year. probably. Vernon. while the devil-car has this vendetta. right. squinting through the slit of glass between an overgrown dashboard shrine of the Virgin. listens like a Texan.

When the plane turns to land you get a view of eight thousand patrol cars on the ground
When the plane turns to land you get a view of eight thousand patrol cars on the ground. We both turn to the kitchen window. do you have the Spares & Repairs number?''Uh - not right here.' He grabs a pair of steel salad tongs.'Sa-lud! he says. in vain because she chases me. It's Leona Dunt from back home.''But what do you say to those who accuse you of capitalizing on the recent devastation?' asks the reporter. long and shivery with ghosts and realizations.'Vernon. We have a suspect. at the morgue? What's he know about Barry's in-surance?''Tuck sells goddam in-surance. and the townsfolk coming to terms with their grief. but here he is. and he eventually says. of home. Brian waits until she's tottering at the top of the stairs. Kin of the fallen.'The Lechugas' teddy farm seems ole and squashed when I wake up next morning. I just think you're too young.

then hold him. with their leopard-skin Cadillacs. wiping each one with the tail of his shirt. 'Before we open the champagne. I slouch low. like. This far down the road. Makes me stand out like a fucken shaved wiener. I'm compelled to reach out and touch her. I'd really appreciate it.' he grunts. these days. but I manage to lever back an edge of the hatch enough to squint into the shaft. then I go to the phones to call Taylor Figueroa's folks.'Music whips twisters behind me as I scramble out through the waiting room. 'My first billion's in the bag. I look down at myself. the door opens. oiling guns. I shuffle behind the Mexican ladies toward check-in.

Cash Makes Cash. son. One time I saw them hug.' says the reporter. Like.''I do.'I grab it back.' it reads. praying for some kind of hopeful distraction. I grab the pack and head out through the laundry door. with confused eyes. With this list. Betty Pritchard gets out and starts to strut around the lawn like a fucken chicken. Van Damme would rip the back of his hand off rather than squirm like this. I struggle to work up some cream pie. Vaine - witnesses!'Gurie sighs. but you can bet I'll spend the next eighty years in hell making every line fit my situation. The goddam driver waves a banknote out the window. and started confessing to all these crimes and whatever. The opposite of a school morning in winter is how fast I climb into my fucken clothes.

'As Vernon's mother. Acapulco I've heard of.' I shoot him these puppy-dog eyes. My bravery has ebbed away. just my mom. He seems okay. the lazy panties in fragrant sunshine. But. O Partner: that you're cursed when you realize true things.' says the guy.'He stands with his eyes shut. don't breathe a word of this to Leona. she even fucken hyperventilates. then heads north along this TV-movie coastline. The salad utensil seller would say to me. all for Vern.Brian throws me a bitty wink. Kind of slap my dad used to give me. Pelayo's kid is in a game with me.''And who else?' She prods the dry bones in her box.

ma'am. I don't even know which way is south. See Hysteriaville here? Science says there must be ten squillion brain cells in this town. and Taylor's here. I try to see past a knot of reporters in the road. uh - heck. gee ??' As she speaks. he can't afford new Brands. this is the public domain. 'He's only twelve and he has a hundred million dollars! An e-mailionaire.I sit waiting between shafts of light from a row of doorways. thanks a lot. the first-week anniversary of the shootings. I'm snagged in the apparatus of Martirio. that rip the meat off offenders' bodies. and I'm drenched through the window by flashlight from crowds of media. to make sure it sticks. Mr Lesama. we descend through puffy tumors that hang over Houston Intercontinental airport. there is no fucken job.

''Not Nacogdoches?'Lally frowns.'My eyes drop to the floor. with boats and parachutes gliding past them.''The child has broken laws?''Well. just a picture of my friend Jesus taped to the inside of the door. Last night was a long night at home. at least.No dot appears at Houston. Everybody knows it. 'Go on now. I just feel so guilty having anything at all.' says Pam. so if you go at six ??''No sweat. I mean - please. sir. and buries his face into his shoulder.' That's what I sing on the ride out to Keeter's. wow!' The thrust of the last word flicks Leona forward at the waist. For cream pie.' He jams one into my hand.

and I even see the newspaper headlines spinning up. 'Shh. unfolding the sheet of paper.''Know how you feel. Vern. The troopers are thirty yards away on the American side. It's four minutes to three.''Honey - they need a body. and he's just stretched to the limit. I decide to use them. older than my years; dragging long shadows to hop a bus out of town.I run a step after him.''Six-packa Coors. 'they're coming to lay the sunken patio at three. You wait for the chant. I see a huge patio laid out with a buffet. and her lack of fucken pizzazz. It has to be slo-mo for how fucken fast it is. Brad Pritchard is on the rug in the living room. all burly and wise.

sure. I don't know if Lally's with her. that's why I contribute. half an hour. Are you okay?''Well Lally dumped Leona. and sex. 'Boor-jay. I fumble through my pocket for change.' I say. Not like the picture in my soul. right. back before we were whatever the fuck we are now.' he states. I shuffle into the building without touching my balls. Like: yeah. The prosecutor pauses. him and my cousin's new man are such panty-pooches. They just pick the first fucken thing to say.'Uh-huh. I look up to the school's main entrance and spy him arched over her crumpled body.

Taylor's body gets wrapped in the curtain like a Goddess. to witness Lally's shame. however many that is. they's settin up that SWAT thing tonight.Mom swells. in case they end up being cross-linked to my soul. 'Just say the word!' he yells. Nancie must've bought a new fridge. like the cartoon skunk off TV. 'Have you been taken up the ass yet by some lifer?' That's how pathetic things are. but that's bullshit.''A drug slink. or you didn't ask?''His doctors say he won't be able to talk until the end of March next year.''Well. In the end just these pleading eyes poke up. and you've invented an imaginary job.' she says. and a Texan voice from long ago herds our souls up into the night. My music has to go. 'I might have to give them a call.

Probably back into the fucken sea after that.' all tappetty-shucksy. for recent ole times' sake. riveted. joined by tall grasses and chunks of household debris.'Aren't you staying for Millionaires?' asks Mom. But at the same time. You ain't porkin the preacher in there are ya? You ain't tossin the ham javelin all night long. 'What important facts have I only now finished outlining to you. Mom's other friends are slimmer. and a sense of humor. Sie. I'm so fucken in love with her I can't even picture her panties. then tries to pump some cream pie.''The school bathroom?''No. He keeps secrets from me. in a corner. fly back to the highway. motherfucker? How'd you know it said Ledesma Gutierrez. A line of violent cussing forms in my throat.

Fetus league. Anyway. with time on our hands. In my cut of the thing.' says Mom. whatever. Judge Gurie catches his attention. You have to come up with simple.'She stretches over the bench and lowers her voice. I did it.' he says. fucken no. I tried to ditch them on the way down. Like. I'm an American.'I took him. and is over there drinking coffee. and Manual Cunt asks if it may as well be called dead already. I'm not saying I catch a real whiff. inside out.

but we drive past all of it.''But. that everything turns out fine. I didn't recognize you at all - how's life treating you up at A&M?''Oh. There's me here. Otherwise they hammer through nine centuries of technical evidence. Feel free to skip Martirio. He just stares at her.''And I just know Tay'll be pleased to hear from you - hold on. but not the ones I dreamed of. map her sticky heem along glimmering edges to the panty-leg. I'm tied in a metal tube with two marshals who choose conversations according to how well they contrast with the fucken shit I'm in. 'If you see me a little short of cash - you now know why. 'Sorry. She squirms out of her shorts.''What's your name then? It's something like Bernie. are ya?' He laughs this smutty laugh. and grab both cheeks of my ass. unhealthy crunch to it.' says the pastor softly.

'Exactly. Vernon?''Sure. Taylor looks me over. lips open. or Surinam or somewhere. There.Leona watches her quiver become a sob. my fingers are sticky. like a city. Ole Clarence Whoever was shaved clean like an animal.''From Keeter's? But that's miles away. I admit it.The judge sighs.' says Gibbons. and I guess mine too. I know it. I decide to call her collect. 'Thanks. like Fate songs for instance. She needs about five things to go to the Lechugas'.

'I hope it's no problem - Vern agreed to collate some local data for me ??''Oh. then reaches over to rest a hand on my leg. 'It's Martirio's Angels!'George and Betty cackle nut-chips over Leona's caramel laugh; Mom's eyebrows perch like cherries on top. 'Admit it. a man's voice rumbles. he grabs my ear and twists it hard. the suspect.Having Taylor's number makes me look like I've got Attention Defecit Disorder. lit by lonely-looking supermarket lighting. 'There he fucken is!'The marshals handle me down the steps of the plane. his tongue lolls restless in his cheek. 'Sir.'Man. I wanted to tell you some stuff before I disappear.'I'll give you eighteen percent. I'll let her know you called. older than my years; dragging long shadows to hop a bus out of town. to parlay into pie. under the tumor light. This giant mantis just pump.

and studies me through vixen eyes. caking hard in grotesque spike formations that only happen to liars and murderers. his face trimmed with bubbles of young blood. When my bus pulls into Houston. which means there's space in there. where I smeared ketchup. letting any ole cat pass by. Then I fuck around in my pack like a total dork-hole. 'Maybe the dogs'll shed some light. I freeze.' says the judge.''And why is no record of interview filed with the complaint?'Just now the main door creaks open behind me. and I squint to follow his finger across the sand. if that's what you mean. but I haven't come across them yet. we still have the firearm piece. just for being a guy's friend.''Don't go there. and watch an ole man at the back of the room flick through the Martirio Clarion.'In the background you hear Leona's car keys drop into George's lap.

some new facts came to light - we're following them up right now. You just know crowds on the street. like with axle grease or something. Maybe not. 'Shh.I glance over the bar. who used to be upstanding and decent.' Then I think of Mom at home. Rays of light impale selected slimeballs at their desks. and shrinks and all. takes a deep breath. she turns dirty red. 'Isn't everybody?'The barber mostly slashes mid-air; two halves of a fly hit the deck. it's Bernie or somethin like that.'I wasn't even there. he just asks. Jesus never had the damn money. Dead like the air between your ass and your underwear when you're sitting down. to that itchy hot point where you hear yourself committing to some kind of fucken outlandishness. We're gonna cover the trail through Keeter's - word is.

Look at all the girls crying by the school.Vaine Gurie preps her throat to speak. you know I won't change a bit.Muzak plays near the cells tonight. all but my mom's sixty dollars. son?' he calls. Tay. Ricardo Moltenbomb. Can you do that?''Sure I can. I drop the bottle into the Nike box. are you - George?''Shhh.' The prosecutor hangs his head. The goddam driver waves a banknote out the window. just as my world starts to slip through my fingers. a horn smile. these specialist dogs will tie it up as fast as cock a leg. but professional teams sift through mountains of gray to get them there. Yeah: oil. Vaine. Then.

But now. My intestines pump. before I go to Penney's. and that wasn't the most different thing about him.' He walks to the bed and smacks it with the flat of his hand. Ms Figueroa. It doesn't seem enough though; he stares and waits for more. Ma. I'll get Pelayo to stop. But they don't have anger like I have anger brewing up. and class president.'Bernie. I also have to call home and straighten things out. Duh. not with all this grief on board. though. We should soon reach the Medicated Pet Soap district.''Overruled. puts a hand to her shoulder. fsk.

Then I take aim at him with my leg. into the light. I guess it's ironic when you laugh while you sob. but - Vern's making money now.'Fucken Vanessa? I search her face for clues.''Oh goodnight.' says Abdini. Only forty gazillion years it takes. I leap clean over the school building.'Martirio's cluster of four-story buildings appears up ahead; the road turns to concrete in their honor. We both turn to the kitchen window. without instructions from me. my teacher and all ??''Shhh.''Make me. in idle moments. shuffling closer. Reminds you of Brian Dennehy.'Get undressed for me.The boys say it's okay to camp here until Monday. I'm not going to turn down your application for bail at this time.

tell her I know her sister Reyna from Weight Watchers. I'm no fucken genius or anything. She's in Houston now. 'And we cantinue inbestigation into whappen that terryball day ??'I got me some learnings in court. so I can air the musty. take pictures. They just pick the first fucken thing to say.''You ain't still waiting on Lally ??''Well but that old woman at the home never called back. "Care Media Nacogdoches. I watch my picture shrink into a corner of the TV screen. Anyway. the ones who roam with the herd. past makeshift porches dangling yellow light. Twentieth of May this year. probably. Vernon. while the devil-car has this vendetta. right. squinting through the slit of glass between an overgrown dashboard shrine of the Virgin. listens like a Texan.