The wind whirled the cat’s ashes into a dust devil—all the maid saw when she poked her head out of the laundry room. I sipped my beer slowly, not wanting to return during a battle between the brothers.

Edgar was asleep when I got back, and Jesse was playing solitaire. I crawled into bed thinking I’d get more sleep, but it never came. Every tick of my watch was like a hammer on a railroad spike.

As soon as the sun went down, Jesse and I went out to the camper to talk to Beaumont. Jesse quickly got out of him where the Fiends were and told me we were going after them that night. I asked if he had a plan. He didn’t. More than ever it looked like a suicide mission.

Back in the room, Jesse laid out the guns. He loaded the shotgun and slid a fresh magazine into the .45.

“I hope you’re planning to let me carry something,” I said.

“You won’t be any use to me unarmed,” Jesse said.

He stowed the guns in Czarnecki’s duffel, all except the old man’s .45, which he stuck in his waistband like a liquor-store robber. He put on his jacket, I put on mine, and it was time to go.

We pulled Beaumont out of the box so he could steer us to the motel. The King of the Rovers, shaking in his soiled disco suit, was a pathetic sight. Jesse hustled him up to the cab and locked him to the bolt on the floor. I drove.

The Fourth was in full swing, fireworks going off everywhere. The loudest had me jumping like I was being stung by bees. We needed ammunition. Jesse directed me to a Kmart. He took the keys before going into the store and reminded me he had our address.

Beaumont began rocking and moaning behind his gag. He seemed to be in some distress. Worried that if anything happened to him Jesse would blame me, I slipped the bandana out of his mouth.

“Why are you helping this man?” he said.

“Why did you try to kill him?” I replied.

“He was responsible for the death of a woman I loved.”

“And now you’re responsible for the death of a woman he loved.”

“He lies,” Beaumont said. “Don’t listen to him.”

“Should I listen to you?” I said.

He lifted his shackled hands, showing them to me. “In your heart, you know that you and I, even with our differences, are more alike than you and he. We have the same blood. We’ve known the same hatred, the same fear, the same humiliation.”

“You might have once been like me, but you’re not anymore,” I said. “You’re a viper now, from the same nest as the rest of these monsters. I’ve got nothing in common with any of you.”