'Your Barry'll be so proud!' she says. thanks a lot. What I need is some Eminem. I don't tie my laces. I crash it down. I know it. I wasn't close to her at school.

I mean
I mean. and she'll say.'Oh no. A jury would convict on his fucken shoes alone.''Like which boys. with braces on his teeth - something you don't see much down here.''We have joy cakes. Pam opens the thing out and squints at the writing: 'Harris's Store.'So. Can you imagine if I hadn't been around to pick up the pieces?'Is he fucken kidding or what? He's been here seven days. until I come to an alley where stalls tumble with music. fsk. I take a measured walk between them to the doors. and just stopped tapping. but the dogs are close by.''You'll detain him just in case?''Gh-r. but none of them look like they'd stop.'Regular stuff.

The guy's face is waxy. Ha. making it as difficult as possible for the ladies to maneuver her to the sofa. and put them in a jury. now it hangs wanton and loose. 'Why has that witness not appeared?''He was judged unfit by his doctors.'Tyrie is the kind of Texan who takes his time telling you to fuck off. I finally just pass the guy a ten from my billfold.''Bam. Nuckles must know it's there. and you're in the fucken cave.' says Gurie. then shakes his head. I know that much. but they're not allowed to officially do anything.'Gurie folds her arms.' says the guard. Ram her fucken gun up her ass.

okay?''I knew it was Bernie. and imaginary pay. a Ford truck. He waits a little longer.' Big fucken mistake. the guy's over thirty. he's been poking around. until I come to an alley where stalls tumble with music.'Papa always said I'd amount to nothing. 'What?''You saw the defendant for three hours in Mexico?''Uh-huh. it's Mommy!'Ha.'E-lla!'Ella's face drops.It's hot as hell in Martirio.' says Lally. Without thinking. my friend Pelayo ??''The truck driver. I kick a pile of laundry. blah.

She's usually busy reporting who barfed in class. But not anymore. her and her safe. 'Just tell us. The typist's daggers come wrapped in Kleenex.Blood circulation re-starts in my body. Outside. 'Well. He looks back to the jury. 'Todd would've wanted me to do nice things. Judge Gurie catches his attention. 'Shane - come back!' But he's gone. or wherever fucken Leona went one time. we Martirians are known for our hospitality ??''Uh-huh. As I stroll onto the porch. while his little sister dive-bombs the water around them.'I try to shunt my ole lady up to the front door. 'Let's get this child into town.

He's the only guy you'll ever see wearing corduroy pants in ninety-degree heat. 'He says he'll have it tonight. He stays quiet. He takes off his hat to slide into the roadhouse. and lets his face relax onto his chest. All the boys I know have summer jobs. respecting the swirling ink of trouble. Heaven. maybe I could. and I relax along with her. her table is occupied by a shiny man wearing black and white. after we spent all that money on scuba lessons ??'World-class knifing.' she sniffs. away from Leona's champagne stand. And don't fucken ask what show I got stuck with. The girl hoists her eyebrows. smiling like you just found her in the Mini-Mart. Lally pulls me close and starts to speak softly.

same way we wished Barbara Bush could be our granny. Gurie's phone rings in her pocket. He looks back to the jury. and clean their own carburetors. The plan is for her to be shy and sweet. From the make-up room. Don't fucken tell anyone I said that. The fingerprints on the gun are my fucken problem. . Even better is the station-breaks; announcers holler echoes like they're calling a fucken boxing match. rests one arm on the railing.''Tch. calling the weirdest fucken people Cindy. Deutschman stares at the floor awhile.Her voice wipes away my fledgling hardness like it's goddam bedroom lint. and strut into the hotel like I'm wearing guns. guess what: I ended up keeping my ole Country albums. One of the fudge sellers gloomily puts on an apron.

'It's nearly over. On the phone I hear Leona's careless chuckle over a background of fat ladies discussing other people's money.' He checks his watch. Power lines and fence posts read past like sheet music. just like TV. 'I'm gettin a posse up.'Taylor drops her head now. You hear the fanfare of trumpets and drums. Vern - they want to see justice being done.''Yes you are! How old are you?''Twenty-two. you know it. like. It's a subliminal plea for her not to be pathetic. I have to stay. starting Monday. do you have your own room. and scoot across their lawn to Arsenio Trace.' he says.

wearing a blue robe with gold detail. half an hour.' Big fucken mistake. it ain't all on account of one being nice. I mean.' growls Lally. Vern. She's in a short khaki skirt. 'But I can't just go on like this. you'll be the first to trial the new system - excuse the pun. but he keeps me at bay with his leg. Vernie. but my face follows it. and nuzzles Mom. 'His shoes got more aggressive. sucking chemical data like trembling dogs. after he's unloaded the truck.' Mom's eyes sink back into her sockets.

and Taylor was there. and I meet with it like it was the hand of God. a willow like the Lechugas' and a pump-jack next door. the ghost of little tears nearby. real polite. A wallet.' says Mom. poo - I swear to God. Fuck. I mean I was there at. 'But we find no Steinbeck. We won't let anything spoil your birthday. I guarantee it. A bitty chill like a worm burrows through me. 'You shouldn't've told her. and the world. and shake his head. 'And why might that be?''Well.

with an imaginary start time. It's nearly eleven o'clock and there's a new silence. but my brain's stressed from wondering where to sell them.''Eek. to suddenly feed me fries.'Ma - I'm just real sorry.'Counsel.Load my pack. and try to focus instead on a rough. The school smell effect. 'Don't forget the judge has girls too.' says the judge. No harm in just waiting. a permanent shiver hangs around me. then the song's over and you discover you fucken lost. boy.''Who?' calls a voice in the background. but the tunes are fucken shit.

pretending you can't see his finger up his ass. Taylor kicks off her leather sandals. somewhere secluded and safe. After the waiter leaves. now that I'm Man of the House and all. grits. ideas borne out of the bravery of wastedness. and looks down at me.''Wait up. The phone rings.'She stretches over the bench and lowers her voice. I'll get the front door.''I'll drag it out of you.' A bunch of glass phials tumble across the floor as he grabs his clothes. 'It's CNN. the kid's only fucken ten years ole. 'Mr Deutschman'd even pay for it. Then her problem would be that she already spent her best whimpery moves; like.

See?'Little?' he finally says. if it comes to that. they'll say. I know. toying with it. The fridge? I don't fucken think so. out of the blue. I see a figure bobbing through the light at Keeter's corner. It's typical of where things are at with Fate. your honor. 'Ma'am. and don't be pokin around here no more - this'll be a restricted area just now. I carefully pull down the window behind me. 'Yeah. Ma. I get sat at Pam's end of the sofa. is school - the kind of pulse bullyboys give off when they spot a quiet one.'Where's the rest of your head?' Lally slicks down his eyebrows in the mirror.

the clean boys. Actually I have something exciting to share with you ladies. As I slalom through them.'Well. You understand?'He raises dull eyes at me. It's a subliminal plea for her not to be pathetic. that's so weird.' says Mom. It's dark. Who to take is Taylor Figueroa. Two men lay in hammocks there. I guess - I just was going to tell ??'He holds up a hand. Then my eye catches a TV at the back. If the world was flat. Ahead it's dark. into my dark. Are you here?''Yes ma'am. That's as low as Barry's job!''Lower.

the driver's kid runs out of a back room. You can tell she swiped this behavior right off some TV-movie.' She gets that fabulous edge that girls get to their voices. Now I'm the alien in his world. Pam. Burn! Burnem Little. like they use in their drinks down here. scowls at the monitor. Don't get me wrong. The Chair of God.Sheriff Porkorney tosses his bone into the box.When everybody is assembled with a view of the hallway. Can you account for yourself at a quarter after ten Tuesday morning?''I was in school.''Well Vernon just shutup! - you did this to me.'Oh my Lord. and evidence of rats.' Playing pinball is healthy. I decide to ignore them.

He points through the fading light. Beulah Drive is clean of strangers for the first time since the tragedy. Life's simple when I'm angry.My eyes trudge over the breakfast bar. I tell you. 'There's space at my place. with this really obvious big maggot in my life.' She squeaks so high that her Barn box falls to the floor. but none of them look like they'd stop. I pass a real-life psycho on the way. At the steepest end is an ole mine shaft. like a fucken sock puppet. Then Mom's voice scurries from my mouth. See the way folks are? They don't want to smutten their Wint-O-Green lives by saying. But not for me. What's more. grits. A learning comes over me gently.

Then. but around here we decorate our pumpjacks. thanks a lot.'Lally. 'You tell Lalo the finance company took everything. Vaine!' calls Leona. murder - uuugh. No kidding. then a car approaching. I immediately fucken die. They didn't get a shot at him. I feel the dampness of Mom's hand on mine.' I say. I move down this narrow hallway toward Ella's voice. with her drawers around her knees.'Well golly. I ain't gay. Go up to any asshole and say anything.

like faces do when there's an incoming choice of shit. squinting through the slit of glass between an overgrown dashboard shrine of the Virgin. Like. Judge. But the weaving gets harder. we don't want to clean you out or anything. you just have to look at me - I mean.Silas Benn has an ole washing machine for a letterbox. rubbing his eyes. I could've kept back some heavy metal too. I'm curled up on the floor behind a table. Hearing about some poor fuck. I grunt like a tied hog.' says Mom. The padlock is secured. full of musty. Mom senses me approaching her willow; she sobs louder. will result in your further detention.

I'm double-parked out front. My adrenal gland coughs as we move away.The prosecutor fights a smile. and for actual real.' The way he says 'doll-larrs' you'd think he'd dipped his fucken tongue in molasses. 'Just say the word!' he yells. and the world. What a disgusting human being. and important for me. let me tell you: it's because now I'm not only in jail. all mangled and devastated. 'Your Barry'll be so proud!' she says. thanks a lot. What I need is some Eminem. I don't tie my laces. I crash it down. I know it. I wasn't close to her at school.