Parker slowed the truck and looked in the rear-view mirror. He could see nothing of the house and his friend. His foot lifted from the accelerator and the truck rolled to a stop.

He had abandoned Lamar, a man he trusted and liked over the years since his trouble with the law. He had abandoned a man he owed for the blunt way Lamar had told the townspeople that Parker was no longer the thieving bastard they remembered. The word of a sheriff went a long way to still the distrust the people displayed when Parker walked into a store in town.

The sheriff had been one of the few people who understood the idea that a man could look at his life and know there was a better way to live. And he knew how damn hard it was to be a good man in a world where people did not think twice about stealing.

Parker felt lower than he had ever felt since turning to the path of God.

His head bowed as he sat at the wheel of the truck.

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“Are you hurt?” Sylvia asked from the other side of the cab while bending to look past the girl who still sat silently staring at the road.

“I’m hurting here,” Parker touched his chest. “I have to go back to Lamar.”

Sylvia nodded in approval. She had wondered why Parker had consented to drive the truck. Now she saw the man had simply followed orders without thinking about the results of leaving Lamar. Parker was basically a good man who was trying to live down his past, paying penance for deeds done while a foolish youth.

“You’d best get going,” she replied and reached around the girl to pat the man’s back. “Keep Lamar from hurting himself.”

“Thanks,” Parker smiled wanly then opened the door of the truck and stood on the dirt road waiting for Sylvia to climb to the driver’s side.

He closed the door as Sylvia pulled her seat belt into place. “Don’t forget us.”

She reached out of the truck and grasped Parker’s hand, where it rested on the lip of the window. “Remember to come back to us when this is done.”

“I will,” Parker replied and let go of the window as Sylvia drove slowly away. He watched the receding tail lights until the women were gone, then faced north and began the walk back to the house.