she walked back down off the porch and stood there staring at the house , hoping that maybe she could wake her grandmother up . the air explodes out of my lungs in a wet cough . id pay you to bust up the back , sugar pie , i sure would . probably was n't much of anything anyway . this should have concerned me more than it did . a voice from the past played in my head . they were ready for what may lay ahead . he had not been here to protect his younger sister . 