doesn't a fresh stool. I heard the voice of Jesus last night. We haven't eaten since our death-dog.'Porkorney thinks a moment.

Sure
Sure. I look around. cuss your mother!''I ain't cussing!''My God. and if the box also had an open bottle of death-gas or whatever. I upgraded my computer. Not in practice. Little fucker broke my PlayStation. just sickens me sometimes. Cobwebs of spit fly from my mouth. A new smell imprints on my brain; the smell of ole pickled dreams. Things have gone beyond a fucken joke. Fate clouds. and a child has a right to eat. That's when I saw the hog farm by the road. Some wires on the floor. Vaine. He's like an ole-fashion train all of a sudden. Ella will be out front with her fucken dress up. like - make love to me. you can tell. why it ain't worn away to nothing. I guess it's ironic when you laugh while you sob.'Vaine's coming down with they dogs. But you know how Martirio is.

She doesn't hear.''Which is where the body of Barry Gurie was found?''Objection. As I spray the limes.'Shhh - Lally's sleeping!' hisses Mom. I've been blind for thirty years. listening to a dictionary full of new bugs.''Wait up.''Well Lally. him and a whole shit-loada other guys. though. You physically feel the jackrab-bit pulse that says. as a last resort. I'll go tell them. I ain't gay.''Oh my God . They juggle those skills with their eyebrows. like your internal nana or whatever? Mine just says. knowing he knows I know he's soft at heart. 'Quickly. And it's as if she relaxes some. watch cable. he knows where I was. lit by the biggest ray. I go find a phone on the street outside the hotel.

In my cut of the thing. invisible. nodding to Gurie. with Galveston playing in back. and narrow it down.'Mom stumbles to her wishing bench.'Such a foul mouth on a girl probably shocks you. actually.'Bothered folk. I ain't sure Taylor will come along. I see a glow up ahead. They'd forget how things really are.'He laughs. I never heard of no joy cake.'Lord God in heaven please let me have a side-by-side. Instead there's a house like Mrs Porter's across the street.' You can tick Jesus off real easy these days. beaten. He dangles the receiver over the cradle.' calls Leona.'Vernon. disordered xylophone music joins the soundtrack as the camera bumps up the hallway to my room. tell her I'm sorry. though.

A truck idles past with four million hood ornaments. not for me but for them. how do you know? You been over there and asked him?''I went by there once and he gave me a Coke.' He pulls a crumpled business card from his shirt pocket. Pelayo kicks the crab out of my way. hardened criminals. His skin is darker than a lot of folks down here. Then he says. for melon slammers. yeah. and spit-curry after-poon drying cold on my face. now that I've been to jail and all. Then. slow up - deputies came?''Uh-huh. I pull aside her weeping panty to face a delta writhing with meats. 'how can you do that to Mommy?'She pretends to bawl. like - whatever. Then you learn a deadly bug crawled up there. 'do they still happen if you think they're gonna - but don't tell nobody ???''Sounds like not unless nobody doesn't see you not telling. What I learned is you need that industry. Leona wafts in.'Lally. Nice room she has. I mean in the industry where you end up knowing like day is day that something's going to happen for you - you never once hear how to actually fucken do it.

wisping. At Leona's champagne stand. what's he holding back?A wrong note from the meatworks' band coughs us onto Beulah Drive in a swirl of leaf tatters. actually. like when she eats ice-cream in important company. Know why? Because they're make-a-fast-buck genes. Mom calls it art. situated away from the scene of the crimes - automatically rule you out as a suspect? Fecal matter can be accurately dated. Both the button and the lights it activates are green. kind of. I'm the only one passing by. I stand quiet. cinnamon dust and chili blood. I'll remind you that. You guess it maybe ain't coming either. or the past. bent over a hospital-type gurney. Not in practice. a shadow falls over the car. The judge reaches for her hammer.' I say. She smiles a crooked little smile. TA-TA-TA. Fate plays a card.

'Yeah.' I say. He just hangs on a kind of crutch. Course. and accordion.' Then. more folk wander into the market. like Fate songs for instance. look - there's like this inflatable octopus out front of the Galleria. 'Don't argue with your mother. the boy also lied. next time or whatever.''Wait up - my watch says quarter after. now that you're so grown up and all.''Your honor. who only has his robe on.I pass some lounge chairs facing the bay. The future. just moving your vehicle onto the wrong side of the road.''Attaboy. why. 'But little man is part of family home.'Fuck off. and is over there drinking coffee.

'Perhaps you'll tell us the name of the sheriff who briefed you?'The way Georgette Porkorney talks you wouldn't think she gave a shit about the ole sheriff.'Yeah. 'This is no way for a young man to spend his learning years. filled with like piss. Vern. I'm a little loaded. but he's not there ??'This so-called investment was with one of those companies with names chained together. He doesn't talk to me at all. The lights are off.' I say. and this bitch mentioned it in class.'She tries to close back her legs. white ones with bitty holes to circulate air.' I tell him.Georgette Porkorney is the oldest of the pack; a dry ole buzzard with hair of lacquered tobacco smoke. Brian sits with his head in his hands.''Not for long. one arm flailing. flicking his tongue at my buddy. the cowgirl. I even thought I could maybe drop a load in my pants or something. It seems Eileena's eyebrows perch high this lunchtime too. taut glory unfurling.' he says.

probably wearing blue cotton panties under.'Judge. are ya. I touch her where the flab from her back dams under her armpit. Heat shimmers clean at the end of the street. She catches my eyes and settles them back. with half a brown apple in it. cranking the volume way up. just like Pelayo learned me. after Luling. it ain't worth coming clean at all. Then. She leads the way on account of being youngest. all hulky and black. I'll take lunch. Juicy-Fruit breath. see. light from a doorway snags a Bar-B-Chew Barn box in her arms. trying to keep up with the math of the thing. I have witnesses. The line clicks. then pulls out the tickets and says.'Fuck. sucking chemical data like trembling dogs.

and I.' You can tell right away she spends too much damn time around her folks.' he says.Leona watches her quiver become a sob. 'And why might that be?''Well.''Yet you maintain Vernon's innocence?''Oh God. then thumps a cold bottle down in front of me.' I say. Pathetic. or we're fucken brothers or something.' He stops to sigh a moment. Jesus is proof you should take damn good care. in case you think I'm secretly in love with Ella. like a tragedy mask. The radio is pissing me off now.Lally's face falls. Air-conditioning blows their hair like seaweed underwater. Vernon. Then blue. I realize there's a kind of immune system back home. I have an urge to ask her name.I sit waiting between shafts of light from a row of doorways. what about lunchtime. and now I fill his place.

I sneer at the pawnbroker. I know.' The call ends when she sees me. Pumpjacks poke dirty fingers into the landscape.' she says. she reels me out to the end of my tether. An attendant sees me right away. 'Vernon Little in here? His ma's on the phone. The waistband on her denims throws a shadow on her skin. And once I'm aware of what my eyes are doing. It breaks my fucken heart.'Mr Ledesma - is this your mother?''Don't be ridiculous.' Her eyes flick over the crowd. and empty noise on the radio.' The Gurie twins huddle around him. Goosens. engaging everyone's attention individually. You can't drink till you're twenty-one around here. Course. passing me by without a glance.' she sniffs.'Hurry. except human. with all its flavors of smell.

' says Charlotte Brewster. look - he even invests on the stock market. has been abducted by glandular acids. I try to push away the silken threads. I know. though. come on.'Vaine's coming down with they dogs. I try to explain the beach-house dream.'Cut to daylight.' says the judge.' says George. I'm waiting to hear if I've been commissioned for a whole series.You don't know how full my head is of plans to disappear. We sit listening as long as we can bear it. This far down the road. it's Mommy. 'President & Service Technician-In-Chief. you are fuckin not twenty-two.''Maybe not so quiet. I understand him for the first time. It lasts until the ninth sip of the beer that we share.' I say. burping lightning without a sound.

'There you go. the gun ain't such a big deal. with all that new responsibility - specially now he edged Vaine out of the picture ??''Responsi-bility?''Well you must've heard. You know Fate.''I'll go ask Tyrie what the name of the guy is who's over here smoking weed and drinking beer. fast. with the beach-house? Plenty of folks must do that. 'I have to get that refrigerator moved into the media center - it's a mighty fine donation. I sit and wait. I'll get the front door. wiping a hand on her leg.''Shit. Falling out. Manual Cunt asked the thing about the kitten - the riddle. where I pick the cap off the ginseng. Aldo Manaldo.'Si el g??ero eres tu. Nuckles spins. her organs pump double-time.She giggles.' says the prosecutor. One design has 'I survived Martirio' splattered across it in red. At the back of the room. actually.

great. My balls crawl up my throat. I understand him for the first time. ole Rosario? He'd never end up in this position. it's Vern. or something?''See. then Taylor yells back: 'It's my friend from outta town - okay?!' The door slams.Lines of trucks stretch into the dark on the other side of the bridge. but around here we decorate our pumpjacks.' That's what I sing on the ride out to Keeter's. Typical of asshole Naylor to horn in on my thing. I only have what's left in my purse ??' Coins clatter onto a tabletop at her end. just another fragile fucken booger-sac of a life.'Ma - I'm just real sorry. Probably because she's in a business adventure with me. Not right away. Sitting by the window ain't a sharp idea for a diet fugitive. It's set up for more obvious folk. Now that I'm grown up. Town's like a club.'To say we're challenged.''So you've sworn under oath that you were at the scene of eighteen deaths. but if this is how you're gonna be - I already talked to Mr Lasseen about a job. The sign that says 'Welcome to Martirio' stands fifty yards away on the Johnson road.

and steps in front. He's probably like the Mr Lechuga of town.''The child has broken laws?''Well. 'Vaine Gurie's lucky to stick to the seat of her damn shorts. and now he's like my fucken blood? I just stare at the rug. 'Isn't everybody?'The barber mostly slashes mid-air; two halves of a fly hit the deck. 'Vern - tell Jesus we can change things if we stick together - tell him ??' She starts to cry.When I'm all packed.'Oh no. His eyes bounce across a file in his hand.'I guess so. you know that. Deutschman's using up some stale ole cash.Nuckles sighs. They mean get the fuck out of town. It's shit. God. the screen swings open again. you can go by Harris's store. It's like we're on a Pritikin diet of fucken lies. Clothes fly out of the closet into my Nike backpack. then turns to Abdini. I can imagine her saying. I saw the defendant run towards Officer Gurie.

'An electric purple sky spills stars behind the pumpjack. Panties - The Final Frontier. all crusty and alone. in case you hadn't noticed. Another has holes ripped through it. of vital last messages nobody hears. It's like we're on a Pritikin diet of fucken lies. Leona. A fuzzy ole show with some flashes of panty and a happy ending. then just ask them why they did it. Vernon Gone-To-Hell Little. drifting into this endless purgatory while the fan squeaks like a sackful of rats.'Fucken Vanessa? I search her face for clues. and levels his eyes at me. she's going through a lot. My computer has history to wipe from the drive. The prosecutor adjusts his smile and wanders over. although you ain't allowed to say it. fluorescent green Nikes.'Is that right. Van Damme's your man if you want the drugs dropped right here. her breeze to raw shrimp and metal-butter. 'Mr Little - you do understand why you're here?''Sure. now that I've been to jail and all.

He waits a little longer. My ole lady struggles to keep her misery. you'll just love those guys.'Twinkles stab Ledesma's eyes. and from hunger. Fuck. No dirty little bass riffs running up and down the back.' Lally shakes his head. With a broken collarbone.''But I didn't do anything - damn!''Vernon Gregory!' says Lally. back home. but already the damned thing's listing into the dirt. I can't help thinking - what kind of fucking life is this?''Tell me about it. probably wearing blue cotton panties under. 'Vernon - have you ever felt attraction towards another boy? Or a man?''No way. calling the weirdest fucken people Cindy. Town's like a club.''Uh - hi. nods to everybody. right on camera. if the facts don't arrive today.''I suggest you killed them. a shelter for maggots and worms. 'Heck.

I kill it. Jesus got worse after that. as the TV jumps from global to local news. Boy is she boosted up. get that. please. get that. squinting into the willow. They trace a line down my body. to stay forever. 'We just saved us the price of a Chik 'n' Mix:Deep fucken trouble keeps my euphoria at bay. As Americans. honey chile. honking all the while. But I'm in a bind. Loni. we want to hear what you damn well know. Lally's on a roll. she abandoned him. It's ole Tyrie Lasseen. hi - it's Vern. 'Boor-jay. fucked and nailed through the eye of my dick to the biggest cross.I grab my pack.

some new information came into the public domain last night. they'll say. It tells you he's either a tourist. Martirio's tight-assed buildings quiver through it. Her lips prime up for tears.A shimmer rises off the hood of Pam's ole Mercury. boy. but Fate was against me. with her skirt up around her waist. I try another angle. Another underdog replaced by overdogs. nudging me toward the door. The beach ain't as white as Against All Odds. There.I limp back to the phones.''Yeah. she'd probably say 'underpants' or something. who finish me off with their goddam blah. After that she just stays sobbing. But the memory doesn't come to my brain. pausing at the side that says 'VG Little'. innocent faces. My disc player is still here. dodging humongous motorcoaches lit up like space shuttles.

Seb's dad just happens to own the whole store. feels its surface. make it slither to the spout end of the funnel of truth. When Lasseen is safely out of sight.'I climb off the sofa. 'Something big is what I'm livin for. And now - heeere's Ella. You can't drink till you're twenty-one around here.'Lally and Leona clack out through the screen into a dirty afternoon. that says. I decide to call her collect. Your joining fee today could be three hundred dollars.''Yeah.''No further questions. I look out over the garden of this place. small people flow around me like tumbling store-displays. every token of how remote my dream is from her mind. I guess all these ole fakes are good that way. pull my jacket from the pack. that and the spicy smell of their clothes. I'm not saying I catch a real whiff. 'I love you Bernie. 'The task of securing the state's borders and highways will continue long into the night - authorities warn the suspect may be armed. then pace.

I finally just pass the guy a ten from my billfold. but Bertram's sending someone to get the boy. and my boy is like fucken reinforced cement. and see Taylor there running around in her panties. 'Dhoof!' he flies back onto the bike. after we spent all that money on scuba lessons ??'World-class knifing. Judge Helen E Gurie says the sign. instead of all laughably fucked up. Outside. but it's like watching a Japanese person barn-dancing.' as Mr Nuckles would say. this list can save you a truckload of beer over the summer. God. I sit on the balcony of the house.''The one dressed like Ricardo Moltenbomb?''Well he's much younger than Ricardo Montalban - isn't he. so her voice slithers up and down. outside school? At the time of the tragedy?''Sometimes I can be kind of unpredictable. I point at my nose while I suck it down. Then Mom's voice scurries from my mouth. I don't even know how far I have to go. I helped unpeel her shorts a little. You can still hear my ole lady from the porch. 'Did Vernon Little know you would be in Mexico that day?''See - but.An aneurysm wakes me Friday morning.

But even naked animals need bail. I've been thinking positive all year. love the hair!''Not too frisky?' tweets Eileena. You have been identified at all of them. Anyway.I limp back to the phones. not like Mrs Porter. or something. until they were dead or dying - correct?''Yes. I'm not so interested in all that burlesque kind of stuff. she's going through a lot. kiss her on the mouth. I daresay he'll come crawling back here just now with his tail between his legs.'In the background you hear Leona's car keys drop into George's lap. I have to find the biggest one. He moves a branch to watch us pass. Leona. Momma!''Vernon Gregory. definitely gonna die at some moment.'Taylor steps through the crowd in a gray business suit with short skirt. in a surge of careless passion that makes back home seem like a fucken Jacuzzi that somebody forgot to switch on. 'Your honor. That's where the rifle is stashed.' says George.

Typical of me to introduce slime to paradise.'We apply bail your honor. in light of everybody's behavior.'I fester and decompose in the back of a Greyhound bus bound for McAllen. it ain't worth coming clean at all. A sheet of iron creaks in a gust. until the end anyway. and shit. Then I stand back and hold my breath. a genuine smile. The crusher is that I got identified by Pam at the bus depot. all warm and spent. and I still have new tenny-runners to buy ??'Three whole brags. I pack my address book. like she's thinking about it.' says Lally. Panty-line. the sheriff's lips tighten. she sounded very senior - she'll call back later. and put a padlock on it and all. . the linebacker! - I slept under the shawl of my prom dress all week. Mom just smiles powerfully. ma'am.

I look up to the school's main entrance and spy him arched over her crumpled body. Instead I choke on aviation perfume.'I'll be back for my stuff.'Taylor drops her head now. and you've invented an imaginary job. 'Little big man - let's go share some thoughts. I pretend he just gave me a really smart idea. Weird how dogs know things.''Know how you feel. The redemption. then regions of shorts and cotton prints radiate out to the edges. 'Vernon didn't do such a good job hiding these. Said there could be a drugs link. Bernie. All the boys I know have summer jobs. and the dogs are here from Smith County. A gumbo of lies. is the desperate plan. His voice drops a tone. Beauregard. Believe me. right. I'm chased through skies of churning bile by a black and putrid vortex that swirls across whole states. Because.

A bedspring creaks up the hallway. and caresses them all the way up to my palm. but I stood by him. Talk about their car. Until proven guilty - remember?' The man rolls my way and smiles into my face like I'm a very small child.''Well. and just lost count of all the bodies mounting up.' says Leona. You know why she's leaving early: so nobody sees her scurry through town on foot. young man.' Relief scuds through me as Tyrie warns them away from the den. after all that weed and beer. Lally. because Fate always pays attention to what you think. They always just drop by. Then these rusty sounds slither onto the breeze. all nonchalant. I sit and wait.'New shock for the Central Texas community of Martirio. after we spent all that money on scuba lessons ??'World-class knifing. doesn't a fresh stool. I heard the voice of Jesus last night. We haven't eaten since our death-dog.'Porkorney thinks a moment.