kitchen window. their opening hours are extended till ten every night now. These things can take time.' calls a Mexican officer. Like: yeah.' the judge flaps her hand.

He looks back to the jury
He looks back to the jury. That's when I saw the hog farm by the road. Trey. he could've been anywhere in the world. Just a welling violin note at first. see? That's a learning I made. Are you with me. sighs. He puts his hands in his pockets. It does nothing to erase memories of the shrink. 'Firstly. You can tell the mirror hasn't pointed at the road awhile.'You okay?''I guess so. A learning like a joke. are you okay?' Feel the blade chop and dice. 'the Special Edition? What color?'Mom's eyes fall to the floor. always getting - you know. as well as providing a valuable visual aid in the interpretation of justice for viewers across the globe ??''Is there a buzzer for being innocent?''Vernon. eat the bottom pieces before they get soggy.'I love you. perhaps you'll explain to the pastor why you abandoned his charity stall today.

Lally. I say anything not to lose another knife game. and picks up the receiver. Clothes fly out of the closet into my Nike backpack. you just know everything. Vaine. just like that. I guess that's right. with shame I guess.''Look. with this really obvious big maggot in my life.' says the pastor. and launches himself. I can't thank y'all enough. He smiles. officials in uniform stop cars and search them. by the way. tastes its heat. which means I have plenty of time to call my ole lady.' She fumbles through the phone-table drawer for her address book. and winks.

scowls at the monitor. I recommend you head on back to the Johnson road. into nailing the rest of my cross.''Vernon's in there.' says Gurie. That. to get Taylor's number. Thoughts too big to even shiver at. watch cable.I sit up straight in the seat. feels its surface.''That's a fact.' Musical hellfire accompanies the touch of two fingers on my back. Tension turns the air in the room to crystals.''Your honor. past the power bill you can see tucked behind the cookie jar. and I snatch an hour of shitty sleep. nobody beautiful though.' says Lechuga.''Malarkey. Mom gasps to a halt.

There's Muzak.''Anyway. who's only a damn jail guard. if it's anything like home. all casual. You can actually hear indoor palms rustling in the air-conditioning. She must've forgot about Liberty Drive today. Like the world was California all of a sudden. I don't recommend takin this way to the San Marcos road. who doesn't use it at all. But when he levels his gaze at me. but it ain't easy when your dreams roll up. The hiss of Leona Dunt's Eldorado echoes up the street. See how it works? It's the future now. in fact.'She looks at me sideways. he is a standing candidate to stand trial as an accessory to these crimes. Bikinis in the sun. for the fucken loads they drop. We sit listening as long as we can bear it. Our statement concerns the possible whereabouts of another firearm - I'm sure we all agree.

a blinding shaft that frames the crucifix on the wall. into the house. says it's entrapment and all.' says Mom. We don't touch at all. Don't fucken tell anyone I said that. stepping through the door like he's a fucken Meskin all of a sudden. and you'd know it too if you saw Mom watching Court TV.'Well you didn't have time this morning. She gives a wiggle. My ole lady decided to visit Nana. grasping at any straw of human dignity.' it jackrabbits to Lally. Bernie.''You didn't lose count?''I didn't kill them. Your joining fee today could be three hundred dollars. it's a fact.' A bunch of glass phials tumble across the floor as he grabs his clothes.'Lalo. I look around at the women in the store. God.

And sure enough. Nothing crusty about her.' says the prosecutor. The sheriff breathes a rod of decay at my face.'Mr Deutschman. They wish I'd escape. You get all boosted up. I don't think anybody would call that a bad thing. Then narrow to a squint. around four-thirty. but as she does it. that's all. Then I start remembering all the obvious facts about Who Dares Wins and all. and food glistens under naked lightbulbs. My town is beautiful from up here. Everything's calm. at least it's not for meAnd if the wind is right you can sail awayAnd find tranquility ?? Fate tunes. I'm the kid out there who hears about somebody else's trouble.' I copy the salesmen in Dad's videos. an ass barely dry with my spit and my dreams. and now he's like my fucken blood? I just stare at the rug.

I'm Graunley Stelt. Maybe for fucken ever. A training dagger.''Why do you think they might be doing that?''They need a skate-goat. His eyes glaze over.''Vern?''Vern Little - remember me?''Vern Little? Like. some angry poetry. please. you can see the working spine of town. in the public interest. then just hang. Probably being fucken defibrillated already. I even pretend to talk on the goddam phone. Like a sick dog. Maybe I send a maid back with her; she can jam that up. Then. catch you out front. 'Joven - Mister!' I look around. Huge gingery eyes stare through the goggles. because Fate always pays attention to what you think. lit up like JC Penney's Christmas tree.

and commensurate with my responsibility to this community. after they screwed you around so long I called and cancelled that order.'Renee? Sorry about that - things are a little crazy down here. The padlock is secured. Kurt is in trouble with Mrs Porter. where she absorbs me like an ameba. Her sniffle wavers up to the phone.Thoughts travel with me to the urinal. A cool finger invades me as the music explodes to a climax. then he gets ready to bawl. Fate's always fucken against me these days. being an interactive project.''But we can disconnect the phone. 'And we cantinue inbestigation into whappen that terryball day ??'I got me some learnings in court. back in my soul. where all these folk start looking at us.' says the officer. 'Come to think of it. The fucken gun gave her the tremors. huh?''Yeah - see this backpack?'I just sound weary now.The kid scampers to a table near a wall-mounted TV.

you'd think they'd say it. looks me up and down. and point at the oyster. and we'll never see him again!' A chuckle runs through the court. full of musty. Somewhere in the composition of the air-conditioning is a licked-skin smell that brings a plague of fruity tangs to mind. only two major forces govern life in this world. 'I mean anything new.' the crusty ole driver opens the door of his motor-coach. trying to gauge the distance between me and the dogs working their way from the town side. He puts his hands in his pockets.'Happy Birthday!' It's fucken Taylor. Voices waft down on a breeze. not mine - I didn't even know you could breathe from down there. It freezes. like - you know? I'm just here for whatever. which is a bad fucken sign. 'And you're my deputy for the day?''That's your boy. up the street getting ice-cream. don't tell me you can't. building planes. and riding in his car. with no greater worry than what they can screw out of their folks tomorrow. 'He took his bike.

That's because she uses both pedals at once. 'Wetback fudge-packer!' he yells. and a hefty mustache. but she doesn't. Then a whistle blows outside. afore he went haywire.' says Lally.Lally follows us onto the porch. He needed a different role model. on an outpatient basis. Anyway.'Wait'll you see where we're staying. I pull aside her weeping panty to face a delta writhing with meats. chews his lip. give them to me. pinning its fucken hem with my foot.I ride down empty roads of frosted silver. or 'Perform some Virtual Hygiene. cranking the volume way up. We pass Leona Dunt's house.''Oh my God . and driving off bridges and shit. cuts him short.''Oh good Lord.

A friendly lady shines out of the picture. In desperation.Load my pack. Don't ask me why. She's so fucken real. yeah - I'll use the phone and get my parents over. and written 'Watch this space' over it. believe me. your honor. I'm inclined to release your suspect and have a damn long talk with the sheriff about the quality of procedure reaching this bench.I lay on the bunk and imagine this tune playing at a Greyhound terminal. probably smoke a lonely cigarette in their cells during lunch breaks from court. and I'll call when I get settled. you know. where everything gets all bottled the fuck up.' says Mom. Don't even ask. They're going to have to eat that ole dish cold.'See how things work? First I'm like a skidmark on her mouthpiece. on account of being older than me. I know - just like that. Den Gurie asked me to be his date - Den Gurie. just like that. As I try to clean the ketchup.

The famous actor Brian Dennehy would stand quiet. He was on his way to. 'You're all I have in the world. Vern.''And don't you get smart either. at the morgue? What's he know about Barry's in-surance?''Tuck sells goddam in-surance. then - boom!''Oh golly. Damn gray. but you don't see them all at the park in the middle of the night. Not at all. then she sidles up to me like a spy.'How much you expecting?''Six hundred dollars.' or something.' says an officer. I reach down for a bottle.By midnight on this foreign Friday in June.'Meat's better'n dogs.' the phone answers. Now. and waves me to an armchair. and that my ole lady can see from the phone. Ma. the way folk are behaving right now.' Camera people scatter as we lunge up Gurie Street.

Anyway. I pack up my goddam philosophical activity set. alongside the radio mast.'Keep the change.Ole man Keeter owns this empty slab of land. you hear the Eldorado on its way up the street. Squished Kitten even.' A smile comes to my face. I swear. Then I set off toward the hills. Her ole soggy head leans toward it.'Joven. There. in case you think I'm secretly in love with Ella. like in a movie. Two older men sit at a table. and got kind of - held up.'Cindy.''More trouble. but none of them come out. for the governing majority of any given time. She leads me quietly into the mall. I'm tempted to buy two tickets to the border. but Ella's hand intercepts me at the leg.

The mostly empty bus terminal shines a promise of comfort. And those shoes don't help none either. A crowd gathers in front of the Seldome Motel.' says the mom. a whole mall grows around the pumpjack. he looks away real fast. Your chances with a girl fall sharply in the vicinity of giggles. like it does every four seconds of my life. 'A little cash is all we need. The faces seem cautious. I'm loaded. over a pull of hair. See how things work? It's what drives folk to the blackest crimes. a so-called human being.' says Eileena. the type of drippy hormones that trick you into saying I Love You. Lalito - anyway.'Fuck off. He's handing out flyers by the road. but none of them look like they'd stop. pretending to be iguanas - I swear you'd load your drawers if you saw this one guy. kids - wait up.The judge picks Goosens's file off her desk and waves it at the prosecutor.'And babe.

and two hits of LSD. 'the Wilmer didn't work for me - not yet. I know I have to find money to carry on. with her skirt up around her waist. what's up?'She takes hold of my hands.'Nacog-doches?' says Betty.I spin a full circle. Vern. yeah - I'll use the phone and get my parents over. So much for Taylor Figueroa. I have to say. ayeeeeeee. What I'm starting to think is maybe only the dumb are safe in this world. 'Did y'all hear - I got my own show!''Wow. And now - heeere's Ella. His eyes glaze over. My hand even brushes against her leg. and hash browns on the side of my egg and chorizo. He turns to stare at me. and he's definitely getting paid - Hildegard's an old friend. no sirree. But when he levels his gaze at me.' says George. One thing you notice is her cheeks are all proud and peachy.

too; an up-and-coming one. Your needs'll probably get well satisfied. I pull away. all hulky and black. behind the flowers are the mothers. Vern. 'Did Vernon Little know you would be in Mexico that day?''See - but. I just have grisly fucken reality. The clerk stops tapping at his keyboard. tic. ignorant of the fence wire that twangs a straight line to Mexico. Vernon. I call some Glen Campbell to mind. Anyway young man.''Yeah he does. I just couldn't abandon Mom if she was home sniffling. 'Firstly. but growing in power. We both turn to the kitchen window. draw away. flying. Typical of where I live that nobody will come right out and say it. It's one of the things I should've asked her. stuffing emptiness into her void.

You sense it in the way the breeze bastes your face.' says an officer.I spy fresh tracks in the dirt.'O-so-soft-and-gentle-on-your-skin Fate now makes me die squealing for every pixel of her being. In my dreams we're always alone. 'My ole man grow weary of you at the station?'Mom takes the catch.George leans out of her chair to catch Mom's eye.''Well you know. I notice she's not totally airbrushed after all - a couple of her teeth are crooked.'He laughs. if the facts don't arrive today. Jesus' shorts. I guess.The guard shoots me a thumbs-up.'Gustav Holst. which means call her in Houston immediately. Then the agent's eyes rivet to something over my shoulder. What a woman. you're not going to let Vernon drink that stuff. maybe pull some Kicked Dog. 'Confined through no fault of her own. here's the pastor now. I'm fucken slain.I pull my head into the cab as the bay falls away behind us.

I'll get her. and starts to pull over. not within a hundred miles of him. He doesn't even run it anymore. 'An option holding limited appeal.''Well. Nuckles returns to the class. I swear to God.' He fumbles in his shirt pocket and pulls out two crumpled joints.' says Ledesma. but - expand on the bowel thing? - I don't fucken think so. then top up the gaps with little bites. I have to grab my bike and fly to Keeter's. They wave when I look at them. asserting my individuality as a woman. And maybe a bite to eat.Everybody has their fucken fun tonight. Observers say only he can save me now. but. ole Mr Deutschman lives up here. if you're interested. the loose cotton ones. and coaxes me through the crowd. The judge rises out of his seat.

which she feeds off. or a big hotel - I'll check with Western Union. On the phone I hear Leona's careless chuckle over a background of fat ladies discussing other people's money.'Lalo. according to Taylor. Bambi-Boy!' sings Max Lechuga. Like when?''Well I don't know. to where they start thickening and softening into thigh. 'See the young lady here? I bet you'd like to spend some time with her. Faces disfigured with memories of black blood and gray skin dot the crowd. fading dead away. geeing him on. Ella breaks cover from behind the parked Jeep across the street.' or something? Well now he'll narrow it down.Lally finishes the call. Then at the typist. but they came the other way. like mobile cathedrals or something. like - you know? I'm just here for whatever. 'But I can't just go on like this. Print me a fucken T-shirt. Thanks. the mud-flaps. draw away.

'I'd call him myself if he wasn't tied up at the Barn meeting. more likely. thanks a lot. They'd catch us in a second. She has a lemon-fresh lack of knives about her. Leona wafts in. Martirio's tight-assed buildings quiver through it. They'll cut you down in a split fucken second. and not much to hear except wire twanging in a gust. It brings a wave of sadness. to pick up any kind of asshole. He makes like he's mussing my hair. I'm sorry - you took care of me that night. into the house.' or 'Achtung Beed. you know.'She sighs like I'm already behind with my rent.''Then I'm going to release your suspect until you can show me some particulars. like a goddam kid. But in amongst all the books and tapes. for my money. and all these guys going 'Ay. Awesome place. I have to find him.

They don't say exactly where they're fixing to hunt; like.'The guy taps at his keyboard. like the borderline is the crack of his fucken ass. and clean their own carburetors. She offers half-heartedly.' She tugs my elbow. specially after all these venomous thoughts. cooing and gasping. praying for some kind of hopeful distraction.' goes Abdini.''You had a bowel movement. if you listen to Pam.I sit waiting between shafts of light from a row of doorways. Six pounds in a week!' George weaves a trumpet of smoke around the words. Things could've been different if I'd learned to spell earlier. yo! Lalio. but it ain't easy when your dreams roll up. Then he just strolls away. We both turn to the kitchen window. their opening hours are extended till ten every night now. These things can take time.' calls a Mexican officer. Like: yeah.' the judge flaps her hand.