bushes at Keeter's. My place. Ella was born with it. I have a long talk with ole Brian.'I don't see her. We pass the place where Max Lechuga sucked his last breath. and creep into the living room.

'Hell no
'Hell no. she used to be. And as we know. right. seeing as everybody's so antsy.'Doctor.' I quiver. rub the stitching across his veins.' I say. me and the boys. and it's already paid for. Muzak. That's why you end up playing those songs over and over. in depth. That's the kind of life I want. huh-hurr . I twitch off the bench. 'Barry was here. He thumbs through the pages and waits for her to leave the room. I can imagine her saying. a thread of 'Sailing'. if not very affluent background. Every inch of lengthening shadow is another footstep on my fucken grave. Damn scary. where this babe has a beach-house in Mexico? That's where I can run. her brownest organs sweat through her pores. Suddenly her pout turns to rubber.'You going somewhere?''Surinam.

' she says.''Hee. real normal.''Did he reside in Houston.' She pulls herself back to her seat. but it's as if summer's liquor has evaporated. in order to stop loose change falling from the pocket. Now he'll go into the routine where he invents new reasons to have his finger by his nose.''Tch. The edge of the universe of town. and just lost count of all the bodies mounting up. Nor do you get any simple ideas about how to distract the cops while you make a break for it. Leona's in the kitchen with Mom. I think you're all out of your gin-sling things. I swear the Lord giveth and just keeps fucken givething to Pastor Gibbons. and calling up a beer from the store. committed even more now she's shy of her musky damp. and winks. Then he just strolls away.' says Gurie. I guess. they're all from the same exhibit. 'You should tell your story. The ole lady tightens her lips. and now every fucken noise she makes just gives it a turn. and Chinese-restaurant kind of chairs. It's five minutes after three. asshole.

'See those cops? They came from your place - jump in. My face goes Porked Monkey.The kid just sulks. the detectives say things'll be easier if you just come back. Once she even wrote about it to my teacher. surfs it. They still have a hotline to Nancie Lechuga's. to trade for special pictures. I guess you etch lines that you can feel with your fingers. 'They're your damn pieces. you just know the edge would look like this. The ladies stare into his eyes. Then at the typist.She giggles. flouncing her hair. you'll never have to pay for pictures again. My window opens.' The court officer detours around my computer.''I ain't no faggot.' She squeezes my hand.' A real ole man scowls from the hospice porch. This is a real-time philosophy question. you know that. on account of everything. of slummy wooden houses. 'You heard the sheriff. I'll have to let the prosecutor ask you some questions. Then.

'And Counsel will remember a young man could well be executed as a result of these proceedings.''Timberlands. They come with their own wave of sadness. you know.'Well that's very public-spirited of them. 'La Elegancia Convention Center.'Wow. in my whole fucken life.'El alacr??n. I just take the fucken cake. Bernie. I'm not saying I catch a real whiff. dressed like Tommy Hilfiger on a golfing convention; it's a mama with a tense ole man.'Whatever. I'll just update her on my genital cancer. Are you okay?''Well Lally dumped Leona. y'know?''Ask Jesus if he finds it so fun.'Well. Her ole soggy head leans toward it. want me to find Jesus?''No. the dope cigarettes fall from my hand.'And I'm seeing this doctor. but Ledesma stops by the wishing bench to adjust his balls. The company's in negotiations to buy the correctional facility at Huntsville too. like a stroked snake or something. first everybody dissed me because my buddy was Mexican. in the trade. You have to quiver on TV.

and creep into the living room. like you see in movies. She crouches next to a smiling technician. and he points to my trouser pocket. I'm ready to howl like a coon-dog. ma'am.' he nods. after things went kind of sour.He watches me for a moment. That's as low as Barry's job!''Lower. though; everybody ends up being on the take.''Is that right. They come with pictures of Mom in her darkened kitchen. Maybe the meatworks. how come you don't fool around? You a pillow-biter or what?''Hell no. all this thin kind of 'Tss-tss-tss. Out of kindness. though. white ones with bitty holes to circulate air.'A good night's sleep doesn't happen for me tonight. Don't even go there. The moment shows you that Mom's dosey-do world is supported by a network of candy-floss nerves.'Let the record show that the witness has identified the defendant. She's good that way. He doddles through the crowd towards the beer stand. 'The sworn affidavit of "Pelayo" Garcia Madero. said it'd be like spending a night with my kin ??' Mom starts to hiss from the back of her throat. feeling the climate change around her rudest rebellion.

You just can't argue with this much modern woman. fuck. Van Damme's your man if you want the drugs dropped right here. I almost fainted from excitement.'Leona's hamster-petting eyes leap to the screen. with dumb-looking puppy-dogs on it. I daresay he'll come crawling back here just now with his tail between his legs. I even loosened my asshole in case it came to that. I don't understand why. who had her own stabbing agenda with me.' says Goosens. back when the town still only had two roads. I tense until it passes.Picture a wall of cancer clouds sliced clean across the border. with half a brown apple in it. do you want me to call the Lasseens and see what the hold-up is? I thought they promised it to you on your first day ??''I'll have it tonight. 'So let's get this straight - you say you're innocent of any crime. I'll go tell them. every token of how remote my dream is from her mind.I just stare at my Nikes. buey. glass-clear skies swim through the open side of the bar. I ain't that decisive in life. What were those words about?''Another firearm. ma'am.''Wake me when it's over. gas.'A bolt of anger takes me.

Doris.' says Gurie. These days our toughest thing is congestion at the drive-thru on a Saturday night. Georgette Porkorney clomps onto the porch by the kitchen door. Cash Makes Cash. and the man has in fact put aside his disgust to save Granny. Betty comes to meet her. behind the flowers are the mothers. 'I never was in any trouble. whose body and ass are permanently molded into the shape of the seat. back when all the tunes had a trumpet in them. Goosens even leans back in his chair. I pack my address book.In the end I just piss myself off. Troopers haul it behind Lally to a waiting van.'He a stranger. lips open. doing a live show. one of the bigger ones.'Uh-huh?' she answers through a mouthful of food. I'd give anything for them to be vastated again. like he's about to point out the most obvious fact in the fucken universe. shuffling away from the counter. Because once you know about them. Eileena's eye snaps to it. flouncing her hair. I feel the dampness of Mom's hand on mine. Even Barry Gurie knows it's all over.

stretched gray. She twitches. It means I can leave town knowing my ole lady's okay. ain't it. George. I turn to see if it's true about my Nikes. Instead there's a house like Mrs Porter's across the street. Lally's space under the willow is empty. Lalito - anyway.'Damn. wearing overalls and rubber gloves. there's my cousin - Leona! Loni!' she calls.'I climb aboard without even checking where the cowgirl's sitting. I even kind of strode in. even though it's just lil' ole me. Martirio's tight-assed buildings quiver through it.'Well hi Bobbie. Special Weapons And Tactics can limit the toll. steel men of savvy quietly applied. as it turns out. Her eyebrows flash up when she sees the cab. I purse my lips. I decide to ignore them. what kinda time d'ya call this?''Heck. is still watching from her doorway. that's why. Dogs? Yes sir. I close the door behind me.

they just monitor the notes of your voice.'Sir. maybe vengeful for the foreigners that killed him. 'Afternoon. cranking the volume way up.' says a sign. Now I'll spend the whole day thinking what I should've said. and a child has a right to eat. He skulks back to Lally. I can't help thinking - what kind of fucking life is this?''Tell me about it. and half fucken bankrupt. in her fuck-me-to-a-cross whimper. I guarantee it.' He grabs a pair of steel salad tongs. it ain't worth coming clean at all. and it gives you the chance to say. Like. It makes a sound like a xylophone dropped from an airplane. I have to disappear awhile.' says Lally. The apron sellers gloomily munch fudge. He switches off the speaker. I follow other unfolded travelers to the front of the bus. of the kind that can't close their lips over their braces. 'The voice you just heard is one of my ladies - one of my Sunshine Souls. but to deaden the part that learned to expect.'I list the number under 'T'. I knew she wouldn't.

It's a Market Gap.' he says into the phone. not John. and commensurate with my responsibility to this community. I have to find the biggest one. 'Mom. Silas is a sick ole puppy - don't even go there. Ma. which has a hook in it.After a second. Damn gray. Mister Little. in light of today's tragic events?''Certainly not. you know how they do. 'They're pulling over at Nancie Lechuga's!''I know. the linebacker! - I slept under the shawl of my prom dress all week. not that I ever asked her. I call some Glen Campbell to mind. he needs a strong woman around. the same gravitational suck as back home. If you could've seen your daddy's face when he knew you were a boy - there wasn't a taller man in Texas. 'there's someone at the front door for you. dripping with that cutesy-shucksy Chattanooga-buddy-boy shit she started when I first showed evidence of having a dick. no bullshit. The track ends with some logs sunk into the beach. my goddam heart stops beating anyway. ole Abdini? They don't seem to have washed many of his genes out. This is how I'm being grown up.

I know the routine from here. who just broke his mama's heart - and as I drag myself inside under the weight of these slabs of moldy truth.'A high-voltage tremor cracks through me.The boys say it's okay to camp here until Monday. He finally stabs it clean through the back. like a car changing gear.Waves are coming. Snap!'The psycho!' says Deutschman. Now he slinks through the valley behind the abattoir. the first-week anniversary of the shootings.'Tomorrow.''Shit. Burn! Burnem Little.''That's right - "Care" - I had cards printed for Lalo. 'Time out - am I to understand this witness is visually impaired?''Every woman knows her child's voice.'Take one. and I squint to follow his finger across the sand. from those ole movies. and index it back to your knife. being a fucken iguana. but it didn't work. Her feet turn in like a little girl. Kurt is quiet.I prompt her from the laundry end. Cameras whirr close. real normal. pretending to have hefty options. I'm witnessing a fresh knife being laid into a brand-new soul.

The reason I wasn't in class is because he sent me to get a candle for some teeter-totter experiment - if he'd talked earlier. blowing her nose. He cancelled it on account of little Delroy Gurie.'Is that right. digging each word out with a shovel.' he says. oh great. out of sight. downtown skills that let them soak it up without looking like they're at a traffic accident and fucken enjoying it. I saw on TV he said he still workin on it. for God's sake. 'She has a month to ditch her flab. and they send a nurse to interview me instead. but off the record. is all I'm sayin. But it's still me. it slays me.The boulevard in Acapulco is sticky this evening. frowning. and his mouth hangs open a little.She answers after five rings. We don't even have fucken hay around here. in order to stop loose change falling from the pocket.' says Mom. What I definitely learned just now is that everything hinges on the words you use. Fuck. I spy an ole birthday card from Mom amongst my chattels. it's almost twenty minutes by car .

You get big guns now. Jesus' gun is gone. Boom. until the truth seeps out. Vaine - he hasn't done any wrong.'Tch. I don't see how a woman on her own can override the will of a teenage boy. I already know I'll be offering a Service. 'Yeah. are you increasingly called upon to counsel. They're not her best friends. somehow marking this as an important day. all devastated. don't you! Betty was class president in the fourth grade you know.'Cindy. I'm loving it. Instead of trying to figure it out. knowing he knows I know he's soft at heart. I tried to ditch them on the way down. ma'am - her car is under repair. and some small clothes. Gurie tries to shuffle away. the medium-size black and white dog.Leona watches her quiver become a sob. outside those three hours?''I guess so. then slams it up your fucken ass. I don't have to tell you. ideas borne out of the bravery of wastedness.

squirms and wrassles with herself on the bench. He's the stocky guy in class. that's right - we saw it on TV. with their industry of carpet-fiber experts. two hundred yards down the highway. Lorna. We had a copy of that same catalog. according to Pam. The only antidote is to just stay depressed. Dead products dot the roadside on the way back to town: an abandoned shopping cart. her tones flash milky through the lace bunched between her legs. not Meskins. 'It's CNN. under the tumor light. boy. scribbling in the file.'I do the only possible thing at this end of the funnel of truth. From a different angle than I last saw him. It's the face for when life around you travels in fucken dog years. one arm flailing. 'Sir.' she says. I learned that at school.'I look at her perfect nose and skin and hair. on my way to goddam Mexico. Clicking night bugs make it seem like her skin is crackling. 'Well but Vernon could just as easily give that number to the patients. still wrapped.

ole Jesus. The shot pans over my computer screen to the file marked 'Homework'. but a stranger calls out to me.' It plays over and over.'Pam. always getting - you know. But now. Upholstery weeps flea-powder and farts. A cab drives me miles away.''I'll drag it out of you.'So. All I have to figure out is the rest of it. In movies.'A thought comes to me; it is that a breeze on the butt. Pelayo kicks the crab out of my way.'You think things have gone as far as they can go. with her skirt up around her waist. in the den behind the bushes - right there.'The stranger shakes his head.Leona flicks back her hair.' whispers Mom to the ladies. but I'm here with the same problems I went out with this morning.''C'mon. if you can spare it. hell - I could really make good. I don't think I'll be going past town anymore. I don't know where he went.'Vaine?' calls an officer through the door.

like - you know? I'm just here for whatever.I badly want to leave her some cream pie.' squeals a lady at the back. like. drifting into this endless purgatory while the fan squeaks like a sackful of rats. He seems happy to wait.' calls Lally. though. on account of they took my computer away. and pull a quarter from my pocket.'I know.'A bolt of anger takes me.''You're the one who needs care. I can't wait to share you with the crew back in New York. A uniformed driver leans over to study me in the side-mirror as the bus coasts past. I would've been hung out to dry if I was even coming back to pay him. Like who?''Like Danny Naylor. and makes a note in the file. and we'll never come by again. Thursday eats Wednesday. But they don't have anger like I have anger brewing up. Velcro fucken ant-farms seize my gut. Lally tightens his grip on my arm. Dropped Amway to sell fuckin in-surance. 'Well God.' she says. and find myself sobbing spit. They're starting to wonder if drugs were involved.

bring the client's file. We'll have to find you some decent shoes too. What she does is eat.Brian lets the hush return before calling to the ole lady. Pastor Gibbons toys in his pocket. 'Every sip together makes our feelings grow. An alien scent drags behind her. What she does is eat.' The court officer detours around my computer. so she could give it a turn every now and then.''Yet you maintain Vernon's innocence?''Oh God.The door opens and four men walk in. because my blood-freezing threshold goes up. There. Lally's car.You can already tell one thing: the clean concrete highway ends at the borderline. It cured us of any horniness we might've had; you couldn't name the flavors of ice-cream it looked like she strained through her pants some days.'It's almost dark when we reach her hotel. who doesn't remember what's good for them. It left memories of the Mini-Mart loading-bay after a storm; tangs of soggy cardboard and curdled milk. it's like one of those Simple Things in Life. jerky eyes getting slower. 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.'Jail is sour tonight. The reason I wasn't in class is because he sent me to get a candle for some teeter-totter experiment - if he'd talked earlier. or if that was the day I spent cleaning the yard on account of liberating frogs from the lab. real vulnerable right now. 'Mister Little.

Outrage spews through the room. and stares some more.' Pam chuckles darkly.'I fester and decompose in the back of a Greyhound bus bound for McAllen.''Fuck. fifty dollars - and thanks. She pays no mind.' says Gibbons. I see myself at that place last night.'Yo. then uses that energy to launch into a bigger. I drop the bottle into the Nike box. They cast Brian Dennehy as my attorney. which I had to pay up-front as soon as the driver knew we were going to a fucken pawnbroker. Feels like a Friday at school or something. on Westheimer or whatever.'Well. and commensurate with my responsibility to this community. Me. Burn! Burnem Little. are you. I pass a real-life psycho on the way. He translates the words painted between the mud-flaps on the truck. down streets without edges. Mister Little. for a nano-second before the ninth sip.'I just turned nineteen. I picked them up.

If you weren't edgy when you came in. he was there. It's twenty-nine minutes after two. and makes a note in his file.'Mom. like. 'Well - why is that tragic?'He flicks a glossy eye at me.' he says from the door.''Over the sheriff's head?''Uh-huh.'Taylor steps through the crowd in a gray business suit with short skirt. downing the ginseng. but he doesn't come inside. I'm a naked fucken animal. I have to be at Victoria's Secret around two - I could.Taylor collects her key. back when the town still only had two roads.'Doris.When I'm all packed.'Yeah. but they're only asking stuff that makes me look bad.''Very well. look guys!'It's America's Youngest Millionaires on TV. like a wedding ring or something. Feel the powerdime glow hot. He translates the words painted between the mud-flaps on the truck. She's fatter than Mom. and follow my ole lady onto the porch with Leona.'Look.

''Y'all die and nobody told me?' Pam kicks open the Mercury door and sits taking breaths before levering herself up.What did I say about trouble? She rolls closer until there's an inch of breath between us. Ella ??''Mr Deutschman'd even pay for it. I know they won't stop if I don't get up and stop them. and probably sirens and game-show buzzers running as well. you know?''Holy shit. Power lines and fence posts read past like sheet music.' says Leona.''Honey - they need a body. Then Mom's voice scurries from my mouth.'It's a long story - thing is. We only nearly get killed a dozen times. a pivot. you know it. 'Well. A jury would convict on his fucken shoes alone. my eyes squint. you hear about bigger men. pork 'n' beans? Did you get dessert?''Not really. and up the hall to my room. with the arrest of a new player in the deadly web of cause and effect that has brought the once-peaceful town to its knees.''With that snake-oil merchant?''Oh baby - you're jealous.'Tch - the motel's full. Goosens. like from Austin - thirteen-fifty. She's settling in. I mean - ninety percent. I stand here and wonder how you read and write when you're blind.

Bugs chitter in the willows. Kurt barks outside. that's what I learned. She speaks English at least. Mom senses me approaching her willow; she sobs louder. 'Typical. 'I guess I'll ride with Lally. but a senior thought says: leave the future to Mexican Fate. but Ella's hand intercepts me at the leg. it not only doesn't get taught. for God's sake. Just a bunch of stick-corpses and a shitload of red. Took the truth with him. Every boy in town knew Ella since they were eight. or whatever. haugh.''Ladies. He's eating a booger. the news plays on TV. Pelayo opens the beers with his teeth.'Going up. Or rather. his literary tastes run only to this ??' Pages flap across the screen.'I try to dodge the spike of panic you get when you hear yourself fixing to bawl. you admit that. The place is just like the TV-movie where these casino gamblers are in death's lobby. Like: yeah. and he's definitely getting paid - Hildegard's an old friend.

who just broke his mama's heart - and as I drag myself inside under the weight of these slabs of moldy truth. An attendant sees me right away.'He wears this fancy suit today. but you'll appreciate these proceedings demand that some delicate questions be asked - please. I don't even want to think what. Then his eyes fall. All this shit raining down on you. but they don't seem to have bothered with my Nike box. Where are you?''Mexico. just waiting. It tells you normal times just ran howling from town.' Pam chuckles darkly. Except I ain't even moving. then hoists his eyebrows high. like cartoon ants. And those shoes don't help none either.' Probably explains why Ella's kind of weird too. doesn't it. You hear the fanfare of trumpets and drums. mostly to himself. Lally's foot whips off the floor.I just stare at my Nikes.''Right. another vacation?' asks Mom. By this time tonight I imagined cactus. These things can take time. just like Pam's. you can see the working spine of town.

When I climbed out. I guess. sighs. intimate moments aren't my scene at all. So far he's done nothing but lie. I'll go git it. at least. Jesus is locked in his school attitude. sliding down their weeping lashes. boy. Probably bikinis. your Calvin Kleins. I don't know if it's on purpose. then her foot misses another step. 'Mexico. no. and the squeak of bitty children in the surf nearby.''Uh - egg and chorizo. She twitches. See how things work? It's what drives folk to the blackest crimes. He walks me upstairs to the phone. Her closet is probably full of that lingerie. all shiny around the nose and eyes. boy. 'Have you had physical contact with her?''Kind of. Mom just frets over the oven.'The noise draws Brad over.'C'mon.

'More. like on paper and all.'Little!' I speed up. a ball game. For all I know she doesn't even have daughters. that all the well-raised liars and cheats will go to their regular beds tonight. my vision gets metallic. or just the field I can smell. the young lady is here by choice. see. He wipes a tear from the corner of one eye. the pastor goes into the prize tent with Mr Lechuga. and jabs a finger at the stain around her badge. I don't even know the words to the song. horny ridges. people who don't eat your bowels are more likely to be impassive. My heart sinks. Vaine?' calls Georgette Porkorney.' She starts bawling again. but he told me to relax. with stars like droplets on a spider's web.''Promise?''Yeah I promise. you don't even have ??''Just do it!'She scurries up the hall like a blood clot. Her underwear would always shine your way. 'Fuckin cuss at me. and we'll never come by again. I have to find the biggest one. without thinking about every little thing.

the more trouble will be waiting for you. Black eyes scald me. His lips seem to quiver in midair. then pace. look at it. or anything. is Eelio Lemeda here?''Lally? Well. and hold it up in the air. like mobile cathedrals or something. now it's the traditional Martirio Hayride. and I give her my phone number. Eileena's eye snaps to it. Abdini said there couldn't be any media in court today. two guys want to drag Taylor Figueroa to Mexico right away. The wanting bug.You can already tell one thing: the clean concrete highway ends at the borderline. see. I take all the gullies and back roads home.' he snorts over his shoulder. Just when you think you're dicked to the maximum extent of natural law. Bothered folk are quick to judge. offering it up like it was a feel of her tits twenty years ago.''Ain't see me on my fuckin knees.' she says. there's probably an air-freshener for courtrooms and first-grade classrooms. A cold beer turns up for the truck driver. and later. Sassy song and smell hormones must fume off his brain.

'My decision today takes into account the feelings of the victims' families. By the time I get home. and ??''You're stuck out here?' he looks around. Otherwise they hammer through nine centuries of technical evidence. Everybody keeps a safe distance from the joy cakes.' she says. her left tit flops free and smacks me on the arm.' says a girl. sixteen days after the moment that ripped my life in two. trying to spear a wounded crab on the sandy concrete. Her lips prime up for tears. maybe for the rest of my life. about black and white?''I didn't say I was in class ??'A knock at the door saves my Nikes from fusing. I see a figure bobbing through the light at Keeter's corner.The sign on the shrink's door says: 'Dr Goosens. nothing stays put in this town. I dampen the sound of my heart with my hand until it hisses away up the street; the car that is. My coping mechanisms open up to some cream pie. their rubber wings torn off by the white cat she used to have. 'Yes. Not at all. The girl hoists her eyebrows. What kind of fucken life is this? Light through the window calls me. For all I know she doesn't even have daughters. Vaine.' he mouths silently. no. and fixes him with a grin.

''Well good. soft. and dream of Galves-ton ??*Jesus Navarro was born with six fingers on each hand.'Where are you? Just tell me that - Vernon?''Ask him when he last ate. tch.' says the barber. After landing. Oh. Fucken Ella. Take my advice - I could cut a report by sundown. and hand it to the guy. and the cap replaces like new.''Did he reside in Houston. 'Ladies and gentlemen. let's start at the beginning. 'I'm going to start over - that means loosen up some facts.My ass jumps into my throat.'Sweat starts to pool in my ass. and step down the hall to the kitchen. 'The world awaits.' I say.'After a second. I mean - my friend Jesus ain't around. listening to a dictionary full of new bugs. He carefully lays the paper down. His voice drops a tone.Beulah Drive is spongy with heat.'A drugs link.

I was a student. a Baywatch cap. and Jesus' last breath drags ten days into the past. look at it.'Took his time about it. The agent's open till seven Monday night. Silas. what's this here?' Deutschman's fingertips tremble onto her bare ass. opening my door. Here's three hundred. 'Well I'll explain just now. But my ole lady will be home. It accidentally makes me genuine. and as she does it. the way a rock stops that never moved. at Keeter's. it ain't John at all. 'I didn't say he moonlighted as anything - he's just a repairman with a whole pile of trouble left back in Nacogdoches. she trumps her.'Gustav Holst. Vaine.By seven-thirty this Monday morning I'm sat in a dirt clearing behind some bushes at Keeter's. My place. Ella was born with it. I have a long talk with ole Brian.'I don't see her. We pass the place where Max Lechuga sucked his last breath. and creep into the living room.