Sycamore Row - John Grisham

ack to the campsite, which was several miles away. One Saturday, some men showed up with
rifles and shotguns. We couldn’t get close enough to hear anything, but our mother told us
later they went to the campsite and ran off all the Rindses. A couple of years after that another
black kid told Seth that Toby and his sister had drowned in the creek, and that some folks had
been shot. I think by then I’d heard enough. Could I have some water?”
A hand slid a glass of water to Ancil, who sipped it slowly. He continued: “When I was
thirteen my parents split. It was a happy day for me. I left with my mother and went to
Corinth, Mississippi. Seth didn’t want to change schools so he stayed with Cleon, though they
rarely spoke to each other. I really missed my brother, but after a while we naturally grew
apart. Then my mother remarried a jackass who was not much better than Cleon. I ran away
when I was sixteen and joined the Navy when I was seventeen. Sometimes I think I’ve been
running ever since. Once I left, I never had any contact with my family. My head is killing me.
That’s all. That’s the end of a really bad story.”