BooksBarbecue
Back We Were Killers Once
Chapters (65)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty–one
  25. Twenty–two
  26. Twenty–three
  27. Twenty–four
  28. Twenty–five
  29. Twenty–six
  30. Twenty–seven
  31. Twenty–eight
  32. Twenty–nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty–one
  35. Thirty–two
  36. Thirty–three
  37. Thirty–four
  38. Thirty–five
  39. Thirty–six
  40. Thirty–seven
  41. Thirty–eight
  42. Thirty–nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty–one
  45. Forty–two
  46. Forty–three
  47. Forty–four
  48. Forty–five
  49. Forty–six
  50. Forty–seven
  51. Forty–eight
  52. Forty–nine
  53. Fifty
  54. Fifty–one
  55. Fifty–two
  56. Fifty–three
  57. Fifty–four
  58. Fifty–five
  59. Fifty–six
  60. Fifty–seven
  61. Author’s Note
  62. Acknowledgments
  63. Also by Becky Masterman
  64. About the Author
  65. Newsletter Sign-up

Because he had been giving me the silent treatment for so long, I was relieved when Perry finally spoke to me, but then it was to say let’s pick them up. I said are you kidding me? Do you want witnesses who can say we are in this part of the state today? I kept driving while Perry stared at them as we went past, and then looked back with his head out of the window.

I thought that was that, but then Perry said pull over.

I kept driving, and said you are just doing this because I said negative things about Mexico. I promise I will take you to Mexico when we are done. We just have to focus on the job.

Perry said pull over or I don’t go with you.

Oh, how I wish I had stuck to my guns and not given in to Perry. He talked me into bringing those two along, acting like it was a good deed and not revenge for me waffling about going to Mexico. He said we would drop them off in the next town. I said that’s Le Loup and he said that town is too small, let’s take them to Emporia. I’ll never read the book, and I suppose I’ll never know for sure what Perry told Capote, but I’m not as stupid as they both think I am. I’ll bet that happened a lot, that Perry came across as good while I came across as bad, even though it was Perry who started the whole mess that brought me to this place in my life, facing the gallows. I would not be surprised if somehow Capote helps Perry get life while I am hanged by myself. But I digress.

I backed up along the shoulder of the road and the boy and his grandfather got into the car. The boy said he and his granddad got kicked out of where they were living and were hitching their way from Pascagoula, Mississippi, all the way to an aunt’s place in Colorado. The kid asked us where we were going and Perry almost told him but then I said Wichita because I saw it on a signpost we had just passed. The kid asked could we take him there instead but I said it was not on the way to Colorado.

Perry asked the boy how they managed to hitchhike so far, where did they sleep and how did they eat, etc. The boy responded that along the way they had been picking up bottles and turning them in for cash to buy food. He said the sides of the roads were covered with them because everyone threw them out the windows of their cars and no one cleaned up. There are some now, he said. You could see the sun glinting off the glass. Could we stop?