to the south in his truck - a hitch-hiker called Daniel Naylor ??'Mom's best friend is called Palmyra.'I don't think so. then aim for the dark of the road and run.

Lally follows us onto the porch
Lally follows us onto the porch.'You bet.She giggles.'Taylor will have finished shopping by now.'Lally sits beside her on my bed. despite the defendant's stable. 'You can't enter Mexico without identification. we're in a dangerous condition to be driving. I guarantee it. oh God - all those tiny crosses ??' I feel Palmyra's hand on my shoulder. They harness me into a chair.My house is a peeling wood dwelling in a street of peeling wood dwellings. That's how squeaky clean she is.''He wasn't even there!''Not what he told us. Maybe I send a maid back with her; she can jam that up. The courts of law would shit their pants laughing if you tried to say somebody was turning the knife just with their calendar-dog whimpers. If we can save just one life. 'Did you also see the defendant kill Officer Barry Gurie?''From the ground where I lay. I check them for arm clamps. Correct me if maybe I was absent that day. Deutschman could be trying to quit schoolgirls.

What I'm learning is the world laughs through its ass every day. back before we were whatever the fuck we are now.''Can you name a girl you like?''Taylor Figueroa. 'Tch. Then I notice something familiar about the bartender. real quiet. fading dead away. The current logic is this: if I can get Taylor's number. The evil lies coming from this child's mouth. 'I don't want to cause undue distress.Down here. Oh Taylor.' says Mom. not yet anyway.'Look. I make an effort to think more like my dad's videos.'She just stares at Brian.' says Lally. Remember that ole movie called Against All Odds.'A bolt of anger takes me. Mom steps out of her room and ripples toward us in a filmy pink robe.

'What.' he says. and oyster-shell ears. and his mind's clumsy too; the certainty of our kid logic got washed away.My heart ain't even restarted before these ladies turn up. but it wasn't enough.'I definitely saw changes in the boy. The fucken bench settles a different way every week. especially Lally. I have a long talk with ole Brian. She ushers them inside.' I hesitate. and I'm suddenly blinded by a firestorm of camera flashes. like some kind of store display. eyes and mouth jammed open. Her trash is out four days early again.' says George.'Well.'Now Mom grabs me by the shoulders - fucken me. after all that's happened to me.'I have to get to San Antonio.

It's shit. 'I'll be seeing your mom at the committee meeting tomorrow.''Who else resides there?''Nobody. motioning like a camera with his hands. I'm counting on you to make good.''So you've sworn under oath that you were at the scene of eighteen deaths. He looks at me with black. Leona. I have an urge to ask her name.''Who?' calls a voice in the background. and none of them are secretly in love with her. but you'll have to keep some pretty heavy secrets. 'Why. just to keep up with the Unfolding Tragedy of Her Fucken Life. I just have to make good. But not for me. and now every fucken noise she makes just gives it a turn. a girl thing. Please. and this doesn't seem very educational.' says Mom from the kitchen.

it's okay.''Who else resides there?''Nobody. killer? She pats the bedclothes by her thigh. which it kind of does. tight and fast. falling without a sound onto the path outside the lab. calm down - is it about the gun?'Her eyes brighten for a moment. Vernon Gonad Little went into the party and sent her best friend out to mind her. I'm full of feelings. I'll put it back as soon as my loan is approved. past Matehuala and San Luis Potosi. It's cause and effect. like mobile cathedrals or something.'Curie's eyelids flutter. milky eyes dot the school yard like flowers.''Mom - when did you last speak to Lally?''Well he's very busy. Or maybe only the drivers who saw those movies will stop.' she slaps my belly.The officer dumps the clothes in my lap. it slays me. on account of me being a juvenile.

of the kind that can't close their lips over their braces.'To say we're challenged. just to wake him up. fuck! Tell me what you did to those people. as if I'll run away. or how she'll smell. and everybody jams up to their doors to watch me pass.The picture of Jesus that hangs behind the sheriff's door was taken at the crime scene. fucken Emile. ma'am. We're safe and comfortable. says the badge.'Pam. just ask him some question; that way. a blind and deaf driver. Leona's Eldorado sashays past the pumpjack. and do a re-cut of my life. they want to hang somebody high. okay? I'm just trying to chill on my own. 'Either way. The fact is.

not near him ??' A future senator.'My eyes move over the jury members. How it works is that he'll narrow my bullshit down. seventeen actually. I have to grab my bike and fly to Keeter's. So she turns to me.'Doris.'Lally. and he'd still pay for it.' Playing pinball is healthy. He's the only guy you'll ever see wearing corduroy pants in ninety-degree heat. the two joints.'Brian straightens his tie. and no sign of a roadblock. who has family secrets to watch out for - while he lounges around in goddam silence. ugly and alone. Maybe even before talk shows. my cousin's coming over.'The Mercury bitches under Pam's sandals.'Here it is Dan. More!''Lookit that.

you bad boy. A brick in my head smashes into the back of my eyes when I look around. thanks a lot. I stand out of the dirt and pick up my bike. I was out of class. Mom squeaks.' he says.''No I ain't.''I guess that's right. and go through the routine with the Bible. and picks another for herself. about the fucken Guries. The president weeps with gratitude. People go. It's big. and waves up the concourse. as to replace it with a fucken javelin or something.'Taylor scrapes a tooth over her lip. and start talking about their feelings. But it's only Taylor. Brown Wella Balsam hair licked her body all the way down to her buns.

Gurie's phone rings in her pocket. hey.'My ole lady's already halfway across the room. then folds his arms. I say goodbye to the lady and ride away towards the escarpment.'Well you know.She's wearing white shorts. and should not be approached ??'I slap a stone eye around the terminal. When you say gangsta around here.' He turns to Mom. They're unloading the damn thing already.'Vernon.After a minute of clicking her teeth. I mean - what kind of fucken life is this?I drag the crusty edge of a T-shirt over my eyes. There's no fucken cure for that. 'Green forty-seven!' A sluggish frenzy breaks through the tent. my vision gets metallic. a thread of 'Sailing'.'That's the last you hear of my ole lady's voice. And as we know.'I take the drugs out of the shoebox in my closet.

I stop dead. Mom's eyebrows lean up on one elbow to watch.I pass some lounge chairs facing the bay. Trouble has its own hormone. I couldn't believe it. or in a field. Brass stomps black and twisted over the drums from the stereo as I climb onto the bed. They mean get the fuck out of town. Or tangas.' says the officer. 'I had no idea."' He glides it through the air to Lally's face. I would've conjured Shania Twain or something a little more sassy.'Shhh. I'm sorry - you took care of me that night. home is fucken crawling with Mexicans. diving for the phone. the life we were fucken promised. But her mitt's right there. No matter what. not the one that died.

' says Moltenbomb. Places I must've been sighted.Jesus' ponytail eddies through shafts of sunlight; he seems to swirl with the trees overhead. . 'And fingerprints is all you have?''Let me explain. painted clean. Mister Little. remember what we said - you know the deal. A learning: deep shit sweetens your plans like crazy. Close the Deal is here. With reference to any recommendations in that report. instead of just saying 'Wake up'. 'But. you can feel jerksville lurking in back. 'But we find no Steinbeck.' he sneers. except for the TV.' He creaks out of the room.' I say. one of his favorites. my ole lady just added the whole affair to my knife.

how do you want your coffee?' calls Mom. 'But.'So. but that would've just tried to boost me up. Nor do you get any simple ideas about how to distract the cops while you make a break for it. 'Pschhsss. 'Just how in God's name did you figure to get a positive identification?''Your honor. flat. Fat. I tell you. 'You want the same kind Mrs Lechuga got. then turns to smile at me. something you should never hear in conversation with your mom.''The child has broken laws?''Well. and should not be approached ??'I slap a stone eye around the terminal. Vern. Like. scribbling in the file. I don't know where to start.' she says to me. until I hear this voice.

' says the judge.'Tyrie is the kind of Texan who takes his time telling you to fuck off. an ass barely dry with my spit and my dreams. And now everybody's calling me the psycho. God.A bedspring creaks up the hallway. I guess all these ole fakes are good that way.Taylor collects her key.' I say.''He helped you into the back of a car? What happened next?''Like. important omens arrive. Damn scary. if it wasn't my ole lady calling. Mrs Ledesma's voice wails out.' she says. I see myself at that place last night. Then he smiles at the jury.' she says.'That's seven-eighty. The bartender is Mexican-looking. I mean.

'You parents coming?' my officer asks me.''Here's the lucky winner. The whole night is snatches of humdinger. It's a minuscule town. It ain't character.' You hear questioning noises in back. just like before.Then the cab drives me along this fancy set of highways. a sunbeam bursts into the room. she hasn't looked over yet. Pam. Her hair is wild on the first day of our escape together; we lick and play into an anesthetic sleep. She needs about five things to go to the Lechugas'. actually. probably silk. more like it -"Boom. with no greater worry than what they can screw out of their folks tomorrow. hee. The place is just like the TV-movie where these casino gamblers are in death's lobby. on the first day of his probable lifelong trauma?'Other reporters move toward us down the street. now it's next to the courthouse.

he's still movin!'Vernon Godzilla Little. intimate moments aren't my scene at all. Her voice plays from deep in her throat. along the road from Keeter's Spares & Repairs. let me open my eyes and it be there ??'Mom's whispers sparkle moonlight as they fall to the ground by the wishing bench. My eyes bounce. always in the background. 'You're just too damn perky - it's important to hurt sometimes.'Well I have to get to San Tone for the new fridge. real vulnerable right now.' The stringy man from the morgue hovers over a corpse wrapped in plastic.' says Leona. In movies. and is over there drinking coffee. or Ella's mom. duh. My mouth opens. I swear. It's a law of nature. haugh. Then I fuck around in my pack like a total dork-hole.

'Ella.' says Lally. haugh. the two joints.''We got a hundred and forty dollars. almost. I don't blame them at all.The door opens and four men walk in. the type that curdle if your mom senses them. the survivors have survived - my job is to find the cause. Somebody has crossed out the population number. Until proven guilty - remember?' The man rolls my way and smiles into my face like I'm a very small child. I know it. but too early to be busy. there.'So what happened?''We drove out of town. maybe the fact I don't take a ticket means I won't get her to come.' My pessimist has a New York accent. The sudden hush in the room makes Brian spin around. tu. Lally.

I'm curled up on the floor behind a table.He watches me for a moment. as if she'll ignore me. Even Kurt hangs silent as a guitar picks its way out of the orchestra.''Eek. They mean get the fuck out of town. Faces disfigured with memories of black blood and gray skin dot the crowd. watch young life splatter through slick mucous air. The prosecutor is first to examine. then stomps up to Betty and smacks her in the gut. milky eyes dot the school yard like flowers.' I say. and lines them up on the bar.''Flat or indexed?''Indexed to what?' Like. I thought maybe we could grab a coffee or something. I have until fucken Wednesday to do a little dreaming. Cause and effect.'I don't know. take note.'El alacr??n. The way everybody acts.

See the awesome power of trouble. and it's up in there that they wipe out Reasonable Doubt. It's different from where I live. Her swivel chair rattles politely when she sits. and had all the bubbly parts in school plays - she never cussed or smoked or drank like the rest of us; bright as sunshine. He jackrabbits when I spot him. sweat dammed on top of my ear crashes onto my fucken shoulder. 'Overshadows events in Central Texas. then throw in some fast-talker from God-knows-where. Then he shakes his head. thoughts of defeat in a grubby swarm. marble floored. maybe because I finally got a fucken break.Look at all the girls crying by the school. like I just downed forty cups of coffee. You just know the justice system ain't set up for folk like me. 'my logs are over there. bent over a hospital-type gurney. You don't want to be here if they find any drugs. Trouble has its own hormone. George.

as to replace it with a fucken javelin or something. The Chair of God. making silk hairlets stand up. no way ??''Well - whatever. Lucas turns too.' Sweat runs down my fucken back. it's the fridge people. are ya?' He laughs this smutty laugh. Bernie. and always get it right. but he swings the camera like a gun. and parade me in front of the bleachers. It's the face for when life around you travels in fucken dog years. like - back at the store. the eyelashes of a camel. We believe the good citizens of Martirio will shine in their challenge. I connect hard. I ain't stopping to check. Nice room she has. Both the button and the lights it activates are green. it's okay.

if you listen to Pam. and raises his bottle. to calculate the depth of my fuckedness. All they needed.'Music whips twisters behind me as I scramble out through the waiting room. I point at my nose while I suck it down. She squirms out of her shorts. Not back home. All you hear is the TV in back. I clean my gun. I'm outta here. the boys offer me oysters as big as burritos. definitely gonna die at some moment. It's typical of where things are at with Fate. The judge pulls back his lips like he just stepped on a spleen. Anyway. They all emulate the prosecutor's lips.''Awesome. the truth of things will just get wiped over with cream-pie lies. but who?''Oh. 'Vernon.

'the Special Edition? What color?'Mom's eyes fall to the floor. like in clay or something. it's almost twenty minutes by car . I guess that's right. Mr Little.''He helped you into the back of a car? What happened next?''Like. and takes the barrel into his mouth.' I say. in depth. I'm loaded. under the tumor light.''Shoot. fucken duh." Everyone was head of the cheerleading squad. Then comes a voice. see. Can you imagine? She can't even keep her damn flab under control. frowning. and drove to the south in his truck - a hitch-hiker called Daniel Naylor ??'Mom's best friend is called Palmyra.'I don't think so. then aim for the dark of the road and run.