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Chapters (42)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. Acknowledgments
  40. Discover More
  41. About the Author
  42. Also by Richard Lange

We get to the motel and go inside. Johona sits on Jesse’s bed while he showers the rest the blood off him. You want to play Nickle Nock? I ask her. You need three cards that add up to 31. We can play for money or candy. She shakes her head no. You couldn’t shut her up before and now she’s got nothing to say. Abby’s in a corner watching her with hate in her eyes.

Jesse comes out of the bathroom and says it’s my turn. Hot water, he says. I scrub and scrub. Blood don’t come off easy. The water’s pink going down the drain. After I dry off I do a peek into the room. Jesse’s sitting with Johona on the bed. His arm’s around her and he’s talking sweet. She smiles but won’t laugh. The Little Devil pipes up. Him and her are going off together gonna leave you all alone, he says. Goose bumps rise on my arms. I yell for Jesse to help me get dressed.

Stop playing around, he says when he comes in. You know how to put your clothes on. Don’t leave me, I say. What’re you talking about? he says. You got Johona now, I say. We’re driving her to Denver that’s all, he says. You know I can smell a lie, I say. I’m not going anywhere without you, he says.

He carries our grips out and puts them in the trunk of the Grand Prix. I give Abby a bowl of Meow Mix and stand by while she crunches it. How old’s your kitty? Johona asks me. Twenty-five or thereabouts, I say. That’s ancient for a cat, she says. I turned her, I say. What? Johona says. I turned her into a rover, I say. She starts to cry. Jesse comes in and asks what’s wrong. You changed the cat? Johona says. Jesse gives me a look like he wants to kill me and sits down to sweet-talk her again. I’m glad she’s crying. The more you cry the less you have to piss.

We set off when she quiets. Pretty soon there’s no more buildings no more cars no more town. Everything’s dark except for the speed meter inside and headlights outside. Jesse checks the mirror over and over. Johona falls asleep laying across the back seat. I sing to myself real quiet. Mama’s song. I would not die in summer, when music’s on the breeze, and soft, delicious murmurs float ever through the trees.

15

15

June 27, 1976, 10 p.m.

FOR THE THIRD TIME TODAY I’M PUTTING PEN TO PAPER, THIS time to set down what happened in just the last hour while it’s fresh in my mind.