The Sun Does Shine

The only place that Ray can get a decent job after college is the coal mines. The job is dangerous: like Ray’s dad, a person can literally be knocked out at any time, or have their head sliced open by a piece of shale raining down. Ray hates the job: he doesn’t like being in a small, dark space with little air to breathe.

In the mines, Ray imagines that he’s outdoors, taking long drives and going swimming in Florida, eating lobsters in Maine, or dancing with beautiful women in Central America—anything to avoid the reality of being in a dark, dusty pit that ruins a person’s lungs. Ray doesn’t want to die in the mine or permanently damage his body, but there are few other jobs, and the most dangerous jobs are also the highest paying ones.

One day in the mine, a rock falls on Ray, nearly slicing his nose off and causing his face to gush blood. He’s lucky that he has no permanent damage other than a large scar from the 22 stitches he gets. Even with the injury, Ray works in the mines for another five years. Then, when he’s 24, he wakes up late, sees the beautiful sun, and decides that he just can’t go down into the mine any longer and quits the job, though he knows that he’ll be taking a pay cut.

During the time that Ray is working in the mines, he dates two sisters on the sly—the older one in the open and the younger one in secret. This earns him the ire of another guy in town, Reggie, who wants to date the younger one. Reggie talks openly about taking Ray down, but Ray doesn’t worry about it too much. The one obstacle in Ray’s dating and working life is a car—particularly when he and his mom are forced to move out of Praco. This means that he doesn’t have neighbors to get rides with anymore.

Ray can’t get a job without a car, and he can’t get a car without a job, so he’s stuck. One day, he puts on his best church clothes and gets a ride to a car lot a few towns over. He takes out a Cutlass Supreme for a test drive, wishing that he could buy the car for real. But when he turns to head back to Birmingham, he passes the freeway exit for the car dealership and instead heads home.

Ray drives the stolen car for two years. He installs a stereo with the money he earns from his new job at a furniture store—which he can only get because he has a car. Ray keeps the car in pristine condition and never breaks traffic laws. Ray’s mom loves the car, and she always smiles when Ray drives her around. Gradually, however, Ray starts to feel guilty about stealing the car, and he worries what might happen if the car broke down or he got pulled over.

Eventually, Ray tells his mom that he never paid for the car. She tells him to go to the police and make it right, and he does so—relieved to confess what he’s done. Ray spends a few months in a work release program and serves a brief stint in prison. Afterwards, Ray comes out knowing that being incarcerated was the best thing that could have happened to him, because he never wants to go back. No car, job, or woman is worth risking his freedom, he concludes. Ray also appreciates what matters most in his life: his mom, his freedom, and God. He resolves never to steal again.