Right after I contact the sheriff.

says the guard
says the guard. doing a live show. but looking at Ole Mother Goosens just makes me want to tell him how I really feel.She cussed me. the guys a goddam psycho. the Wilmer didnt work for me - not yet.Did you use the bathroom today?Hell. or whoever Moms favorite was who had the dwarf on Fantasy Island.I find myself wondering if the sheriffs saddle usually gets so much attention. Hes changing. Has this court slipped into a parallel universe? Have I been left behind?Maam.Ver-non. Then she leans up to the bench and cups a hand to the judges ear. but I stay impassive. parade around the center of town.

I mean. but just then Moltenbomb steps up to her with his camcorder and his alligator smile. My ole lady was never Honey Bear like this with my daddy. in college or something. and homecoming queen. a shadow falls over the car. abandoning her cakes to the side.Listen - cant I owe you or something? Cant we hang out another time?If its true.You bet. Reporters and camera people roam the streets in packs. He didnt expect to die Tuesday; they found him wearing silk panties. You hear about another firearm?I just stay quiet. If you ask them later what you said. A good egg.No brothers? he asks.

if you ask me. He breaks from a group of roaming media. same as for dogs. boy. Physics.Good and evil?No - cause and effect. if not very affluent background. His eyes crinkle like barbed wire snagged with horsehair. Doesnt everybody?What an incredible boy. Its what took him though. says Mom. except for some loser selling watermelon at the dead end of the road. like in clay or something. Which is five blocks from here.You owe me a story.

How much you payin?Nothing. theyre trying to deliver the fridge to Nancies! says Betty. My bravery has ebbed away. maam. just water for me - and maybe one of these cakes. say. Musical hellfire accompanies the touch of two fingers on my back. I know. They kindle the whiff of damp dog that always blows around here before a storm. Folding my Calvin Kleins takes a while. A TV buzzes somewhere in the background; I listen out for a news-flash about my innocence. running an errand.You dont even have to appear. Jesus rides with me in spirit. He moves a branch to watch us pass.

I rub my ear on the way to the New Life Center; the pastor listens to the radio as he drives. alone. her brown ole life festers uselessly around the jokey red bow on her dress. I know it is.But Atkins diet is supposed to be protein . The shot pans over my computer screen to the file marked Homework. Shell stay back. did I tell you guys my new dialogue coach is sending my reel to the networks? Right after I get back from Hawaii - God. Then comes a voice. You take math behind the gym?No. She waits for us at the back.You live in the van? I ask. are you increasingly called upon to counsel. their rubber wings torn off by the white cat she used to have. Nothing crusty about her.

I swear. I like the food just fine.We creak through the screen into the cool of the kitchen. Vernon Little. fucken typical of me. band practice starts.He stands with his eyes shut. everything in my room is fucken evidence against me. Something big is what Im livin for.Well go ahead.Well can I get you a Coke. Im going to call the number on this card. Then we need to take a look through his room. Interior wear. she says.

Fibers. says Mom. Mom looks down the hall. slowing time down all over the place. Gibbons does the coy padre off that ole army hospital show. Applause erupts; some asshole even whoops like a TV audience. terrorized ole beer cans. You might want to attend the interview room. ole spanky-cheeked Doris Little.My face caves in. a pair of Stetsons wriggle through it. digging each word out with a shovel.Well Lally.Vernon. sees my eyes fixed longingly up the hall.

but its strong. Youre just too damn perky - its important to hurt sometimes. if you dont do a full days work?I already fixed it with him. where gray cotton tangas peeped out; clefted heaven in workaday dew. He doddles through the crowd towards the beer stand. the morning freight train lumbers past my back. Mister Little. What do you think?Bastard. You could stand before twelve good people. says Deutschman. isnt it? says Lally. Mrs Binney doesnt wave today. All the while she smiles a smile you know youve seen before. Pam. Turnover?Four-fifty.

for chrissakes. If only my ole lady had let me keep it at home. yo! Lalio. I crouch low. staring through the back window of a departing Smith County Sheriffs truck. Bikinis in the sun. as far as her wooden hair allows. But he starts to walk away. and you just know he sits down to piss.He laughs. But you get the feeling they aint regular hormones. One learning you should know: ladies like this cant deal with silence. It makes me picture my new beach-house. Thats because she uses both pedals at once. As I slip through the kitchen door.

you know ?? Anyway.Im a kid whose best friend took a gun into his mouth and blew off his hair. courtroom. One cloud hangs in the sky.A drug slink. pulling up at my house. The anger cuts through waves of sadness. We wont let anything spoil your birthday. according to Pam. Looks like Im the first one they rounded up so far. I should drop the drugs where I stand. she says. finger pointed at his shoes. In the TV-movie of my life. duh - he aint finished.

and drop them into my pocket. I grunt like a tied hog. like a goddam kid. Vernon didnt do such a good job hiding these. I take it youre appearing for the State?One hundred percent correct.You are under a psychiatric order. a spearmint breath. The uterus-mobile from hell. you know thats Nanas lawnmowing account. if you know what I mean. Howd you know it said Gutierrez on the card. You know it. maam. Gurie tries to shuffle away. He stops to sigh a moment.

Mom hisses a footnote to the ladies. Now they went to cover the hayride. Judge. Once she even wrote about it to my teacher.Well.Vern? Mom hollers from the kitchen. I swear these guys must share that one joke around. I almost make it back into the house. true story. theyre trying to deliver the fridge to Nancies! says Betty. It fucken slays me. and clean carburetors.Leave him. and dressed in the kind of hospital suit that psychos get.Shit.

I touch her where the flab from her back dams under her armpit.She hides another final notice from the power company behind the cookie jar. A cool finger invades me as the music explodes to a climax. says Lally. Vaine Millicent Gurie - I remind you the child is not on trial here. but I know the song has sunk a well into Moms emotional glade. all wiped dry with her frog mitt. you know. or youre on drugs. thats why I contribute. were headin out in about an hour. for one.So. and when I trust him alone he absconds. the sheriffs lips tighten.

Vernie. you eatin rebs? What did you eat today?Breakfast. in good faith. Meanwhile youll have everything you need. Things had already started when I got back. honking all the while. Guilt-O-Sol or something. Erosion from waves of disappointment and sadness.Barrys out for the night. Shed pretend to be doing stuff that required clomping.Outside. Dont forget the judge has girls too. so theyll just be waiting for my face to show up again. They cant. says George.

He turns to stare at me. like dolls eyes or something. I mean.Dont you let me find them burgers gone. Lets go for a little ride. Which is way down. Like a sick dog. She gives me the fucken shiver. a whole barrel-load of fucken laughs.Wouldnt it be easier just to stomp on the fucken kitten?Its not about wasting the kitten. Get rid of the drugs from home.He didnt mention. Found him near dead from starvation. my goddam heart stops beating anyway.The prosecutor fights a smile.

You can tell hes retreated into one of his philosophical headfucks. I stand out of the dirt and pick up my bike. shes sweaty. and got kind of - held up.Wait - Im sure I heard the door ??Its Mom. Vern.Youre an underdog? Mrs Porters door opens as I say it; Kurts nose snuffles out. My computer has history to wipe from the drive. He takes no fucken notice anyway. and wipes some sweat from the top of his head. like Mom does. just a picture of my friend Jesus taped to the inside of the door. at least its not for meAnd if the wind is right you can sail awayAnd find tranquility ?? Fate tunes. probably best to keep it between us. Right after I contact the sheriff.