The Knife and the Butterfly

by Ashley Hope Pérez

  Griggs and other legal experts expect a more lenient sentence than Allen would otherwise have received if found guilty of murder. Still, she will likely face a much harsher sentence than if she had accepted the plea bargain offered by the prosecution earlier this month.

  Unless the defense elects to call additional witnesses, the case will likely go to jury when the court reconvenes on Friday.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  The Knife and the Butterfly is a work of fiction. The inspiration for the novel, however, came from an actual event. On June 6, 2006, Ashley Benton stabbed Gabriel Granillo with a double-bladed knife during a gang fight in a Houston park.

  In a statement to the police the following day, Benton asserted, “When he started to run away, that’s when I caught him.” She also laughed repeatedly and described eating at a Mexican restaurant after the stabbing.

  But when Benton was tried for murder in 2007, her lawyers argued that she struck Granillo in self-defense. That trial ended with a hung jury, and Benton later accepted a plea bargain. In exchange for pleading guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, she received five years of probation. After two years, a judge suspended the remaining probation, and Benton was free to go on with her life.

  Of course, by now you know that The Knife and the Butterfly is not a story of courtroom drama; the trials that interest me most take place in the human heart.

  As I wrote The Knife and the Butterfly, Azael and Lexi quickly took on a life quite independent of the “real” Granillo and Benton I read about in the papers. I had to grow into the writer who could tell Azael and Lexi’s story, a story that is much darker—and more hopeful—than I ever imagined starting out. I have done my best to portray faithfully the complex loyalties, relationships, and insecurities of teens on society’s fringe.

  I learned a great deal about MS-13, which has been described by some as the world’s most dangerous gang, but I focused on the particulars of MS-13’s activity in Houston. I also researched street writers (graffiti artists) to understand what making a mark on the city’s face might mean to a teen like Azael. Finally, I explored the particularities of the Salvadoran immigrant community in Houston. Spanish speakers will notice the occasional use of “vos” by Azael’s older relatives, which is characteristic of Salvadoran Spanish, while Azael’s and his peers’ speech reflects the influence of other dialects.

  Above all, I wanted to show Azael and Lexi’s world as much more than just a patchwork of crime and violence. In addition to the very real threat of their circumstances and the danger of poor choices, I hope to have captured these two teens’ vulnerability and their potential for redemption. For teens like Lexi and Azael, the knife is often easier to find than the butterfly, but that doesn’t mean the butterfly isn’t there.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Much gratitude to the following professional rock stars: my agent, Steven Chudney; my editor, Andrew Karre; and Lindsay Matvick, Elizabeth Dingmann, and all the others at Lerner who work behind the scenes to make great books happen. I’m also grateful to Blythe Woolston for blazing trails and sharing her wisdom.

  A special thank you to the turn-around scholars of my freshman English summer school class at Davis High in Houston. I started finding Azael’s voice while we were writing together back in 2007, and you told me that you wanted to hear more of it. I’m glad you put me on the right track.

  To my writing group, thanks for reading the manuscript (twice). To Alisa, thank you for the friendship that makes writing seem possible all over again every time we talk.

  To my families from Kilgore, El Paso, Houston, Denver, and beyond, thank you for believing in my writing. Special thanks to my parents, who can find redemption anywhere and who support me in everything, and to my brother, Justin, who never, never leaves me in the lurch.

  And most of all, thank you to my boys for all the days and nights you shared me with my writing. Arnulfo, thank you for reading and for listening. I still can’t believe my luck. Liam, thank you for your jokes, your laughter, and your besos. You two are the best part of my every day.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Ashley Hope Pérez grew up in Texas and served in the Teach for America Corps in Houston. She has worked as a translator and is completing a PhD in comparative literature. She spends most of her time reading, writing, and teaching college classes on vampire literature and Latin-American women writers. Kirkus called her first novel, What Can’t Wait, “Un magnífico debut.” Ashley lives in Indiana with her husband, Arnulfo, and their son, Liam Miguel. Visit her online at www.ashleyperez.com.