Part II

Sometime in early 1930, Bonnie and Clyde robbed a Waco, Texas, store and Clyde left his fingerprints behind. He was identified and tracked down to the Dallas apartment. Clyde was convicted of robbery and given a two-year sentence in the Waco jail but he was not behind bars for long. After Clyde heard that his brother Buck had escaped the Eastham Prison Farm he sent word to Bonnie to visit him in the Waco jail and “bring me a pick-me-up (поддержка).” His reference was to a gun. In the first week of March 1930, Bonnie arrived at the jail and smuggled a .38-caliber Colt with a handle so thin it could be slipped through the bars of Clyde’s cell. This was strapped to Bonnie’s thigh, and when the guard was not looking she passed the weapon to Clyde.

Clyde forced his way out of the Waco jail that night and stole a car, driving northward. He abandoned the car, stole another, and repeated this process several times until jumping a freight train. He was arrested in the freight yard of Middleton, Ohio, as he jumped from a cattle car. Clyde was sent to Eastham Prison Farm, but soon released. When Clyde stepped from the prison farm, his parole in his hand, Bonnie was waiting for him. They stole a car a few days later but were seen driving off and police were soon on their trail, closing in on them at Mabank, Texas, where, in the wild pursuit, Clyde lost control of the car and crashed into a tree. As he had done with his brother Buck years earlier, he jumped from the car, running across the open fields, leaving Bonnie to be captured by police. She was jailed for three months, but on her release she went straight back to Clyde and they resumed their robbery career. They slept like gypsies, mostly on the seats of their cars. They ate cold sandwiches but sometimes stopped at picnic grounds where they roasted hot dogs over open fires-their favorite meal. Bonnie Parker was a celebrity and did all she could to perpetuate the image of the gun-tough mob girl who kept pace with her frantic killer-lover. The Barrows then consisted of five members.

On January 20, 1934, the gang, now swollen by the three escaped convicts, robbed the bank in Lancaster, Texas taking a small amount. The barrow gang was the most sought-after group of criminals in the country. Clyde was already credited with killing between fifteen to twenty persons, and lawmen knew he would not hesitate to murder at any time. An army of lawmen made several attempts to catch the gang and once they managed to wound four members; Buck Barrow was in the worst shape.

At last on May 23, 1934, the story of Bonnie and Clyde came to an end. The lawmen saw a fast moving car on the road. Clyde was at the wheel, wearing dark glasses and driving in his socks. Bonnie sat beside him wearing a new red dress and red shoes she had purchased some weeks earlier. Under Bonnie’s front seat were fifteen stolen license plates (these were changed each day to avoid detection) and behind her, in the back seat on the floor, was an arsenal consisting of eleven pistols, a revolver, a shotgun, three Browning Automatic Rifles, and more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition. The lawmen let loose a terrifying fusillade which poured into Clyde’s car, like heavy rain falling , a thunderous blast of rapid-fire weapons that caught the bandits full force, riddling the outlaws.

1. What was Clyde accused of?

2. How did Bonnie manage to pass the gun to Clyde?

3. What was the life style of Bonnie and Clyde?

4. When and how did the story of Bonnie and Clyde come to an end?