Get out, Son. Do as I say.It was a busy downtown street in Trenton—Sloan Avenue. Gideon was taken by surprise for he’d assumed that Daddy Love was driving back to Kittatinny Falls.Politely Daddy Love had declined Reverend Silk’s invitation to have a Sunday meal with him and his family. Daddy Love had said he had best be returning home, for both he and his son had tasks to be done.Yet, only a few blocks from the Church of Abiding Hope, Daddy Love pulled the minivan up to an entrance of the New Jersey Transit Bus Station.Gideon was confused. Gideon was frightened. But Gideon knew not to hesitate, to obey Daddy Love.Fumbling at the door handle with numbed fingers and so Daddy Love reached across him with an impatient grunt and opened the door. Out, Son. And inside the station.Daddy Love was still in his Brother Cash preacher-clothing which gave to his manner an air of dignity and purpose. His hair, that fell to his shoulders in flaring, dramatic wings, smelled of hair oil, and his stiff whiskers brushed against Gideon’s face.Gideon asked what did Daddy Love want him to do in the bus station?—for Gideon did not want to think that Daddy Love was abandoning him.Just hang out inside, Son.
