“Very nice. I’m impressed. Where are you headed?” Ruth said.

“Sam’s Club. They’re hiring for an inventory clerk. See how I’m matching the store colors? Look and learn, people.”

Mama put her hands to her face. “You got an interview. Praise the Lord.”

“I got to go or I’ll be late.” Eli brushed his lips across both of their cheeks before heading to the door. But before he left, he tossed a set of keys on the kitchen counter.

“Why did you have my keys?” Ruth said, confused.

“You didn’t see your engine light on?” Eli shook his head, disappointed.

That warning indicator had come on the night she drove Midnight home, but she’d been too preoccupied to do anything about it. “I guess I need to take the car into the shop for service.”

“I already got you, lil bit. Your spark plug’s bad. I put in a new one. The car’s probably been starting slow and running rough, right?” When she nodded, he said, “Oh, it’s gon’ purr like a kitten now.”

Without looking up from her bucket, Mama said, “That was mighty nice of you, son.”

“Yes,” Ruth said. “Yes, it was. Thank you, Eli.” Affection for her big brother squeezed her chest. As much as he and Mama exerted control over her life, they loved her fiercely. Before he walked out, she said, “Hey, Eli.”

“Yeah?”

“Good luck today. You got this.”

He winked. “They don’t even know.”

When they heard Eli pull out of the driveway onto the street, Mama turned to Ruth. “This is the best news we’ve had in a long time. Have you been watching your brother’s eyes? He had locked himself away in there and nobody could free him. The old Fernwood plant gave five hundred of them their walking papers. It’s been six months and I prayed he’d come out of that funk he was in, but he hasn’t been the same man since.”

No one had needed to tell Eli he’d work at the plant someday. Everyone simply knew it, with the certainty of new mornings dawning and darkness eclipsing the day. The Monday after his eighteenth birthday, Eli reported for his first shift at Fernwood, making batteries on the assembly line. In the nineties, life was good, and even in Ganton, people had a little change jingling in their pockets.

Practically every day for five years while she still lived at home, her big brother reported for duty, sometimes flaunting a particularly generous paycheck after a grueling week of overtime work or a cost-of-living increase. Most of his money went for parts for his own car and the thirsty women who inevitably liked to sweat brothers with good jobs.

“I can’t help it if the ladies love Eli,” he’d say, smiling smugly.

However, over time, the U.S. economy soured and so did Eli’s idealism about the work that had sustained the Tuttles for generations. Racism on the plant floor, poor work ethic for some, and just time itself dulled the luster of Ganton’s crown jewel. Eli had put in seventeen good years, almost half his life at this place.

Now, with Fernwood closed for good, it seemed as if the town’s beating heart had stopped. Ruth had been reading up on it. Not only were people not buying as many cars in a recession, but fuel prices had risen, and the American automakers couldn’t keep up with the new demand for fuel-efficient models. Car buyers were turning to Japan and Europe for fuel-efficient imports.

But understanding what had happened didn’t make it any easier seeing her brother suffer. She could tell it was taking a toll on Mama, too.

“One drink at Wally’s turned into two and three and . . .” Mama’s voice trailed off and she shook her head, as if she could shake off whatever demons had taken hold of Eli.

“That’s rough, but he has a wife and three kids to support. I didn’t want to ask in front of Eli, but where are Cassie and the children?” Ruth said.

Mama dried her hands on the skirt of her apron and pulled a framed photo of Eli and his family from the buffet table. “He’s still married to her on paper. But she found out that while she was working every day, he was hanging over a bar stool talking nonsense. So, she told him to get himself together or get out. I thought she could’ve given him more time. But these women today have no mercy on a man trying to make it out here. Now she’s cut back on how often he gets to see his kids. I know that’s been killing him.”

“Marriage is supposed to be for better or for worse,” Ruth said absently.

“Are we talking about your brother or you? What’s the real reason Xavier didn’t come with you?” The intensity of Mama’s gaze forced her to meet her grandmother’s eyes.

As convincingly as she could, Ruth said, “Everything’s fine between Xavier and me. Really. He’s juggling a lot of major work assignments right now. It’s stressful, but he’s on the executive track and I’m proud of him.”

“Well, he’s one of the lucky ones.” Ruth heard the pain in Mama’s voice when she thought about Eli. The helplessness. “It’s hard out there trying to find work with a record, you know.”

“But that drug offense was minor, and besides, it was a long time ago. I have a couple lawyer friends in Chicago. I can talk to them about how we can get that expunged from his record.”

“It’s not that simple,” Mama said, wiping imaginary dust off a framed photo of Eli.