Trip to the Big House

Pearlie switches her tape player back on, resumes the rhythmic swaying of her head. "Lord, you got the power in your hands," she sings. It's already dark outside, the van speeding southward on the turnpike toward Orlando. When they arrive at the all-night plaza at about 6:30, the place is full of travelers. This time everyone gets out to have dinner. George buys the early edition of the Miami Herald, in which the main story is about the state's tough new measures to make prisoners serve more of their sentences. By 9:45 or 10:00, they'll be pulling into the Waffle House in West Palm Beach for a brief bathroom stop. The last southbound Tri-Rail train leaves at 10:30.