Once again, he questioned whether or not he had made a truly moronic error. For a while, they ate in silence, until he finally broke. Inquiringly: "So, are you from around here?" After giving him a look that would have peeled paint, Jessey shrugged. Says she, "I grew up on the outskirts of town. One of my family's properties is located close to Green bluff. That means she grew up in the country. She always seemed like a nice person, so that's not surprising. Probably also came from one of those picture-perfect homes, where mom never left them alone with a bad book before bedtime and dad never got drunk and yelled at them. The burger tasted bitter on his tongue. Life as a child certainly hadn't been a fairy tale, but that hardly mattered any longer. He and Dodge escaped and eventually b