery, a commitment to brotherhood. I think you’d be perfect.”
“Have we met before?” I asked him after carrying his bags of groceries to his truck.
A slow smile had spread across his face as he extended his arm to me. “Sergeant Tanner Boulware, United States Marine Corps.”
Chapter 1
Boomer
Present Day
“Do you know the difference between Caesar salads and blow jobs?”
I frown at Drake, but it doesn’t affect his smile.
“No,” I mutter.
The bartender leans closer, his hands gripping the towel he was just using to wipe down the bar.
“Well then, can I take you to lunch?”
I cough to cover the chuckle that threatens to bubble up my throat. The man is relentless in his flirting. I both love and hate it in equal measure.
If he wasn’t known for acting this way toward everyone who steps up to the bar here at Jake’s, I’d be concerned. I’d worry what people thought about me, what assumptions they were making. The leather cut I’m wearing that boasts the three-headed hellhound deters most people from causing problems, despite what they might think. Cerberus frequents this bar on a regular basis and, for the most part, is well respected in the Farmington community.
Drake is equal opportunity in every way imaginable. I’ve witnessed him getting off early and leading both men and women alike down the back hall that I know leads to the stairs up to his apartment.