i pound my hand against the wheel . my strength came from my words , and i 'd battle him with those until i 'd won . her dark eyes narrow like the closing of the gates of hell . mack had left most of it to his mother , mary jo and lori . `` oh , there are ways to get him to tell us . '' he does n't have the brains for this . '' i tried not to think about the whole thing , but the harder i tried , the easier dark thoughts crept into my head . 