Let It Shine Read Online Free Page B

the man knew him.
    “No way, Jack. I’m doing this because it’s what’s right. You don’t join the Civil Rights movement for a woman. Come on.” Ivan flung the bag Jack’s way. Jack dodged it like a pro and continued scrutinizing him.
    “No, but ain’t nothing wrong with a bonus, like the prize in your Cracker Jacks. Besides, you ain’t foolin’ anyone with that dopey smile.”
    Ivan chuckled and allowed himself a moment of just being a guy who was really digging a girl. There was no way anything would come of it, but getting to see Sofie wasn’t a chance he’d turn down.
    “All right, enough of that, Romeo,” Jack said. “You have a prizefight a week from now. This nonviolence stuff is well and good, but in here? There’s only one thing I need from you, and ain’t nothing peaceful about it.”

Chapter 4
    After studying for her upcoming final exams, Sofie had prepared her father’s favorite dinner: meatloaf with mashed potatoes. A pitcher of sweet tea sat sweating on the table, and she absently drew a finger through the moisture accumulating on the wood surface as she created a list of her next moves in her head.
    1.) Wait for Daddy to settle down at the table and talk about his day.
    2.) Tell him how well studying for finals is going and mention you’ll probably make the Dean’s List again.
    3.) Casually mention you’ll be volunteering with an association a few nights this week.
    4.) Dodge all questions about what, exactly, the association does.
    5.) Pray he doesn’t find out the truth, then pray for forgiveness for lying to begin with.
    She left off number six, “Try not to stare at Ivan too much when you see him tomorrow,” because it was probably not doable, and she hated listing actions that couldn’t be checked off as completed. She’d been unable to stop thinking of him since the night before, even though she knew better. Having impure thoughts about a white man was bad enough, but one who wasn’t even Christian was a definite no-no. She’d had a crush on him as a little girl, but that was different. He’d been the only boy who laughed at her jokes and refused to make fun of her frizzy hair. They’d spent hours creating fantastical worlds together where they were both brave and strong, where people couldn’t hurt them just because of what they looked like, in Sofie’s case, or what God they worshiped, in Ivan’s. Their imaginary adventures had been brought to an abrupt halt, but Sofie’s soft spot for him had apparently remained.
    The shuffle of shoes against hard wood warned Sofie of her father’s arrival; she stopped slouching in her seat and stood with her back straight and a bright smile on her face.
    “Ready for dinner, Daddy?” she called out. She got no reply.
    Mr. Wallis walked into the room with his hands linked behind his back and his head bowed. She remembered a time when he used to come into the kitchen with a smile, reaching for her mama with love in his eyes. Those days were long gone. Sofie stiffened in her seat, feeling the anxiety and anger emanating from her father fill the room like fumes that threatened to choke the bravery out of her. He was in a mood, and because he was in a mood her plan to ask permission would have to wait.
    She took their plates from the stove, where she’d left them to warm. “I made your favorite. I think I’ve got Mama’s recipe down pat now.”
    He looked up at her, and a familiar disappointment was etched deeply in his face, like ruts on a well-used road. “You planning on telling me what you were doing at that agitator meeting last night, or you just gonna sit here and talk to me like I’m stupid? Like you did last night when you lied and said you were meeting Henrietta?” His voice was so cold that she wanted to wrap her arms around herself in the warmth of a Southern spring night.
    “Daddy, I can explain—”
    “Sister Pierce told me she saw you in front of the community center, and that you were fraternizing with a white