“Promise you won’t kill him,” Twilight said. “He’s a real asshole, but I kinda like him. He could be gentle. Said he loved me when he was real drunk on the Turkey.”

“How far can you get on that money?” Lillie said.

“Why?”

“After the show’s over, it’s time for you to start travelin’.”

“I can get drunk on less than twenty dollars.”

“Damn,” Lillie said, getting out and walking to the back of the Charger to retrieve her favorite shotgun and some extra shells. “A true talent. Good luck with that.”

TWO

Does Senator Vardaman ever come here for breakfast?” Tashi Coleman asked, not two days after arriving in Tibbehah County, Mississippi, from Brooklyn. She’d tried to keep a low profile since coming to town, renting a room at the Traveler’s Rest Motel, dressing down in jeans and a threadbare black J.Crew tee she’d borrowed from her ex-boyfriend, a disgraced writer who famously sold a false memoir to HarperCollins. Steel-toe work boots purchased at a vintage shop, black hair in a bun, no makeup, and clunky glasses to make her seem more anonymous.

“Sure,” said the waitress at a place called the Fillin’ Station diner, an old joint actually housed in an old gas station. A true and authentic greasy spoon with busted linoleum floors and a single window air conditioner. “Likes grits and eggs, sausage on the side. Decent fella. Not a bad tipper. Why you asking?”

“Just curious,” Tashi said. “His name’s been in the paper a lot lately.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Mary asked, her hair the color of copper wire and permed tight like Tashi’s mom from pics of her in the eighties. She wore a pale blue apron over street clothes—acid-washed jeans and a plaid top, plain white tennis shoes. “He’s going to be our next governor. The man believes in setting us back on the right course, back to the way things used to be when I was a girl.”

“And how was that?”

“Simpler times,” Mary said, her wrinkled face softening. “Much simpler times. You could sleep sound at night without locking your doors. Neighbors spoke to each other. Families damn well went to church.”

“And what’s different now?” Tashi asked, glancing around the nearly empty diner. Just an old, black farmer-looking dude by the front door smoking a very long cigarette. He seemed to be contemplating time and mortality or perhaps the incoming rain. She hoped it rained, it would make for some nice audio for the podcast. “You mind sitting down with me? I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“Me?” Mary asked. “What do I know about any of this mess?”

“I don’t think there’s anyone better to help me figure out this town.”

“First time in Mississippi?”

“First time down South.”

“Signs and wonders,” Mary said. “I knew you wasn’t from here the minute you walked in the door.”