“When you’ve done this as long as I have, it helps to think about what your last words’re gonna be, ’cause that way you don’t gotta worry about words when you’re tied up, tortured and ready for death. You wanna know my last words, Benji?”
I figured this would be a bad time to say no.
“Sure.”
“Back during the old Salem Witch Trials, like in that godawful show of The Crucible Alexei’s so fond of doing every few years, there was an accused old coot named Giles Corey. Since he refused to say if he was guilty or not guilty, they tried to press a plea out of him by putting heavy stones on his chest. Every time they asked for a plea, he just said, ‘more weight,’ because he’d never give ’em the satisfaction. When the Splinters have me, when they got me beaten and b****y and ready to die, I’m go
