Read Online Life Without Parole: A Kate Conway Mystery by Clare O'Donohue - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Clare O'Donohue
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Blackhawks game on Sunday and how this was shaping up to be a good year for the team. He barely looked at me.
Once he was uncuffed, he settled back in his chair and started pointing at the equipment. “Man, you got a lot of fancy shit. Lights, camera, action, I guess.” He shook his head in disbelief. “There’s a whole world of changes out there, I’ll bet.”
“I saw from the information I was sent that you’re from Peoria,” I said, mostly just to get his attention. I sat in a metal chair across from him, with my knees maybe two feet from his.
He looked over at me as if he’d just noticed I was there. “Yes ma’am. Born and raised. You ever been to Peoria?”
“No, I don’t think I have.”
“You’d remember. If you go, get some pizza bread at Avanti’s. It’s the best there is. I was kind of hoping I’d get it for my last meal, but now that ain’t gonna happen.”
“So good it’s worth dying for?”
He laughed. “Well, ma’am, you try it and tell me.” He laughed harder, licked his lips, and looked around the room. “Man, I shouldn’t a said anything about it, ’cause now I’m going to take the memory of it back to my cell.”
“You don’t have to keep calling me ma’am,” I said. “I’m Kate.”
He blushed a little, but he finally looked me in the eye. “Hi, Kate. I’m Tim.”
Once the camera was rolling, I settled into the interview. I couldn’t help notice that once we were officially introduced, Tim’s eyes never left mine.
“You must miss a lot of things about home,” I said.
“I sure do when I let myself think on it, which I don’t most of the time. I try to keep my focus here, you know, in this place, ’cause this is all I got now.”
“At the risk of making you homesick, tell me about Peoria.”
“It’s a nice town. Pretty. Right on the river, with big houses on the hill that look down on the water.”
“You live in one of those houses?”
“No, not me. My folks weren’t poor, they weren’t rich. They were just decent people, that’s all.”
“What was your childhood like?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t
The Brady Bunch
, you know. It was just…normal, I guess. My dad worked as an accountant at Caterpillar tractor company and my mom stayed home with me. I was an only child but I wasn’t alone much. I hung out with my best friends, Dickie Waters and Joe Santori. We used to be in Little League together. None of us any good, but we thought we were.” He grinned widely. “I think every American boy thinks he’s gonna make the major leagues.”
“So what happened?”
“Drugs. I smoked pot, drank beer…everybody did. But Dickie and Joe knew when to stop, and I guess I didn’t.”
“What drugs did you do?”
“It was the eighties, ma’am. What drugs
didn’t
I do?” He stopped for a minute, seemed to be enjoying memories of a better time. “Coke, speed, ’shrooms, anything I could get…but it was meth that did me in.”
“How young were you when you started?”
“Fourteen, I think. Started with simple things, but by the time I was supposed to graduate high school, I was pretty well gone.”
“And your parents?”
“I gave ’em trouble they did not deserve.”
After Brick’s wariness, I wanted to be clear. “You’re going to have to go into some detail about that trouble,” I said.
He lost his smile. “Yes ma’am. That’s why we’re doing this, isn’t it? So some kid out there with a drug problem doesn’t end up wasting his life away in here.”
Ten minutes in, some trouble with the mic caused us to take a break in the interview. Victor rushed around trying to fix it, Andres glared at him, and Tim sat back and watched.
“Sorry about this,” I said.
“I ain’t got nowhere better to be, Kate.”
I looked up at the guard, and Tim saw me looking.
“He don’t got nowhere better either. Do you, Russell?”
The guard laughed. “No, Tim, not until six o’clock.”
“Russell here has three kids. Twelve,
Once he was uncuffed, he settled back in his chair and started pointing at the equipment. “Man, you got a lot of fancy shit. Lights, camera, action, I guess.” He shook his head in disbelief. “There’s a whole world of changes out there, I’ll bet.”
“I saw from the information I was sent that you’re from Peoria,” I said, mostly just to get his attention. I sat in a metal chair across from him, with my knees maybe two feet from his.
He looked over at me as if he’d just noticed I was there. “Yes ma’am. Born and raised. You ever been to Peoria?”
“No, I don’t think I have.”
“You’d remember. If you go, get some pizza bread at Avanti’s. It’s the best there is. I was kind of hoping I’d get it for my last meal, but now that ain’t gonna happen.”
“So good it’s worth dying for?”
He laughed. “Well, ma’am, you try it and tell me.” He laughed harder, licked his lips, and looked around the room. “Man, I shouldn’t a said anything about it, ’cause now I’m going to take the memory of it back to my cell.”
“You don’t have to keep calling me ma’am,” I said. “I’m Kate.”
He blushed a little, but he finally looked me in the eye. “Hi, Kate. I’m Tim.”
Once the camera was rolling, I settled into the interview. I couldn’t help notice that once we were officially introduced, Tim’s eyes never left mine.
“You must miss a lot of things about home,” I said.
“I sure do when I let myself think on it, which I don’t most of the time. I try to keep my focus here, you know, in this place, ’cause this is all I got now.”
“At the risk of making you homesick, tell me about Peoria.”
“It’s a nice town. Pretty. Right on the river, with big houses on the hill that look down on the water.”
“You live in one of those houses?”
“No, not me. My folks weren’t poor, they weren’t rich. They were just decent people, that’s all.”
“What was your childhood like?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t
The Brady Bunch
, you know. It was just…normal, I guess. My dad worked as an accountant at Caterpillar tractor company and my mom stayed home with me. I was an only child but I wasn’t alone much. I hung out with my best friends, Dickie Waters and Joe Santori. We used to be in Little League together. None of us any good, but we thought we were.” He grinned widely. “I think every American boy thinks he’s gonna make the major leagues.”
“So what happened?”
“Drugs. I smoked pot, drank beer…everybody did. But Dickie and Joe knew when to stop, and I guess I didn’t.”
“What drugs did you do?”
“It was the eighties, ma’am. What drugs
didn’t
I do?” He stopped for a minute, seemed to be enjoying memories of a better time. “Coke, speed, ’shrooms, anything I could get…but it was meth that did me in.”
“How young were you when you started?”
“Fourteen, I think. Started with simple things, but by the time I was supposed to graduate high school, I was pretty well gone.”
“And your parents?”
“I gave ’em trouble they did not deserve.”
After Brick’s wariness, I wanted to be clear. “You’re going to have to go into some detail about that trouble,” I said.
He lost his smile. “Yes ma’am. That’s why we’re doing this, isn’t it? So some kid out there with a drug problem doesn’t end up wasting his life away in here.”
Ten minutes in, some trouble with the mic caused us to take a break in the interview. Victor rushed around trying to fix it, Andres glared at him, and Tim sat back and watched.
“Sorry about this,” I said.
“I ain’t got nowhere better to be, Kate.”
I looked up at the guard, and Tim saw me looking.
“He don’t got nowhere better either. Do you, Russell?”
The guard laughed. “No, Tim, not until six o’clock.”
“Russell here has three kids. Twelve,
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