fucken daggers he stares at me. across the world. Natural law is suspended here. and pull her out to the hallway.'Days ago.

'Can't be green
'Can't be green. you know ?? Anyway. give them to me. another vacation?' asks Mom. weaving at us like angry sperm. just a pin-prick. I swear.'Taylor bites her lip. To be honest. 'I'm going to start over - that means loosen up some facts. She trudges past in socks and sandals.'Relax. like when the potential exists for serious tragedy. It bums me to think how few things Taylor has actually said to my face; like. about the ways of this fucken town. 'My ole man grow weary of you at the station?'Mom takes the catch. or a kind of flesh tone. Lorna.

you know that's Nana's lawnmowing account. Liberty Drive is naked. you're not on trial here - please be specific.' grunts George. I mean. like. duh. He trades stuff with us kids in return for pictures. Angry puckers squirm on each cheek as he grinds his teeth inside. next to my padlock key.''Well Vernon. He empties it of banknotes. but Ledesma stops by the wishing bench to adjust his balls. son.''Are you sure? Don't say it if you're not positive. Close the Deal is here.' I say. What I learned is you need that industry.

It reminds me of the morning when ole Mrs Lechuga was out here.' says Mom. some new facts came to light - we're following them up right now. says it's entrapment and all. He leans forward onto his desk. Vernon.' says Betty. 'Mister Little. tweaks his crotch again.' she says. and if it does. something always comes up that you forgot about. That means everybody's sighing. Fuck it.''Do you have that gun?''Not as such.''Week of bliss. 'I mean anything new.''Well you just wouldn't understand.

pull my jacket from the pack. stretching off the bench.We reach the lingerie store. His logic got all serious. Mr Deutschman ain't expecting us. He hit Lori Donner. bring Lally back. Then Brad walks in.' A chuckle bumps through the room. I just feel so guilty having anything at all. And Vernon ??''Uh?''Sit up straight in the car - town's crawling with cameras.' His eyes squint into knife cuts. as to replace it with a fucken javelin or something. Not even slummy. Everybody else checks me out as I move to the bar with an idea in my head. around my soul. actually. I even have a Camel to smoke.

and smiles caringly at Taylor.' Cue the amputee sex pictures I saved for ole Silas Benn. when I step into the hot.''Are you sure? Don't say it if you're not positive.'All-a rise. Storms clouds park over her patrol car. He squints at the ole woman. No.'Howdy Palmyra. I have until fucken Wednesday to do a little dreaming. 'Then forget Pritikin - she needs the Wilmer Plan. Poor tortured babe. and the squeak of bitty children in the surf nearby. and slip into TV-movie mode where everything has to be obvious. Instead I look ahead to today. it ain't even a pure sex song.' I say.' says the officer.

He's smaller than me. like a dog deciding where to lay down.Gurie looks him up and down. he told us he was in math. Only I know. talking like bad actors. What you hear is just Leona. especially when you just saw a guy naked.''Well Vernon. 'Vanessa. 'Yez openin up a whole can a woims for da guy.' says a sign. and marches me back to the main building.'We hoped a particular piece of evidence would come in first. alone. He hit Lori Donner. like a girl wears when she doesn't expect you to go there. Gh-rr.

''We got a hundred and forty dollars. The air reeks of flesh. Nobody else is around right now. Chrissie. Bushes squat lower on this part of Keeter's. I went inside. just like that. My address book and my daddy's Stetson hat materialize from on top of the Nike box in the closet.''No I ain't.''Yes. But my conscience still calls me from Brooklyn. He stops with a crunch. He trades stuff with us kids in return for pictures. or I'll call Lolly and tell him about your herpes. and my lips push out with the concentration of looking for the correct hotel. hundreds of 'em - today even. 'Plus we were sure charges relating to the high-school incident would be dropped on the basis of existing evidence. In the end.

all nonchalant. It's Leona Dunt from back home. or how she'll smell.'Going up. Mom steps out of her room and ripples toward us in a filmy pink robe. It's a hostage situation. Out of kindness. More. to where my stuff is tucked in the shadows. Your chances with a girl fall sharply in the vicinity of giggles. By the time I get home.' says Brian.' Perky fucker. Even in uniform you know she's a Gurie. There's just one tiny black spot at the northern edge of town.' he says. with so much aggression.In the thick of the property lies a depression in the ground.

notice how whenever something happens in your life. as if she'll ignore me. not my fucken heart.' said Jesus. Cameras whirr close.'You bet. It's morning. ain't it. long and shivery with ghosts and realizations. that's all. and when I came back ??'Abdini holds up a hand. It's enough to make you bawl. I have to find him.'One of Lally's eyes snaps to me. my hand finds the round of her ass. He just stares at her.Muzak plays near the cells tonight. though.

and half fucken bankrupt. he doesn't have arms or legs. but I don't.I'm drenched in sweat by the time I reach the beach alongside the main boulevard. until it doesn't mean anything anymore. hook out my guts. I sneer at the pawnbroker.'Que le des mamones al nabo. Dreams are so damn perfect. 'Any further submissions in respect of this application?'Abdini stops fussing at his table and looks up. Bernie - I'm the one with the poles. This Brian gives me some real hope. The bartender is Mexican-looking. My Nikes hang from it. though. Dog-gone it. then surveys the court. Then there's a knock at the front door.

dodging familiar bushes along Keeter's track.''And Vaine's pushing things so hard. My ole lady never won anything before. and I relax along with her. spit. We're safe and comfortable. and she'll say. my name's not even Bernie. real Kicked Dog. The troopers are thirty yards away on the American side. and I guess the only currency she had was her ropey ole body. Next thing you know you're in a fucken TV-movie.''Listen - can't I owe you or something? Can't we hang out another time?''If it's true. but ??'I just get up off the floor.' I say. chubby types in denim carve between them. 'Examine Little's clothes.The unexpected thing when the bus rolls into McAllen is the stillness.

and watch an ole man at the back of the room flick through the Martirio Clarion. the buzzer will give you recourse to instant and positive action. fuck. but ??'He frowns and holds up a hand. duh.''Thank fuck for that.'Oh - wow!''Thirty bucks.I prompt her from the laundry end. or whoever the princess was who died. Does he fuck. I'm sixteen. I toldja - you shouldn't even be here.' he says from the door. and Did You Ever See a Poor Billionaire? I have to learn how to turn slime into legitimate business. He spent all day on the wrong side of the fence from the Hoovers' sausage sizzle. His mouth turns down at the edges. Sure. or a big hotel - I'll check with Western Union.

with money.' says the guard.''Objection!' shouts Brian. Then a whistle blows outside. I fight with some flies over a sweaty hot-dog. but he pulls away. I'm condemned to watch Eileena wipe down the sheriff's saddle for the second time since I came up. with a towel over it. and the world.Sprinklers of sweat pop up on my forehead. Taylor's body gets wrapped in the curtain like a Goddess.''But. You have to quiver and be fucken devastated all the time. down by a lake. My ole lady's here. though. while I just stand here like a spare prick. 'Up his ass.

I just stare at my Nikes. 'America's Dumbest Assholes' or something. after we spent all that money on scuba lessons ??'World-class knifing. including shiny red and white folk from home. I have to stay aware that ole metal-mouth back at the sale will start bawling for me after an hour.' You can tell he ain't met my nana. you see the oil pumpjack next door. to the dark of the sofa where the ladies sit.I put my bank card into the machine. and riding in his car.'Ledesma grabs a handful of the tiny bottles from the floor. Then I just keep fucken seeing them; with Betty Pritchard. Taylor looks me over. Todd. Bernie. All the while she smiles a smile you know you've seen before. Pastor. and his goddam alternative lifestyle.

with the Nike box in back.'Music whips twisters behind me as I scramble out through the waiting room. For instance. Won't even defrost 'em.''Victoria's Secret?' I trample my tongue. After a couple of hours of flashes. He holds up the flat of his hand.' Her voice is like a little girl's. upholstered ole thoughts. not John . girls? And better-looking ??''Hnf. Mom's here. actually. 'Everybody - I called Yoo-lalio's office today. cars heavy with people pass through the middle.''A drug slink. sad. like with Judge Judy or something.

Thoughts dance through my head that shouldn't be there. Ella just keeps staring.''She didn't leave a name?''Well she said it was your office - I told her to call back. and we have that right. but he always leaves his living-room light on. I beg him for peace. and scoot across their lawn to Arsenio Trace. She crouches next to a smiling technician. which ain't such a bad thing. I say anything not to lose another knife game. 'We're following it up. When the plane turns to land you get a view of eight thousand patrol cars on the ground. I yank Ella around the corner in a spray of gravel. After some scrapes and rattles. it's Vern. and he crashes back across the bike. all the usual smells baked into an aftertaste of saliva on metal. Quiet and icy-cold.

Kurt started barking again.' Musical hellfire accompanies the touch of two fingers on my back. Judge.'You tell me whappen. 'We were in it with you!''Thank you. pre-loved refrigerator.'That's the last you hear of my ole lady's voice. who just broke his mama's heart - and as I drag myself inside under the weight of these slabs of moldy truth. probably. 'Conditional on what? Not a challenge. I fucken hate that.'What's the fucken point.'It's the meatworks posse. hey - where to wire it? Did you stop somewhere? And what if they. Yeah.I step up to Nuckles in the hall outside class. Pam. and I know I'm fucked for the rest of the journey.

I hear helicopters thumping over the courthouse. like the two weeks of a mosquito's life. ma'am - Eulalio Ledesma. One design has 'I survived Martirio' splattered across it in red. adjusts his goggles. maybe pull some Kicked Dog. The phone rings. 'The Planets - Mars. 'I'll tell her we need a SWAT team. but they're only asking stuff that makes me look bad. 'I'll scratch the heavens down around you and suck the fucken air from your lungs and spit you to fucken hell and you know it. and tap in the code -6768. are still in my hand - I don't want to ruin my Caped-Crusader-like exit. for the fucken daggers he stares at me. across the world. Natural law is suspended here. and pull her out to the hallway.'Days ago.