"No. My grandmother. From my mom's side. My mom was Christine L'Angelle, my daddy was John Custer. He fought in Vietnam."
Jesse showed her the silver lighter he'd been holding. A zippo with the words fuck communism across the front. He looked at it himself, then.
"Was given to him by The Duke himself. He met my mom when he was comin home from there. She spit on him. Cause she was protesting the war, you see. Or, said she was to the hippies that gave her a ride. What she was really doin was runnin away from Marie. Funny though, they fell in love. Got to live together for a good long while, too. But Marie's boys eventually found em. Took em back to Angelville. It's here, you know. Angelville. Out in the swamp nearby where that motel is. Bates. I don't go there. Anyway. Neither of them wanted me to grow up to be what Marie wanted. My mom taught me what she could."
Jesse looked down at his hands. He hadn't talked about this in a long time. A very very long time. It still hurt. He guessed that it always would, even if he did end up living forever.
"My daddy thought to escape. But they caught him. They caught him and shot him, and made me watch. Later, when Jody killed my dog and Marie heard me curse, she put me in the coffin." He shook his head. "This punishment she devised. Coffin is sealed tight and has an air tube attached. They put it at the bottom of the swamp and left me there. That's when they killed my mama. While I was down there."
Jesse looked at Lois again. "She came here, too. Marie did. She's dead now. I made goddamned sure of that."