Albert’s children grew fast. Rusty was twelve years old and Roberta ten. Albert had been the sheriff of Smithville for ten years already and made a decent living. Renee worked at the hospital in town in the records department. Emma couldn’t work her farm anymore because of her age, but her hands kept it going. Cleo took care of her. He settled down as he had gotten older, still drank, but didn’t run the streets as much. He drank at home, getting drunk every night while Emma ignored it. Cleo sank deeper into his mental illness and alcohol. Walter became worse, telling Cleo to kill for the sake of killing. It became harder for Cleo to fight him. There were days he wanted to surrender to Walter by giving up and doing whatever he said. Feelings of emptiness plagued him. One bright sunny June m
