Fast Lane - Kristen Ashley Page 0,85
even a little bit that this is said in past tense.
“I know—” I start.
Then he says, “I shouldered the burden a long time, brother. I need you to do your part once. Once. And you fell down on the fuckin’ job.”
[Breathes sharply through his nose, then lifts hand to pinch the bridge and drops hand]
[Quietly] He was right.
He was goddamned right.
[After a very lengthy silence, off tape]
McCade’s parents were indicted for murder within a month of that final show in LA.
[Nods]
[Voice is gruff] There’s no statute of limitations for homicide.
As Tom Mancosa was dealing with a nuisance lawsuit that Lyla’s father was lodging, ostensibly to have family heirlooms he claims Lyla’s mother stole from him returned, but in reality, he was using this as a tactic to extort money from McCade, a journalist got through Mancosa’s shield.
He was able to connect directly with McCade.
He was investigating the death of McCade’s six-year-old brother.
[Nods again]
McCade, without Mancosa’s assistance, but in part with the aid of DuShawn Williams and Williams’s family in Louisiana, had successfully buried this information as the band gained status and fame.
At the same time, McCade had plans to take a different tack.
Somehow this journalist got through the net and McCade was working to stall him from publishing, something this journalist was unhappy about, and thus was putting a significant amount of pressure on McCade to accommodate, or he’d publish without McCade’s involvement.
At the same time, McCade was cooperating with the Lafayette Police Department in Louisiana, as for some time after he’d attained substantial celebrity, McCade had been in contact with them, using that celebrity to urge them to direct resources to the cold case of his missing brother. A case that they’d never actually investigated, because the child was reported missing in Florida.
[Nods again]
Yes.
Baptiste McCade’s remains were found buried under the coffin of McCade’s maternal grandmother.
Yes.
An autopsy concluded he was beaten to death. However, his remains shared his abuse was ongoing, likely from the time he was an infant.
Yes.
Loretta and Oscar Williams refused to be interviewed for the article, though both testified at trial, but other neighbors and acquaintances shared with this journalist information corroborating their testimony.
This being that it was known Preacher McCade was the victim of regular and prolonged abuse at the hands of both of his parents.
Yes.
“Give Then Take” refers to the giving of life, then taking of it, and is the story of an adult male’s anger at his parents for taking the life of his little brother. The lyrics are enraged, but vague. However, given this information going public, the meaning of this song, debated for a long time, and never fully explained by McCade or any member of the Roadmasters, became understood as McCade’s story.
Yes.
Neighbors and acquaintances also shared with the journalist and during trial, McCade was particularly close to Baptiste, and many suggested, due to his protective nature when the boys were seen together, that McCade, with greater and greater frequency, missed school or was visibly bruised, battered or otherwise injured, and this was not solely about the abuse he had been enduring, but that he put himself in the path of the abuse his brother would receive.
Yes.
McCade would testify at both his parents’ trials that he was bound in the basement, after having been beaten, but he heard the murder taking place upstairs.
Yes.
McCade’s parents then reported Baptiste missing from their hotel in Pensacola during a vacation six weeks after the child was actually killed. As it was summer, the absence of the child until then had gone unnoted.
Yes.
At that time, McCade reported to a detective that his parents were providing erroneous information, but as this information was received from a child, it was disregarded.
Yes.
As per your account, McCade kept all that was happening during that tour not only from Lyla, but also Mancosa and the entirety of the band.
Yes.
He was surrounded by his family, but he went through this alone.
[Closes eyes slowly]
Yes.
Jesse:
[Returns to room with two drinks, one mixed with ice—a rum and coke—which he hands off, one a healthy two-finger dose of amber liquid, which he takes back to his seat]
[Off tape]
Thank you.
[Muttering before taking a swallow] Don’t mention it.
I’m sorry, but considering the most recent bent of your story, I feel the need to ask. You drink?
[Lifts drink and grins wanly]
Not really.
A beer now and again.
My baby likes wine, so I take her to Sonoma. Napa. France, ’cause that’s where the really good shit is.
I’ll have a glass with her.
Most of the time, I avoid it.
But after all of