Chapter One
Cody: 1980
The yellow plastic chair was killing my butt. Uncle Mike had the right idea and didn’t bother sitting in any of the chairs lining the bare wall. He paced the length of the Texas State Penitentiary’s waiting area, worn cowboy boots clicking against the polished, white floor. His tall, muscular frame took each step with precision, careful not to touch the black crevices that outline the tiles.
“Step on a crack, break your mother’s back. Step on a crack, break your mother’s back,” he mumbled.
My eyes darted around the room wondering if anyone else could hear him repeating the strange rhyme to himself.
A lone prison guard stood at the door staring off into space, his eyelids drooping as if he were half-asleep. A woman with big, spongy, pink curlers in her hair sat i
