[Trails off]

[Turns head to look out the window]

I lived a lot of life since then, but even not having Mom there, that two weeks on our little piece of property in Indiana were two of the happiest weeks of my life.

[Turns head back]

And Preacher’s.

Jesse:

Her grandmother threw a New Years’ Eve party that year. Asked me, Mom and my sisters there. Tim and the girl he was seein’. Dave and his folks.

Lyla and her sister and Jen and Amber and a few more of Lyla’s friends.

[Smiles]

Lynie Campbell smoked one cigarette a year, on New Years’, and I remember her making a big deal of making Preacher light it for her, swanning about with that thing in a long, thin cigarette holder like the old movie stars used to use.

[Hoots]

That woman was a stitch.

She could not cook to save her life, and the macaroni and cheese she made a production of laying out that night proved it.

Audie could mix a mean dip, though. From scratch. No dumping some packet into sour cream for him. Damn, that shit was tasty. I ate so many potato chips that night, swear to Christ, I didn’t eat another one for years seein’ as I nearly got sick on ’em.

My mom. Lyla’s grandparents. Dave’s folks sneakin’ outside to grab some tokes every now and then. And the rest of us. Chips and dip. Shrimp cocktail. Cheap champagne. Sonia and Lyla fighting over whether to put on “Cold-Hearted Snake” or “When I Think of You.” Tim tryin’ to push “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” Lynie making us listen to “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” four times in a row until, thank fuck, Audie took control of the turntable.

Then all of us standing around and watching Audie cut a rug with Lynie to “In the Mood.”

And serious as shit, those two could dance.

Lost art, the swing dance.

Mom smiling at them, clapping and stepping foot to foot, wanting so bad to dive right in, and Preach seeing that, goin’ up to her, and he had no clue what he was doin’, but he gave Mom a whirl.

Penny laughin’ at just about everything, especially that.

That was the best party I’d ever been to in my life until that point, man.

[Smiles]

Bar none.

[Off tape]

Are you all right?

[Focuses]

Light and dark, sister.

Sorry?

Those were the good days.

Within months, Audie would no longer be able to cover up the early signs of dementia he was experiencing. In no time, he had full-blown Alzheimer’s. That next year, Lynie had a bad stroke and she was never the same.

[Shakes head]

Girls eventually had to sell that property.