It took several minutes for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Four men were playing pool on the far side of the room next to a small dance floor. A number of black tables were scattered randomly around its perimeter. In front of the long bar were twenty or more high-backed barstools. She noticed two black women at a table and two white women at the bar. More than half the stools were taken by men, all black, all turning to look at her as she entered. She realized with a clutch at her heart that Travis wasn’t among them. She stood frightened just inside the entrance.
A tall skinny man slid off his stool and approached her. “You got to be Travis’s woman. That right?”
He towered over her and grinned. Two of his front teeth were missing. His bulging eyes mocked her. “I…I’m just
