A boy watches his uncle bully his cousin, the man’s stepchild. When the cousin makes a smart remark, his stepfather crosses the room, slams the fridge door on his hand. When his mother asks what happened, the cousin says he slipped. A few days later, the cousin tries to woo the pastor’s daughter. He wants her to sneak off with him during service, and she promises to the following week. The next Saturday, the boy and his cousins go to work with the uncle in his business cleaning office buildings. They stay up all night, which worries the cousin who plans to meet up with the pastor’s daughter at church the next day. He refuses to get out at one of their stops, saying, “I ain’t missing church.” His stepfather tells him repeatedly to get out the truck and help, and when he doesn’t, “Bull lunged forward, reaching for Isaac, who took a step back so Bull missed. Unc lost it, jumping again, pulling himself up by the elbows, then hands, but before he could scramble fully into the bed my pops grabbed both of his shoulders and pulled him back onto his feet.” Eventually, everyone goes inside to clean the building, even the cousin who was refusing to go. They stay out cleaning until about 7 in the morning. When they get home, they fall asleep, waiting for their turn in the shower. By the time the boy is woken up and given his turn, there isn't time for the other cousin—the one who wants to meet up with the pastor’s daughter—to shower, so the family leaves him there to sleep. Everyone goes to church except for that cousin and his stepfather. When they get back, there's a police car at their house and an extension cord that the stepfather had used to tie the cousin up to his truck. He’s beaten him up, is now in the back of the cop car. The cousin stares at him in there, “[t]he red and blue lights ma[king] the day like a flag behind him.”