He parked next to Alton's battered, rusted truck and grudgingly followed the man to the decrepit shack. "Man, looks like you was better off in jail," Buford thought to himself. He gingerly climbed up the steps to the door; the stairs looked ready to splinter away from the shack. "Daddy!" Norma happily screamed when Alton entered the shack. Buford stepped onto the plywood floor and cringed as the wood sagged underneath his weight. He was sure the wood would give way and he would plunge into the brackish waters beneath the shack. Buford looked up from his feet as an attractive blonde hug his cousin. If Alton's smell bothered her, she did not let it show as she clung to him, babbling happily. "Man, cher, missed you yeah," Alton said and kissed the girl on her lips. "Oh, Cher! This here

