Trailer Trash: The Life and Death of Eddie Ray Pickens
Description
On a wintry night in 1989, in the parking lot behind a Gainesville, TX beer joint, a young man’s life met a brutal end. Billy Tate has lived with his grandparents in Shady Oaks, a trailer park on the outskirts of town, since his mother left him there at the age of twelve, mysteriously never to return. Billy, his cousin Leland and their neighbor, Eddie Ray, had been the best of friends growing up in the small north Texas town of Gainesville. In the whims of adolescence, Billy and Eddie Ray commit a seemingly innocuous crime that escalates into Eddie Ray’s incarceration. Not to let the both of them take the fall, the boys make a vow never to divulge the details of their offense. The result is the beginning of Billy’s ascension from Shady Oaks to a better life, and Eddie Ray’s horrific odyssey through the violent Texas penal system.
The conduit throughout Billy and Eddie Ray’s friendship and aftermath has been Billy’s cousin, Leland. Openly gay, he has always been blatantly himself, doing so at his own peril against the epithetical mores of their rural Texas town. As Billy progresses into a deputy sheriff and Eddie Ray hardens in prison, Leland battles with personal and communal demons, all the while maintaining a separate relationship with both of his cousin and his lifelong best friend. Only when Leland meets his violent death do Eddie Ray and Billy reunite. The boundaries began to blur as Eddie Ray, still haunted by his own cowardice ten years before, discovers upon the realities of Leland’s death and the unforeseen depths of their relationships.
Trailer Trash: The Life and Death of Eddie Ray Pickens brings together all the elements of Billy’s abandonment by his mother, his unrelenting guilt toward Eddie Ray, and the haunting promise that he made as a boy. Through a nationally spotlighted murder trial with vehement special interests, Billy must decide between honoring his commitment and divulging his secret to New York Times reporter and love interest Ava SanGiancuomo, who desperately wants to know the real deal. In the end, it is this ultimate promise that leads to the eventual demise of his old friend, Eddie Ray Pickens.
The conduit throughout Billy and Eddie Ray’s friendship and aftermath has been Billy’s cousin, Leland. Openly gay, he has always been blatantly himself, doing so at his own peril against the epithetical mores of their rural Texas town. As Billy progresses into a deputy sheriff and Eddie Ray hardens in prison, Leland battles with personal and communal demons, all the while maintaining a separate relationship with both of his cousin and his lifelong best friend. Only when Leland meets his violent death do Eddie Ray and Billy reunite. The boundaries began to blur as Eddie Ray, still haunted by his own cowardice ten years before, discovers upon the realities of Leland’s death and the unforeseen depths of their relationships.
Trailer Trash: The Life and Death of Eddie Ray Pickens brings together all the elements of Billy’s abandonment by his mother, his unrelenting guilt toward Eddie Ray, and the haunting promise that he made as a boy. Through a nationally spotlighted murder trial with vehement special interests, Billy must decide between honoring his commitment and divulging his secret to New York Times reporter and love interest Ava SanGiancuomo, who desperately wants to know the real deal. In the end, it is this ultimate promise that leads to the eventual demise of his old friend, Eddie Ray Pickens.
