Page 41 of Son of a Preacher Man

“Be a good boy. Never question him—like never ever. Do everything Daddy says and tell him what he wants to hear.” Wagging his finger, Casey saucily grinned. “You know, play the game.”

“Cleanliness is godliness,” Jeffrey added.

“We watch each other’s backs in here, so no snitching. Get me?” Taking a seat next to Casey, Austin kissed him. “And this pussy is mine, but I might share if you ask me real nice.”

No, thanks.

Jeffrey crossed his pool noodle arms over his chest and sighed. “Better clue him in on Friday nights.”

“Daddy likes to watch us jerk off to porn—the straight kind.” Grabbing hold of his knee, Casey wrinkled up his nose. “Don’t let him catch you with a boner looking at the homo stuff, though. It’s a test.”

Seth swallowed down the bile rising in his throat. “What happens if he does?”

“C’mon, we can talk more later.” Jeffrey tugged on his arm. “Dinner’s at six. We get ten if we’re late.”

“Ten what?”

Glancing at Austin, he slammed his fist into his palm. “The belt.”

“And which one he uses depends on the mood he’s in.”

Hell.

He was definitely in Hell.

But then maybe he deserved to be here.

How long had he been here now? Three weeks, I think. Seth wasn’t entirely sure. Each torturous day blended into the next. Wake up at four. Morning prayers followed by breakfast at five. Then the boys were sent out to clear fields, haul rock, or dig ditches until noon, while the girls scoured pots and slaved in the kitchen. He liked the hard labor, actually. Focused on a task, it was the only time he didn’t have to think.

After lunch came the daily devotionals. That’s what the reverend called it anyway. They were mind fuck sessions if you asked him.

“Pray until you can see yourself up on the cross with Jesus, hanging, dying, and bleeding with Him. Cry and weep, boys and girls. The Lord, through Daddy’s hand, will change you.”

Then the slimy sonofabitch would get his belt out.

Seth received his share of beatings.

No one was spared. They all got them.

If his jollies were satisfied enough in the afternoon, he usually let them be come supper. He’d send them back to their cabins with instructions to reflect on their unhealthy affliction and to beseech God to cure them of it. Single file the boys went left, and the girls went right. That’s when the asshole retired to his room and drank himself into a stupor.

And for a short while, they could breathe.

Being there were only four of them, each of the guys had a bottom bunk. He and Jeffrey watched out the window—just in case—while Austin plowed into Casey’s ass behind them. Those two went at it any chance they got and judging by the ever-present marks on Austin’s back, the reverend likely knew it.

“Why do they keep us separated from the girls, you think?” Seth had been pondering this for a while. “Seems kinda silly, considering.”

“Considering what?”

“They think we’re not into them.”

“I’m not,” Jeffrey confessed. “But that’s our secret.”

Trust me, Jeff. That is so not a secret.

“Well, I’m definitely into them.” Settling back in his bunk, Seth clasped his hands behind his head. “Not the ones here, though. I’m promised to a girl back home. We’re getting married as soon as she’s eighteen.”

“So? That don’t mean anything.” Snickering, he shook his head. “You love her?”

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