her drunk. Besides, Jennifer was three years shy of Florida’s drinking age of twenty-one. Like most states, it suffered from too many underage drinkers who decided to drink and drive and get into accidents.
“You’re over twenty-one, so you can drink,” Diane continued, “but I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
“I have no problem not drinking,” Rodgers answered easily.
“Her curfew is one o’clock. If anything happens, call home.”
“I have no problem with that either.” Rodgers smiled.
Thus reassured, Diane went back to her baked beans. Jenny ran to her room to get her brush.
“Mom, we’re going.”
Diane Robinson came in, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Where’re you going?” she asked.
“We’re going to ride around with a few friends,” said Jenny.
“Jenny, don’t be late.”
“Momma, tomorrow is Senior Skip Day.”
“I don’t care, you come home on time.”
“Okay,” Jenny answered, disappointed that her mother wouldn’t budge on the curfew.
“Do you need any money?”
Jenny looked at Rodgers.
“I got three dollars if I want to buy a drink,” he answered. “We’re just gonna see some friends.”
“I love you,” Diane said to her daughter.
“I love you, Mom.”
“You have a dim headlight, Jeremiah,” Diane Robinson cautioned. “You better be careful or the cops’ll stop you.”
“Yes, ma’am, I know. We’re just gonna see friends.”
Rodgers shook hands with Diane Robinson politely, and then she watched them drive away and went back to her beans.
“She was feeling like a woman for one of the first times in her life,” Diane would later say about her daughter.
Back in his trailer, Jon Lawrence was writing out a list:
Strawberry wine
Everclear
Resharpen main blade/clean the saw and tomahawk
Film for Polaroid cam.
Galloon size siplock bags, big ones [ sic ]
Wash rags
Rope
Jug of water
Extra round post shovel
The mention of Everclear was of particular interest. At 190 proof, Everclear is 95 percent pure grain alcohol, odorless, tasteless and very potent. Among its other uses, it’s utilized by cooks, employed for medicinal purposes and added as an ingredient in other alcoholic beverages. But on every bottle is written this caution: “Because Grain Alcohol is clear, tasteless and very potent, it could be very dangerous. Use it carefully for legitimate purposes only.”
Lawrence got all the stuff ready, including the Everclear, and put it in his truck. He began chugging back some Bacardi rum, waiting for his partner to show up. “Jeremiah wanted to go pick up his girlfriend first and show her off. He wanted to bring her by the house and let me and Ricky meet her,” remembered Jon Lawrence. “Jeremiah didn’t really brag about her, but he said she was ‘all right.’”
Rodgers finally arrived with his “all right” date. Lawrence looked at her, the diagram from The Incredible Machine fresh in the synapses of his brain. The three of them hopped into Lawrence’s Ford Ranger for a night out in the dark recesses of the county. It would turn out to be the most successful night in the lives of the “flesh collectors.”
Chapter 5
May 8, 1998, morning
Jon Lawrence got home about dawn. He tried to relax by watching a video. He had quite a collection.
There was The Silence of the Lambs , about two serial killers who were exceptionally bright, Hannibal Lecter and “Buffalo Bill”; The Donner Party; and Hooter Mania, Volume 1 .
The film Lawrence decided to watch was The Donner Party , a documentary by Ric Burns that had aired on PBS in 1992 and was later transferred to video. The film chronicled the awful winter of 1846 to 1847, when a group of pioneers stranded in the snows of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains cannibalized each other to survive.
As Lawrence watched the video, Dennis Randall, Diane Robinson’s boyfriend, was just getting up at the Robinson home. He had gotten home late from work Thursday night, after Jenny had gone. When he got
“You’re over twenty-one, so you can drink,” Diane continued, “but I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
“I have no problem not drinking,” Rodgers answered easily.
“Her curfew is one o’clock. If anything happens, call home.”
“I have no problem with that either.” Rodgers smiled.
Thus reassured, Diane went back to her baked beans. Jenny ran to her room to get her brush.
“Mom, we’re going.”
Diane Robinson came in, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Where’re you going?” she asked.
“We’re going to ride around with a few friends,” said Jenny.
“Jenny, don’t be late.”
“Momma, tomorrow is Senior Skip Day.”
“I don’t care, you come home on time.”
“Okay,” Jenny answered, disappointed that her mother wouldn’t budge on the curfew.
“Do you need any money?”
Jenny looked at Rodgers.
“I got three dollars if I want to buy a drink,” he answered. “We’re just gonna see some friends.”
“I love you,” Diane said to her daughter.
“I love you, Mom.”
“You have a dim headlight, Jeremiah,” Diane Robinson cautioned. “You better be careful or the cops’ll stop you.”
“Yes, ma’am, I know. We’re just gonna see friends.”
Rodgers shook hands with Diane Robinson politely, and then she watched them drive away and went back to her beans.
“She was feeling like a woman for one of the first times in her life,” Diane would later say about her daughter.
Back in his trailer, Jon Lawrence was writing out a list:
Strawberry wine
Everclear
Resharpen main blade/clean the saw and tomahawk
Film for Polaroid cam.
Galloon size siplock bags, big ones [ sic ]
Wash rags
Rope
Jug of water
Extra round post shovel
The mention of Everclear was of particular interest. At 190 proof, Everclear is 95 percent pure grain alcohol, odorless, tasteless and very potent. Among its other uses, it’s utilized by cooks, employed for medicinal purposes and added as an ingredient in other alcoholic beverages. But on every bottle is written this caution: “Because Grain Alcohol is clear, tasteless and very potent, it could be very dangerous. Use it carefully for legitimate purposes only.”
Lawrence got all the stuff ready, including the Everclear, and put it in his truck. He began chugging back some Bacardi rum, waiting for his partner to show up. “Jeremiah wanted to go pick up his girlfriend first and show her off. He wanted to bring her by the house and let me and Ricky meet her,” remembered Jon Lawrence. “Jeremiah didn’t really brag about her, but he said she was ‘all right.’”
Rodgers finally arrived with his “all right” date. Lawrence looked at her, the diagram from The Incredible Machine fresh in the synapses of his brain. The three of them hopped into Lawrence’s Ford Ranger for a night out in the dark recesses of the county. It would turn out to be the most successful night in the lives of the “flesh collectors.”
Chapter 5
May 8, 1998, morning
Jon Lawrence got home about dawn. He tried to relax by watching a video. He had quite a collection.
There was The Silence of the Lambs , about two serial killers who were exceptionally bright, Hannibal Lecter and “Buffalo Bill”; The Donner Party; and Hooter Mania, Volume 1 .
The film Lawrence decided to watch was The Donner Party , a documentary by Ric Burns that had aired on PBS in 1992 and was later transferred to video. The film chronicled the awful winter of 1846 to 1847, when a group of pioneers stranded in the snows of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains cannibalized each other to survive.
As Lawrence watched the video, Dennis Randall, Diane Robinson’s boyfriend, was just getting up at the Robinson home. He had gotten home late from work Thursday night, after Jenny had gone. When he got
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