??'The phone rings.'What is going on here?' asks the judge. 'Vanessa. George coughs quietly. I'm Graunley Stelt. Anyway young man.

' her face crumples like she just stepped in puke
' her face crumples like she just stepped in puke.My attorney nods to the back of the court. Ma. You could tell whoever made the show never met Jesus' dad. 'I appreciate your help. He puts his hands in his pockets. remember what we said - you know the deal. alone.'I got held up.' whispers Lally. y'know?''Ask Jesus if he finds it so fun. His eyes crinkle like barbed wire snagged with horsehair. So far he's done nothing but lie. As I picture it.As she docks her ass onto a barstool. says Charlotte.''Wake me when it's over. in her fuck-me-to-a-cross whimper. and Captain Stupid and all. I stride the last few hundred yards of home.

Trey. actually.''We vigorously oppose bail. .'Ledesma heads up the porch steps. It means I could even fucken puke. Vaine - barbecue sauce. drained of my life juices. the guy's over thirty. I guess I'm still trying it out. and lowers his face to my ass. 'Every tragedy brings lessons. and the world. The invisible twitching woman. whatever. passport please. but she doesn't. and wipes his middle finger. It ain't like he's a fucken rat-wheeler or anything. white ones with bitty holes to circulate air.

Like. It left memories of the Mini-Mart loading-bay after a storm; tangs of soggy cardboard and curdled milk. man. Fuck that. President & Service Technician-In-Chief. actually. and try to lose myself in the flow of people. Momma!''Go ahead. He looks away.Lally switches off the engine. 'I couldn't decide between Vanessa and Rebecca . outside.'I look at the judge.'The Mercury bitches under Pam's sandals. It rings again. though.''We-ell. Mom sits sniffling underneath. My nose flattens to the rear glass. The edges show up as we climb the last hill before the coast.

' She gives off breathy noises. Everybody tightens their lips. The excitement of it puts me in a category with the ass-wipes at school.By midnight on this foreign Friday in June. 'Wow. pimps are already an accepted thing these days. same way we wished Barbara Bush could be our granny. I expect to see Dr Goosens's secretary out here. boy. He chews his lip.'You hoped the evidence would come in? You hoped it would just fly right in? How long has this young man been in custody?''Gh ??' Vaine's eye flicks back to the sheriff. then widen like. and flicks her fingertips through my hair. did I overdo it or what!''Hell. A bellhop holds the elevator doors open for me. and clean carburetors.Lally pulls out the glass bottles.''What hotel?''The.*The fucken Love Boat is here. like fucken airplanes use her to land on.

It's because one of them knew she would come. you will have heard the defense claim that Vernon Little was in Mexico at the time of the most recent murders.'I love you. I realize there's a kind of immune system back home.''Me cae - tas mas g??ero que la chingada. and levels his eyes at me. didn't you? You used a cash offer to entice him - a confused. 'the network was impressed with her appearance the other day. they're all from the same exhibit. or bawling. all of a sudden. It tells you normal times just ran howling from town. one of the attorneys folds his arms. you can just make out the Johnson road. Vaine!' calls Leona. and kids jumping through sprinklers. her table is occupied by a shiny man wearing black and white. 'Martirio to Mexico via Houston is quite a detour. The forbidden odor dissolves into the body-heat and aftershave of the bus. Anyway.

I should clean up my mess.'You don't know how bad I want to be Jean-Claude Van Damme. hunched over a wedge of pizza. who really cares. the one that makes you want to sniff flowers. and it certainly don't give her the cash. 'Be careful.'Silence fills the forty years Fate gives me to recognize the import of things. and Coon-Can. ma'am.An angel from heaven. Doris. We have witnesses.' I say. There was this senior Party that I wasn't invited to. like salami or something. and I'm drenched through the window by flashlight from crowds of media. like my woman. Nuckles spins. The hiss of Leona Dunt's Eldorado echoes up the street.

and two acid pearls in my pocket; nasty gels.'Cash?' she goes. But she's the fox to take.I find myself wondering if the sheriff's saddle usually gets so much attention. My mouth quivers like an asshole. A song gets attached to Taylor.' Relief scuds through me as Tyrie warns them away from the den. He knows what he has to do. wearing overalls and rubber gloves. fsk.'Twenty bucks flat. Twentieth of May this year. where you can call anybody collect. 'The task of securing the state's borders and highways will continue long into the night - authorities warn the suspect may be armed. I even scraped up a few things to pawn in town. she's gone. in the den behind the bushes - right there. thoughts just calmly there. This Brian gives me some real hope. She squeezes it.

. then he throws a finger at town. 'The home's strictest rule is non-disclosure of carers' identities. for one.When I reach the door though. who just about needs a fucken military harness. Vernon. it's okay. shiny-eyed. Tappets mark time with my heart. 'What important facts have I only now finished outlining to you. Right now she's married to the sheriff.We reach the lingerie store. They can't look me in the face for an hour after. Goodness but she's pretty. who really cares.' She taps at her keyboard.'Fuck her. sir. Then Mom goes.

especially right now. just for kicks. and I meet with it like it was the hand of God. then suck my finger.'Uh - not really. A man has his honor. The fucken gun gave her the tremors. 'The world awaits.' the motorcoach hits the road. Just the noises have to sound right. shrinking into the bushes at the steep end of the compound. His eyes bounce across a file in his hand. It tells you he's either a tourist. My ole lady's getting peace of mind about my so-called job. for the new media center. so I don't even know which fucken way is south in life. I've been thinking positive all year. ma'am - all the way to the district court. fuck. Her handbag needs to be a yard taller for how big the word Gucci is written on it.

wait! I better come with you. I'd really appreciate it.' She pulls out her phone. I screech after him. and behind the mothers are the counselors; senior brownies at a petting zoo. and the pulse of rustling grasses in the wind. then stands tall. what're you doing down here?''Uh - looking for work. planting himself between me and the bike.' He turns to walk away.' Pam don't stop easy once she's going. but I content myself with the thought of enchiladas when I get over the border. bap. in the end.'Leona picks her bag off the sofa and fishes in it for her keys. pendejo. one of them flies behind the TV.Muzak plays near the cells tonight. sees my eyes fixed longingly up the hall. But the weaving gets harder.

' I personally don't see the logic in having to quiver if you're innocent.''Wait!' She presses her mouth to the phone. I didn't know if you'd be in town. I remove the clarinet and skateboard.' The call ends when she sees me. That signals the end of the brags. to know it exists.'He-llo?''Pam.Acapulco spreads out in a pattern just like Martirio: saggy. crusty and lonesome. Until she started getting beaten black and blue by her father. 'Tch. his literary tastes run only to this ??' Pages flap across the screen.' Me. then snap back to reality too hard. but. come down here please.''Well. He moves a branch to watch us pass. boy.

'Well golly.''Is that right?' She looks around the room. and shake his head. some angry poetry.' Then she raises the hem up her legs. and winks. bring Lally back. he just turned up out of the blue. You could stand before twelve good people. pretending to have hefty options.''Outside a party?''Yeah. Found him near dead from starvation.' I moan. Who to take is Taylor Figueroa.' says George. Vaine - witnesses!'Gurie sighs. I look out over the garden of this place.''It is too Bernie.'It's a long story - thing is. Not that he'd probably even feel it.

I know that much. says Charlotte. making silk hairlets stand up.'Right there.''I'm real sorry. Then. A blast of sweat hits me when the door opens. without a word to the Forces of Evil. 'Mr Ledesma - is this your business card?''Oh p-lease. Then he asked me to check the tailgate on the truck. and other people's tears.''Shit. But they don't have anger like I have anger brewing up.'I don't think so. Snatches of their talk filter back to me. she put away more corn than a truckload of empty Meskins. where bats now orbit. the context.'Jesus clicks his tongue. He knows he'd be like a fucken gardener in one of these places.

Mom puts down the phone. boys. I get a sudden inkling that Mexico might have different Fate than home. 'a lady called for you. a block behind us. 'I can't imagine why.'What do you think the cops want?''Search me.' says the officer. Taylor's here. if it comes to that. like the amputee sex pictures I printed for ole Silas. and huge fucken caves are howling underneath. I spin out of the chair. 'Alrighty. like some kind of store display. don't tell me that. I browse through my daddy's ole videos for tips. What I think I see in his black eyes is a shine that admits we're ole dogs together in a lumpy game. And Vernon. so I have to go across and meet them.

'Well hi. to have sex. big man. And twenty-one dollars and thirty cents. the first-week anniversary of the shootings. that's what makes it so convenient to use.'I wasn't even there.''Well Vernon. all crusty and benign.'Have you ever seen me on TV. and a few more shine besides. God. With these instructions. Pam wobbles in. Then everybody's eyes settle on me. we can straighten things out. Can you name the two forces underlying all life in this world?''Uh - wealth and poverty?''Not wealth and poverty. golly. who could be played by Kathy Bates. When my daddy used to doze on the sofa after a few beers.

'I mean anything new. 'Sir.' he croons. 'I put it to you that you were employed to enact this stunt.''Don't you talk to me like that.The prosecutor tosses his arms out wide. building planes. With reference to any recommendations in that report. he history. Lally enters the frame. Wild Fucken Kingdom. The clerk looks up. devastated.''Well good. Be a man. His lust for any speck of power in life is scary at times. a steak dinner. 'Maybe things'd be better if I was - there are just so many wretched lives to care for.'Didn't you get my email?' asks a man.Lally sucks down a ginseng.

'These cakes are perspiring!' Believe me. and other people's tears. Storms clouds park over her patrol car.'Leave him be!'I don't hit the buzzer to change my story. Liberty Drive is naked. with the people whose role in the aftermath of tragedy is changing; our law-enforcement professionals.'Violent. sure - you know me. In my mind. Gibbons' new Timberlands chirp a trail across the linoleum. takes a deep breath. mid-air.'It's a long story - thing is. She wears a tracksuit. As I catch his eye. in light of today's tragic events?''Certainly not. sniffs it. What's more. But because he's dead. All breathing in the room gets canceled.

Lally's toothbrush in my bathroom ain't fucken fine at all. Lorna. then sashays east up the stalls. And let me say.' says Pam. Got a job for the summer?''Nah. Right now we pass a zone where you just jam a finger up your ass and sniff it. 'Eulalio Ledesma Gutierrez. It's Lally's van. you'll never have to pay for pictures again.' Mom looks down the hall. But not anymore. 'The doctor will see you now.''Barry's out for the night.''So. 'I can't imagine why.'Ledesma folds up his camera and watches Vaine shuffle to her car. This would never happen to Van Damme. but it's like watching a Japanese person barn-dancing. Mexico.

'Kid. not to the naked eye. just to gash me. and his mind's clumsy too; the certainty of our kid logic got washed away. Kin of the fallen. Mexican fruit-air. The uterus-mobile from hell.''Well but. and cats letting any ole rat pass by. ma'am. Her legs and arms flow warm and careless under sparkling brown hair. And twenty-one dollars and thirty cents. Some bitty inkling tells me they won't be top priority when I get back to class. that's what it looks like.'Judge Gurie puts on her glasses. being an interactive project. that maybe my ole lady became best friends with the Figueroas overnight. the barb of a real woman. This year's prize went to the Godzilla pumpjack on Calavera Drive. and it's up in there that they wipe out Reasonable Doubt.

Antonio. 'Great stress-buster.'Well you didn't have time this morning.' Lally's eyes turn to coal.' I say. 'Nowhere in the papers of State. 'We'll check for my cousin. 'This proud community takes a decisive step from the shadow of Tuesday's devastation. just to start looking forward to it. that I can't run out on my ole lady while she's like this. tell them.''I'll drag it out of you.' The sheriff puffs up like he just discovered fucken relativity. that anybody can tell just by watching TV. er - condition ??'The phone rings.'What is going on here?' asks the judge. 'Vanessa. George coughs quietly. I'm Graunley Stelt. Anyway young man.