Riven - Jerry B. Jenkins [100]
“You think he’ll call me, Warden? Before the walk to the gallows, I mean?”
“They usually do. The Deacon’s a hard one to read, though.”
Touhy Trailer Park
Brady’s chat with Stevie Ray did not go well. Stevie said he needed to stay away from troublemakers. “I told you, man. Pepe’s my supplier. I know what’s going on. I’d be a hypocrite to tell you not to use when I’m a user. But dealin’? You gotta get out of that. Keep your nose clean.”
“I will. I just got to pay him off is all.”
“Well, I got no money for you and I can’t hire you, and I don’t know anybody who’s hiring.”
Back home Brady wished he could get drunk or high, but he still hated the taste of booze and didn’t have any weed. Besides, he didn’t want to do anything in front of Peter, who kept begging to go out with him somewhere.
“Nah, there’s nowhere someone your age can go tonight. And I gotta go to work.”
“This late?”
“Yeah. I’m closing up. I’ll be home after midnight.”
“I’m staying up. Gonna watch the year change on TV.”
Adamsville State Penitentiary
At a little after 11 p.m., the warden left Thomas’s office at the sound of his phone.
He returned a minute later. “The process has begun. We’d better go.”
It surprised Thomas that even being with the warden didn’t get him through the security envelopes any faster. With all the media surrounding the place, nothing was left to chance. By the time he and Yanno reached death row, Henry Trenton had been dressed to kill.
The Deacon smiled self-consciously at Thomas. “Haven’t worn a diaper since I was a baby. How do you like my new jumper?”
The man’s khakis and tee had been replaced by a pea green jumpsuit that made him look like a hospital orderly.
“You look fine, Henry.”
“Doc’s been here. I’m healthy and 170 pounds. Know what that means?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Means the drop will be exactly seven feet five inches so I go instantly from a broke neck. Any shorter, I suffer. Takes a while to strangle, you know. Nice of them not to want me to suffer, eh? If the drop is any longer, I could be decapitated. Wouldn’t that be a mess?”
Thomas didn’t know what to say. Was this normal, this macabre conversation just before the end? “Can I do anything for you, Henry?”
Trenton looked irritated. “Do anything for me? Short of getting me out of here, no.”
“You know what I mean. I could read to you, er, recite for you, anyway. Pray for you. Whatever you want.”
“I told you, Reverend. You know what I want. No Bible. And no prayer.”
“If you change your mind—”
“I won’t be changing my mind.”
“People are praying for you, Henry.”
“I don’t need to hear that either. Most people are praying something goes wrong and this is the most inhumane sentence ever carried out. They hope the rope snaps and I survive the drop, only to strangle to death on the floor with my legs broken.”
“No, no—”
“Oh, stop. It’d be too good for me and you know it.”
“Do you want to discuss what I know, Henry?”
“No! Let’s talk about something else.”
“What would you like to talk about?”
“My family.”
“Tell me about them.”
Henry called them vile names. “They abandoned me. Can’t blame them, I guess.”
“When was the last time you heard from them?”
“Got a letter about seven years ago from a nephew I’d never met. Said he wanted to come visit me. I actually looked forward to that. Got it all approved and set up, and then I got word that he had not cleared it with the rest and they were refusing to allow it. The kid was of age, could make his own decisions. Guess he finally did. Decided to obey. Never heard from him again.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I,” Henry said.
Thomas looked in his eyes. “Are you?”
“That they turned their backs on me, sure.”
Corrections officers arrived and asked Henry to slide his hands through the meal slot so he could be cuffed. Then they entered his cell and manacled his ankles. He emerged, led by one officer, flanked by two, and trailed by another. The warden hung back, allowing Thomas to follow the last officer.
Dreading the final moment, Thomas decided the mere sight and sound of the approach was awful