25

I did not say a word after the shower. I said nothing as he drove me back to the familiar streets, away from town. He dropped me off at the bar. No one was there since it was closed. The sun was still up and my family, I could only assume, still thought I was at work. I felt like I was with him for years and as he opened the door and helped me out I tensed at the contact. He had gotten dressed again and still looked as composed as ever as if everything we had done were hidden under out clothes.

"I thank you Ms. Kincaid for cooperating with me today." he said with a soft inhale. "If you hear anything about the Bondurants or your brothers business I would hope you'd let me know."

My hair was still damp from the shower and I trembled softly and nodded. He grinned.

"Excellent." was all he said before getting back in his car and drove away. I stared at the bar with a blank expression and all I really wanted to do was cry. I needed to get home so I could take a shower. As much as I didn't want to I knew I had too. I walked home silently. This dress made me want to scream and I knew I had to burn it. Too many dark memories came with it. Once I had come home I was confused as to where dad and my brothers were but I remembered they were out hunting and working. It was still silent in the house and I was a tad concerned since I didn't see momma in the kitchen. I moved up the stairs and looked around for any traces of her. I opened the door slowly to my parent's room and saw mom was under the blankets asleep. She looked so peaceful. I closed the door again and went to my room and took off everything to the point I was naked. I moved to the bathroom and gasped.

Finger marks were on my shoulders, my stomach, my hips, and my breasts. I winced now and felt the tears slowly fall. In minutes I was sitting in the shower while cold water fell on me. My knees were too my chest and my arms coiled around them and I cried. I was such a traitor, how could I tell anyone of this? Who would really care? If I told my family then who knows what would happen. If I told the Bondurants then they would probably hate me for not trying to fight. But what Negro is brave enough to fight a white man especially a white officer of the law. That was suicide. My bones were freezing now and my body was pale almost purple from the cold. I looked up now with soft pants from sobbing. I needed to be strong. I needed to stop crying. What would Al Capone do? He would chop down his enemies and show them all who was boss. I needed to learn how to shoot.

I slowly stood up, my knees buckling from the cold. I got out and dried off then rolled up in the blankets of my bed because I was freezing. Once I got warm enough, I put on some pants and the shirt Forrest had given me then I braided my hair, and curled up yet again. His scent was in the shirt and I wanted to bathe in it again. I felt so much anger grow inside my stomach. I had been shot, I had been attacked, and I could not stand up and fight. One thing I knew for sure was that Charlie Rakes was going to die before this depression ended. Later that evening when we had all finished eating and was off in our own rooms I went up to Ray's room and knocked on the door. He opened the door and looked down on me. He was only in pants. I looked at him with a straight forward face.

"I need you to teach me how to shoot." I replied. His eyes flexed with shock and he nodded once.

"Tomorrow morning before we go into work." he said. I nodded and he closed his door and I walked away. When morning came Ray and Arliss took me up into the woods. Rows of glass bottle were a few feet in front of us. They boys shot them first saying aim was very important. They hit their targets and each glass broke. Ray looked at me as Arliss ran to put some more glasses up.

"Aim and shoot. If you're a beginner than focus on one target at a time. If you are outnumbered you make sure to take each opponent down before you move on to the next." he informed and then handed me the gun and it felt so heavy in my hand and I held it straight up.

"I've never fired a gun before." I replied. Arliss chuckled and moved beside us placing his hands on each of our shoulders.

"Well it's okay little sister. You get to learn from the best." he said with confidence in his voice. I chuckled and Ray joined before backing up.

"Okay Eula, shoot." he commanded and Arliss stood beside him. I took two even breaths and held up the gun with both hands. It took a few minutes to actually squeeze the trigger, but once I fired my first shot I screamed and dropped the gun and covered my ears. The sound was so loud. I panted as I watched Ray come over and pick the gun up.

"I know it's difficult to handle a gun, but soon it'll come easy for you." he told. I sighed and nodded and he handed me the gun.

"Again, aim and shoot." he told. I nodded and focused on the bottles and I squeezed the trigger again and this time it fired and I only blinked as I was able to break one bottle shattering it into millions of glass pieces. I smiled and clapped happily and looked at my brothers.

"Oh my god that felt so amazing." I replied with happiness. Ray grinned.

"That's the feeling of power. Shoot the rest." he said and I did as I was told and I aimed once more and continued to shoot the bottles. It took a moment to destroy all the bottle and I smiled once they were all pieces on the earth's floor. Sadly we lost track of time and I was thirty minutes late for work. They boys dropped me off and I wore a peach colored dress with sandals and I got out and the boy drove away. Once I was in front of the bar I felt a sudden nervousness now and I wasn't sure what the feeling was. I licked my lips and slowly moved towards the place. Was I scared? Afraid of what was inside when I knew who all was there. I looked around as if wondering if Deputy Rakes would show up. I bit my lip feeling weak and small again. How would I tell Forrest, would I tell Forrest?

Once I was inside I had saw there were a lot people. Forrest was behind the bar moving around and Jack was running drinks and plates of food to people's tables. When I came closer Jack saw me.

"Eula, where have you been!" he yelled. I was going to answer but Forrest stopped us.

"Don't worry about that, get back here and help me." he demanded and I nodded and did as I was told. He handed me small notes of paper which had orders on them. "Get the drinks."

I did as I was told and handed Jack whatever alcohol and soda needed. Men sat at the bar and all of the tables. I had never seen it so busy. This went on for two hours. Once it died down and everyone was gone, Jack was sitting at the bar wiping his face of sweat.

"Man that was wild." he told. I had my hands on the bar looking down.

"Why were you late?" I heard Forrest ask.

"It was just thirty minutes-"

"I don't care." he said with authority and I knew he was talking to me as my boss and I glanced at him for a second.

"Delays with my brothers we couldn't get the car started." I lied. Forrest squinted his eyes swiftly and I tensed under his stare and I gave my lie away. He frowned and moved towards me and I tensed and backed away with a tightened chest hitting the wall watching him almost cautiously and he immediately stopped, confused by my actions. My body was still shaken up from Deputy Rakes interrogating and I felt my vagina start to burn and throb at the thought sadly. The door opened and in came Mr. Cobb. He was a jolly man who couldn't hurt a fly. He thought colored people were 'adorable' to have around. He wiped his brow with a cloth and sat down at the bar.

"Evening all." he replied.

"Hey Mr. Cobb." Jack said. Forrest simply remained like a statue as he continued to look me over as if looking for the problem. I slowly began to un tense my body.

"Hi Cobb." I replied looking at him. The man tipped his hat at me then Forrest looked at him.

"Can I get you some whiskey, Cobb?" he asked. The man nodded.

"Oh yes indeed." he said and looked at me. "Eula, you look very radiant today, I see that new deputy hasn't shaken you down."

Jack looked confused and Forrest himself stopped what he was doing and looked at Mr. Cobb. My body felt cold now as I felt my heart drop.

"What do you mean Mr. Cobb?" I asked. The man was so light headed sometimes he never knew when to stop talking. He shifted in his seat.

"Oh well I saw that up tight new deputy drive past my house with you in the back seat. I assumed he had taken you over to the sheriff's jail house to speak with you." he said. Forrest tensed visibly and I looked at him with fear in my eyes. Someone knew and now Forrest knew. He gave Mr. Cobb his drink and Jack looked worried and confused.

"Eula…may I speak with you in the back room?" Forrest asked in a calm polite manner yet I knew behind his calmness was rage ready to be unleashed.

(Author's notes)

So now Forrest knows. I wasn't going to wait too long to have him find out because as certain events start to happen Eula changes from the good little Chicago girl to a no-bullshit Kincaid woman. Hope ya'll are enjoying this!