The road stretches back and forth, humming under the tires worn by old age. James, with dark hair and bright eyes, grips the steering wheel with one hand and stares lazily through the mirrors at the road toward the sky, trying to stay awake. He floats past the trucks and minivans, driving with the confidence of a never-marked person. They cross fields, expanses of yellow and dust, without waving a hand, content to observe, guarded by a few dark buildings. Everything is older here, in Central America, in Kentucky, in Tennessee, in Ohio, but not in the wise New England way. Instead, the houses and cars stink of the Middle Ages. They are worn but not yet discarded; old fashioned but still functional. If money wasn't tight, they would find relief, but appearances aren't worth much here. And so they sag over time. James continues, turning rarely, passing through towns, waking only to stop at red and continue at green. Next to him, Dotty sleeps. Maybe she's dead, he thinks, and maybe he's right. The little light that remains in her eyes smothered by the eyelids, she leans back against the door. Wrinkled skin extends past his wrists, his face sags, his lips smudged and parted to show clenched teeth. When she is awake, her eyes retain their pale blue, always watery and shifty. In Farristown, Kentucky, James exits the highway and heads toward a Mobil station. He leaves Dotty in the car and enters the store. Through the snack aisles, he comes to the counter and asks 20 to two. “Where are you going?” the attendant, a man with a puffy mustache named Milesasks, ignoring James' request. “Oh, just down the road.” “Did you lose?” "Not yet." "But you don't know where you're going to end up." "I do." "And you? in the hallway, peeking through the slight gap. And there was Henry fucking his whore. She was crying but he wouldn't stop and Dotty was stuck, watching, the door now open. "Henry," Daisy cries when she looks behind him. Henry doesn't stop but he turns around. Don't move," he growls at Dotty. "I'll knock you out if you take a step back." feet to turn. But that was then. And she remembers not to move, as she heard the pops, the cracks, a few meters away And then she keeps her eyes squeezed, trying to breathe silently, trying not to choke she cries.*** “Grand-. mother, it's time to go." They continue on their way, through the fields, through the towns, through the places, towards home. They are heading towards Dotty's house. The end