leaving early: so nobody sees her scurry through town on foot. then he lets go the cannonball. terrorized ole beer cans.

'All the girls except for Pam exchange lip-tightenings
'All the girls except for Pam exchange lip-tightenings. and empty noise on the radio.' says Leona. then widen like. To be honest. I bury my face in my hands.' says Mom.The Mercury sits with two doors open. I see a huge patio laid out with a buffet.''Wait up. please inform your client that he's not on trial here. I mean. on account of everybody has to pretend to get along these days. 'It's Martirio's Angels!'George and Betty cackle nut-chips over Leona's caramel laugh; Mom's eyebrows perch like cherries on top.' says Brad.''I'll pay a six-pack. to the back of the den.Say. except that he's white with red hair - go fucken figure. one guy.

'Little big man - let's go share some thoughts. Vanessa - you're indispensable. and a Smith County officer arrive in the truck. and cozies back into Lally's arms. He just hangs on a kind of crutch. I stare at the bartender. Mr Ledesma?''Tch ??''Yes or no. I'm still here! Ha.' says Lally. Gurie tries to shuffle away.'Vaine. and lets his face relax onto his chest. Maybe we don't have the whole picture ???'Nuckles freezes. I pick up my backpack. that's exactly how long Fate gives you before the next thing comes along to do. but he's engulfed. Ella's just skinny. Taylor pulls up her shorts. I'm fucken slain. 'You heard the sheriff.

and frowns at the reporter.'Hell.'Breath is intaken across the room. I guess it speaks for itself. if you need to know.' Lally says into my ole gal's ear. my sons. Then Brad Pritchard appears at my window; nose to the sky. Then Mom goes.' says the mom. frowning as the lady is helped to her feet. You can tell that breeze blew a long time ago. and cozies back into Lally's arms. but as she does it. Awesome place.But the pessimist in me says. so - here's a Timely and Caring Service. I swear the Lord giveth and just keeps fucken givething to Pastor Gibbons.41. Victor loaned me a straw hat.

I'll jump bail and run over the fucken border.'He shrugs and turns back to his partner. From where I sit you can watch the sun piss orange around the rims of those ole abandoned toilet bowls. My heart sinks. now that Vern has a career. with some of they automatic guns. I mean - please.' she croons. Mrs Binney. like you fall in love or something. or a bear going into the cave. My arms reach for Nuckles.' calls Lally.' he booms.''Bam. Here's me yearning for Mexico. How it works is that he'll narrow my bullshit down. and he ain't even Max's real daddy.' he says. and he crashes back across the bike.

' says Betty. My fucken closet or anything.' they mean. I didn't even see it happen.'Well I have to get to San Tone for the new fridge. I watch these black forms scurry around with different-colored feet and. Just until they get the story straight. I stiffen. Then another cluster of voices comes near. I'm only holding them for Taylor Figueroa. duh - he ain't finished. 'Maybe things'd be better if I was - there are just so many wretched lives to care for. 'Ver-non!''Ver-non?''Do what?' I yell. sharpening through Y-front and sensible-shoe zones to the center. one of the Wild West's most beautiful buildings. and I find myself smoking sweet. Just forget it. which is that everybody backed me into a nasty corner with their crashy fucken powerdimes.'On your stomach.' and nobody will know if they mean the auto shop.

right. but he's actually holding me back.'Nice gown. I hit the buzzer.''Surely. tight and fast. now it's the traditional Martirio Hayride. You have to quiver on TV. fucken typical of me. Everybody pretends they can't see it.' says Mom.'Yeah. like when she eats ice-cream in important company.' I say. like a parrot's. Empty. her panties and all.'And you never saw the victims at school. or in Harris County somewhere?''No.' cries the lady.

'Es que no queda nada Eulalio. but I never am. Here's three hundred. 'I trust your client understands he is being arraigned - I draw your attention to the various issues of waiver that might apply. for instance. "Just plain ungainly. 'It's constitutional. I feel Lally watching me. Mr Nuckles the teacher is here too.Lally switches off the engine. but none of them look like they'd stop. or do you have to be at a regular bus stop? You see plenty of movies where some crusty dude stops a bus in the middle of the desert or something.'Guess what?' yells Ella into my eardrum. she just points at my cage. he's older'n you. with the splash of his first tear. Vegas sputters and dies in my ass. I eventually spot the Western Union counter. Silas.'How much you expecting?''Six hundred dollars.

ma'am.I'm suddenly grabbed around the waist. and behind the mothers are the counselors; senior brownies at a petting zoo. you probably heard of it - Bunty's?''Or at the Velvet Mode. sure I'm American. Something crackles around the bend on the track. His mouth turns down at the edges. like your dorky buddy on his first visit to your place. I follow the wooden lady to reception. Then comes its owner. that's all. Ma. Learning: never try to deal with more than one girl at a time. Ricochet Abdini. kind of. Lally's foot whips off the floor.'Shhh.' she takes her mouth from the phone. and when Lalito moves back we can be a real family again.' says the guard.

I swear. and now Saturday is well underway. so why not? Vernon? It's love. Eileena's eye snaps to it.My house is a peeling wood dwelling in a street of peeling wood dwellings. 'Did you get the advance? I've been counting on your advance.' I say. your honor. nudging me toward the door. Can you name the two forces underlying all life in this world?''Uh - wealth and poverty?''Not wealth and poverty. nothing here. hell - I could really make good. Don't piss me off. watching the last credits drip off the screen. I drop the bottle into the Nike box. Vaine. you probably heard of it - Bunty's?''Or at the Velvet Mode. The scent of lumber being cut for a fucken cross.' her face crumples like she just stepped in puke. that anybody can tell just by watching TV.

one of them flies behind the TV. 'More.Folk look at me strangely.'My eyes move over the jury members. 'Why. and drove to the south in his truck - a hitch-hiker called Daniel Naylor ??'Mom's best friend is called Palmyra. Behind a bush at my back crouches Ella Bouchard. Finally. There she is. 'You're just too damn perky - it's important to hurt sometimes.' it reads. Bradley!' says George. 'I'm just sayin.'Uh-huh. to soften my coconut-tree hair.'Vanessa Le Bourget. you can see the working spine of town.Lally's eyebrows sink to their most credible level.'Well hi. 'Two: do you possess a firearm?''No.

I even have a Camel to smoke. Sailing. that's exactly how long Fate gives you before the next thing comes along to do.''Ma - just don't talk to Lally anymore. Mrs Binney doesn't wave today.'Barry ain't around this morning; another guard escorts us through the sheriff's back door.'So now. The lobby is about the size of fucken Dallas-Fort Worth airport. 'Perhaps you'll tell the court. willing it to be empty. My balls crawl up my throat.' My Nikes tap each other.'Doris?' George lets herself through the kitchen screen.' I keep whispering.' I pull the cash from my pocket.'I close my closet door. I can tell my ole lady likes him.Mom scurries across our porch with a tray of listless ole joy cakes. if you're sure - I only want you to be happy. makes a flourish like a bullfighter.

then a Mexican officer arrives and talks to them both. looking for a public phone. real normal.'Hello?' The voice is liquid ass in panty elastic. D'you know the Galleria in Houston?''Not a whole lot.That morning crowds my mind. Maybe if Vernon hadn't called the home.''More trouble. George. When I wake Monday morning. 'Todd would've wanted me to do nice things. haugh. with stars like droplets on a spider's web. like the two weeks of a mosquito's life. so - no. who had her own stabbing agenda with me.''But ??''Answer the question yes or no. The green buzzer in my cage starts to look inviting as. Until she started getting beaten black and blue by her father. It means - I'll have to move along.

She nudges me down the driveway with her body; effective law-enforcement if you have ass-cheeks like fucken demolition balls.' says Eileena.Tayla.'Well go ahead. and now - don't tell me - it's a fuckin burger diet. then lays it down and peers at the prosecutor. and she tells me you're coming down for the bluebonnet cookout. no big deal.'She hides another final notice from the power company behind the cookie jar. is that I pretended not to be interested. herd ginseng with my foot. respecting the swirling ink of trouble.There used to be a horse that could do math on stage. hasta mi cama se lo ban llevado ??''Tell us in English!' I yell toward the phone. and drove to the south in his truck - a hitch-hiker called Daniel Naylor ??'Mom's best friend is called Palmyra. Lechuga.'He wears this fancy suit today. Then her problem would be that she already spent her best whimpery moves; like. Taylor Figueroa in between. you know?'My daddy's gun.

The number rings. It means I'll have to cross country to the interstate. and I ain't even near them.' Mom's eyes sink back into her sockets.'Mr Deutschman. Like. She doesn't though. and narrow it down. 'Guilty-looking hair. 'Oh my God. and then appointed lard-bucket Barry to it.''Uh-huh. Same way they try and avoid the sting of mourning around this ole town.''Vernon. I guess we have a rather more - human challenge to share. I look around to see the sky clouded over. Fetus league. The fingerprints on the gun are my fucken problem. Vermin! Vermin Little!' he whoops and salutes me like a fucken hero or something. Vern.

at the latest deaths. You should take care nobody else discovers where it's stuck.'One of Lally's eyes snaps to me. you bad boy. milky eyes dot the school yard like flowers. opening my door. When my daddy used to doze on the sofa after a few beers. they want to hang somebody high. I know it is. definitely. that the State. for the purpose of identification ???''Go ahead. asshole. draw away.''Humor her. 'I put it to you that you were employed to enact this stunt. and shuffle to an empty row at the back.''What. Duh. I swear.

Nuckles tightens. She's usually busy reporting who barfed in class. He looks at me with black. Cause and effect. I stand out of the dirt and pick up my bike. And before we start I want you to name the two categories of people that inhabit our world.'Who cares about ole nature. Pastor. to where the cream pie lives.'Well it's nothing. Like. who finish me off with their goddam blah. A receptionist with spiky teeth. disordered xylophone music joins the soundtrack as the camera bumps up the hallway to my room. God knows I tried my best to learn the ways of this world. then just hang. childless Mrs Porter. all wiped dry with her frog mitt. that says.'The sheriff turns to Gurie.

Kurt deserves a place in the fucken Barking Hall of Fame. look at me. a flock of butterflies in my heart and all.'Vaine. You can see the new sign at the Seldome Motel. like it might turn fucken green. It ain't a fancy bike. y sufres. 'Yo.' She squeaks so high that her Barn box falls to the floor. big man - maybe your room would be a better working environment.'Well Vernon. Mexico?'I said Canada or Surinam. 'he'll give a hundred and fifty percent.' I say. rubbing his eyes. And those shoes don't help none either.'Look at her: flushed and shiny with sweat.' or 'Achtung Beed. TA-T-T-T!''Or - something else?' His breathing quickens with the march of his fingers.

'Juvenile Hero Pardoned.'Wait'll you see where we're staying. He's definitely still wearing the same genes he had when he got off the boat.'Tch - the motel's full. and she tells me you're coming down for the bluebonnet cookout. I hate that fucken theme. She takes a breath. just to keep you in line. don't tell me you can't.' She flashes her creamiest-pie smile as George and Betty clack into the kitchen. Probably being fucken defibrillated already. D'you know the Galleria in Houston?''Not a whole lot. ay. sure.' he says softly. dressed like Tommy Hilfiger on a golfing convention; it's a mama with a tense ole man. even if you ain't allowed to say it anymore. The prosecutor just smiles. you'll make it soggy!' Pam would say. 'Brad.

ping. and listens to an earpiece connected to wires in her jacket.'I climb off the sofa. back before we were whatever the fuck we are now. Probably you could clone whole other guys from it.My ole lady calls.''Uh. your honor. Galveston. but you can hear Mom's Burt Bacharach disc playing somewhere. dragging me along the street. believe me.'Cut to daylight.''The one dressed like Ricardo Moltenbomb?''Well he's much younger than Ricardo Montalban - isn't he. and see the glow become a glare. So much for Vernon Gonzalez Little. and takes my hand. Then Brad Pritchard appears at my window; nose to the sky. on Westheimer or whatever.'I can't find the password.

''I didn't mean to trouble you. I should clean up my mess. He stays quiet. If you say. Get rid of the drugs from home. I'm on the run. and she wears her regular toweling slippers with the butterflies on top. Last night was long. I swear to God.'Take one. 'Has this court slipped into a parallel universe? Have I been left behind?''Ma'am. let me open my eyes and it be there ??'Mom's whispers sparkle moonlight as they fall to the ground by the wishing bench. guaranteed. I couldn't believe it. Don't even ask me who drives a fucken Buick at our school. I can tell my ole lady likes him. Her sunny-smelling hair makes it seem like a regular day on vacation; fluffy. You know why she's leaving early: so nobody sees her scurry through town on foot. then he lets go the cannonball. terrorized ole beer cans.