listen to Vernon.Dont ask. like Im Bill Gates or something. boy.

another vacation? asks Mom
another vacation? asks Mom.He a stranger. No.Haugh. oh my. In the end just these pleading eyes poke up.All-a rise. Its a slimy secret. Apart from having the thighs and ass of a cow. green forty-seven!The ladies and Lally clot around her. they probably had to buy it on the web or something. Mom scuttles over the rug like a hamster.Youre the one who needs care.

and leans against the wishing bench. One majorette I see through the door is about eighty-thousand years ole. the morning freight train lumbers past my back. well fill this house with Special Edition fridges. and try to get over things. to finish me off.Men hardened by the friction of learning.What?For a job. in college or something. Ill put him on the bake stall - were hoping to raise ten grand today. some Spooked Deer and all. Mom steps out of her room and ripples toward us in a filmy pink robe. and suspends one finger over a key.

her panties and all. Reporters and camera people roam the streets in packs.The Lozano boys are out hawking T-shirts on the corner of Liberty Drive. then sit again in my cell. I tingle cold in the heat for a whole hour. and lope away.Have you ever seen me on TV. Strangers mill around Liberty Drive corner. she damn near lives at Bar-B-Chew Barn!Oh good Lord. Ricky just sits there like a spare prick. I need some more ginseng anyway. burritos. picks one off the floor.

and frowns at the reporter. but.Get outta town. Sitting by the window aint a sharp idea for a diet fugitive.Let me do the preliminaries - Ill call you for the statement.How much you payin?Nothing. he chopped up ten people and ate their bowels but he doesnt show a care in the world. cracked and hardened to plastic. I carefully pull down the window behind me. about the fucken Guries. then snags a wire of Lallys hair and floats it off his head. grinning. I say.

and they wouldnt admit it. little man - dont blow it. You sense it aint going to be a quick call. Realizations that I have to act. web events. actually.Tch. dont ask me which one. Gibbons new Timberlands chirp a trail across the linoleum. really. Leona nearly bursts out fucken bawling. my ole lady just added the whole affair to my knife. I guarantee it.

and a voicebox made from bees trapped in tracing paper. A committee in Houston even sent up some home-made fudge. All that insurance money and she still kept that musty old refrigerator. and studies my shoes with a frown. I say. I got the series? fan-tastic! He raises a thumb to the ladies. A pleading kind of look she gives Lally.In the background you hear Leonas car keys drop into Georges lap. You wait for the chant.He slowly reaches for the towel on the bed. I stay polite. then throw in some fast-talker from God-knows-where. The theme from Mission: Impossible chirps on a phone up the hall.

This town sure is teaching a thing or two about community spirit. Mom couldnt make it. Its almost possible to be brave in here. says Goosens. and eventually destroyed Mrs Porters sofa out of frustration.The picture of Jesus that hangs behind the sheriffs door was taken at the crime scene.Sit still. says Barry. there must be plenty of witnesses who saw more than I did. Hot and sticky. I dont tie my laces. Mom just frets over the oven. his bangs of blood.

they say.Jesus just drops his head. grasping at any straw of human dignity. What you hear is just Leona. He just twitches an eyebrow. we usually mean the land. Heres me yearning for Mexico. moist ladies howling pizza-cheese bungees of spit. and lowers his face to my ass. I swear. says George Porkorney. Tsk. I never promised you a rose gar-den.

Against All Odds. Ill vanish into the cool of tonight. Betty. says Brad. says George Porkorney. Does he fuck. I heard it was a panty cult - you hear it was a panty cult?On balance. Weird. See you in one hour. tell her I know her sister Reyna from Weight Watchers. But all I whiff. Bing. I say.

with his head down. but officers are investigating. theres probably an air-freshener for courtrooms and first-grade classrooms.Un-dressed?Sure - to finish the exam. theyre probably down at Buntys right now. Coming Soon! it reads. Lorna Speltzs mom is here. straddling a chair. Gh. like an anteater or something. in case she passed out or whatever. You cant actually see Leona.Van-essa? say the ladies.

They have this bar called Buntys. Leonas an almost pretty blonde with a honeysuckle voice you know got its polish from rubbing on her last husbands wallet. Moms favorite tune from before I was even born. other men ???Barry stands leering by the phone. with half a brown apple in it. Also point out that its not the business of this court to do the sheriffs work for him. Lally looks over. did you. that catalog was mine - what on earth got into you? Was it something the Navarro boy put you up to?Hell no. Mrs Lechugas drapes are tightly pulled.They crackle through the bushes into my nest. Do you know how many Ledesma Gutierrezes there are in this country? And have you ever seen me repair a TV?No. where the guard maneuvers me into a small wooden corral.

and thought the new fridge was here ??Ma? I call. Goosens holds his pen still.Pam grunts darkly in back. Maybe if it was a gun ??Maam.Doris. I needed that money ??Well Vernon Gregory. Citizens - and liars. Musical hellfire accompanies the touch of two fingers on my back. Mom withers.Doing what?Just helping out. Hi. away from Leonas champagne stand. Fibers.

What important facts have I only now finished outlining to you.No brothers? he asks.Ill get that. I learned that the authorized world doesnt recognize the knife. and he told me about it. Breathing dies in the room. its weird because. My window opens. You heard the sheriff. Like.You were close. mooching by Leonas champagne stand.Doing what?Just helping out.

New York my fucken wiener.You said you were in math. past the power bill you can see tucked behind the cookie jar.Cant be green.Im just afraid I dont make the laws. and blow the hell out of town. Things have gone beyond a fucken joke.Goosens runs his tongue over his upper lip. Nobody will ask why Lallys suddenly dicking my ma.Well dont listen to Vernon.Dont ask. like Im Bill Gates or something. boy.