i am requesting a single piece of information . nothing would help me tell her story but an out and out dirty low-down lie . `` then that 's where we need to be . '' the cardboard box i carried felt as if it weighed fifty pounds rather than ten , and i shifted it to my side and took the back porch steps to the driveway . and in so many ways , it was . he slipped a flashlight out of his pocket and shined the light around us . 