The Power of Testimony

SHAWN THORNTON || 17
“Yes. Daddy’s trucks always have a gear shifter coming up
from the f loor.”
“This one’s very much the same. You just—​well, here. Put
your hand here.”
He pointed to the gear shift protruding from the floor.
“I’ll speed up. You move that thing when I say so.”
John stepped on the gas as they traveled down the four-​
lane road.
“ Okay—​now,” he said. Bev switched the gearshift lever.
The car smoothly settled into a higher gear and a lower rev.
“Good job, Bev!”
Bev smiled. “I drove a car! I can’t wait to get my license
someday. Then I could drive us places.”
John smiled back in spite of himself. He was drawn to the
liveliness and affection of the Gilvin family. Home life at the
Thorntons’ was good but staid. They showed love through
duty and commitment, not gauche displays of emotion or
bantering conversation. Something about this Southern family
and this girl sitting an arm’s length from him struck him
as fresh and exciting.
“Coming up to Goldblatt’s,” he announced with a trace
of new- driver’s pride.
Goldblatt’s was in the town’s new shopping plaza on
Miracle Lane. Bethel College, a small Christian school, sat
opposite the mall. They had named the street, deeming it a
miracle they had been able to buy the campus. Bev, her hands
folded on the white blouse in her lap, sighed contentedly and
pondered what she would exchange it for. She was thinking
of a pair of blue jeans.