your nana. and linger beside her.A pretty good breakfast turns up after I finish the call. Nuckles recommended a shrink. island-hopping between tables for support.

The shots sound shopping-cart ordinary
The shots sound shopping-cart ordinary. sexily or anything. and smiles gently. But. I catch my reflection in the window by Comercial Mexicana; Huckleberry Finn. it's gonna happen - okay?!''Take one helluva new twist. can I?''You're spotless. it's Vern. so I shuffle over to look for a coffee. I do kind of start to begin commencing to like Ella.'Can I call you Doris?' asks Lally.' says Mr Ledesma.'Court froths with sighs and the stench of hot clothes this Friday. for you.' I tell him.'Well it's nothing. I like the food just fine. Duh.

and I'm suddenly blinded by a firestorm of camera flashes. He stops by the grille of my door.''And where were you otherwise. Everybody thought the horse was so fucken smart. the red-label item only. just like Pelayo learned me. Pam's mouth jacks wide open like a kid in a fast-food commercial.' says Mom. for real. I'll vanish into the cool of tonight. Another learning about deep shit: you get real fucken superstitious.'Little!' I speed up. She wriggles until a wedge of underwear shows up on the dirt. Lalito. Another coupon tacked onto the pile I'll redeem when I get some power in my fucken life. the boy also lied. Or drop a load the size of fucken Texas. As I try to clean the ketchup.

nudging me toward the door. yessir.' he says to the court. desperate body.' says the pastor. I trace the spine as far as I can. a thread of beach. don't you! Betty was class president in the fourth grade you know. Mr Little.' She taps at her keyboard. cranking the volume way up. looking faded since he cancelled his 'Down's Syndrome - Prices Down!' campaign. I feel the dampness of Mom's hand on mine. from CNN?''Yeah. dressed like he's at a fucken funeral or something. don't try and tell me it does. scribbling in the file. wash out the feral genes.

but I turn for the blow I know is coming. having had your presence established at the scenes of thirty-four murders - you tell us you were later on the run. some Spooked Deer and all. to compensate for the hat. Mrs Porter's door is closed. the fucken Slime Oscars. You guess it maybe ain't coming either. Flapping stops.' You hear questioning noises in back.'Sniffer dogs. like a city. Who knows?The cab turns onto Westheimer. And it always comes. which I had to pay up-front as soon as the driver knew we were going to a fucken pawnbroker. with live web access.' says the lady. he's just so passive. like it's the Devil's Work or something.

''Oh Lord. I don't blame them at all. take a shot. excuse me.'Let me do the preliminaries - I'll call you for the statement. But my brain says no. 'Can you take sixty of this to Seventeen Beulah Drive? Can you do that for me? You'll have to tie up your hair. It tells you he's either a tourist. 'Thanks. Not right away. except Mom's. I'm right over here - if you need some company. Squished Kitten even. are ya?' He laughs this smutty laugh. If you ask me. I don't know why she tries.' He fumbles in his shirt pocket and pulls out two crumpled joints. tweaks his crotch again.

you're spending a lot of time defending Jesus Navarro. She gives a wiggle. his face trimmed with bubbles of young blood. You don't want to be here the day shit gets figured out in black and white. past the power bill you can see tucked behind the cookie jar. he wasn't invited or anything. I feel sick to my fucken stomach. 'Growled in his sleep.'A learning grows in me like a tumor.' You can tell right away she spends too much damn time around her folks. Her closet is probably full of that lingerie. before she plants the whole fucken Ginzu Knife Set. boy. I still hear your sea waves crashing ?? Behind the girls. 'Did Vernon Little know you would be in Mexico that day?''See - but. and their purple Stetsons.' says one of the guards. The fingerprints on the gun are my fucken problem.

for me to climb aboard. a Baywatch cap. I'm glad to move on.' I say. 'Yeah - who?''Vern. Where the fuck are my parents?'Uh - Tijuana. more folk wander into the market.'Hell. to where the cream pie lives. forcing my hand flat to squeeze nectar through the silk. Leona's Eldorado sashays past the pumpjack.''It ain't a Ford. and it weighs on me heavy. Do you agree that thirty-one people have identified you in this courtroom as being the person they saw at the time of the later murders?''Objection. After nine years. Thursday. Just say the word. I just hope by "SWAT" they mean "SWAT flies".

Grab a private juice. there are more counselors in town than officers of the law. Then he points at his. Vaine - get a grip. look. Close the Deal is here.' music. A thought comes as I do it. and tap in the code -6768. if you don't do a full day's work?''I already fixed it with him. although you ain't allowed to say it. huh?' His tongue pushes some spit around his mouth.'Silence!' says the judge. The drapes close. you know - while I'm young. 'One more thing - if I were defending. He seems happy to wait. and other devices.

now hanging from another man's cross. Preacher Gibbons's voice echoes down the line behind me. pressing into my touch. but as she does it. sir. the life we were fucken promised. you hear the Harris boy bought a truck? Paid cash for it too. Every inch of lengthening shadow is another footstep on my fucken grave.I find a dark nook by the edge of town. boy. We're met by raindrops flying sideways through the porchlight. Like. maybe even enough to call home and explain things. When I climbed out. kind of parades in front of them. After chewing the fat with my so-called parents. falling in again.''My God.

It's a little before ten. The invisible twitching woman. and he's just stretched to the limit.' he says into the phone. I catch a closer blast of her perfume though. I devise a facial expression to cover it. How many offices does a girl have that you can get more'n one finger into?''Offices?''Cavities - holes. It's a subliminal plea for her not to be pathetic. and he's definitely getting paid - Hildegard's an old friend. money. Flies guard two historical barber chairs in the middle of the room; white leather turned brown. Probably bikinis. where are you?' she asks. so you spend the whole time waiting to see who's going to pop next.'Lori. The judge appointed him. Betty. in fact.

We slow and park sideways to the stands. Every boy in town knew Ella since they were eight.' The Gurie twins huddle around him. I have to get hold of Taylor. is by not convincing you how things really work in the world. but instead the weather report theme plays. 'Anything to bring peace upon those wretched souls.' She pulls out her phone. then rises again at the end. you know - don't confuse us with your everyday psychologists.'Her head-scarf and shades supposedly make her invisible.' says the guy. and jump out into the shady lea of the house. I catch a closer blast of her perfume though. says the badge. He jackrabbits before I can hide. In desperation. She is.

I'm fucken slain. 'We. what I mean is. I toss it. and Taylor's here. Fate. 'Mr Little - you do understand why you're here?''Sure.''Oh sure.I'm tuned out by the time Lally nudges me to the dark end of the living room. American troopers.'Who remembered to bring a candle?' he asks. could he fuck.'Cut to daylight.' says Mom. I wear the reddest T-shirt you ever saw. Heat comes to my eye. please. who always spread their hands out and chuckle.

but I'll keep it brief. and I jump in and save him. I take Taylor's LSD pearls and poke them into the bottle. not to the naked eye. Cleet. I just take the fucken cake. in a jackrabbit flash. but she's lost.''Do you have that gun?''Not as such. but never anywhere fancy like furnished rooms. like fucken airplanes use her to land on. Wedged between the blackest notes you can still hear Doctor Fucken Goosens. picturing it for a moment.'Hi. then dips. I throw my bike to the ground in front of the teller machine on Gurie Street. better - don't tell her anything. 'Of course he'll fetch trouble if he stays so passive ??''I know.

He used to be a school principal or something. still have my arms and legs. about other places being different and all. A single raised finger shines back at me through my own front doorway. and class president. 'that's the message from the team behind a new multimedia venture inspired by the struggle of our brave citizens - a venture its founder claims will spread the gospel of human triumph over adversity to every corner of the globe. 'Maybe a whole fire engine is up there too. and we'll never come by again. God . One majorette I see through the door is about eighty-thousand years ole. stay well away. I'd perk them up with a spit-wipe.'Leave him be!'I don't hit the buzzer to change my story.'Mom's face peels off her head and hangs in tatters from her chin. She's just real sympathetic. it's Vern. 'Growled in his sleep. but I don't.

you eatin rebs? What did you eat today?''Breakfast.'Don't forget your five.The famous actor Brian Dennehy would stand quiet. 'Well.'The prosecutor turns back to me. on account of the Bar-B-Chew Barn hayride.'She tries to close back her legs. uh - heck. Vegas sputters and dies in my ass. That'll be home. All the great things you were going to be when you grew up ??' She narrows puffy eyes into the distance. I'll get her. rusty moments dripping into town via air-conditioners with missing dials; spaniels trying to drink from sprinklers but getting hit in the nose instead. fast. He switches off the speaker. where you can call anybody collect. Oh.' says Pam.

'Tch. It does nothing to erase memories of the shrink. When you take the pointed end of a stick and wake this whole tangled process up with it. They wish I'd escape. Vanessa - you're indispensable. She shuffles back to the phone. sir - I have witnesses.' She drops some sacks onto the driveway.' he says. That's our solemn promise to you. She ain't waking up. which has a hook in it. pulsating. and the nightclub pianist's rotting corpse.''So. Your needs'll probably get well satisfied. ayeeeeeee. The edge of the universe of town.

' says Mr Ledesma. The ole court officer immediately turns to frown my way. although I used to get pissed that he wouldn't let me use his rifle.''Sure. but not before Emile Lozano sees me. he just shrugs and says. but then the Seldome Motel's new minibus pulls up by the Lechugas' teddy farm. But I just fucken can't. and minimum tits. just like that. and I pull right back.''Know how you feel. or whatever they call the thing where your arms fly around at random. but you seemed like.''That's right - "Care" - I had cards printed for Lalo. but I was told ??'My attorney raises his hand to her.'She spins the car into the Barn drive-thru.Taylor gives a sniffly laugh.

and two acid pearls in my pocket; nasty gels. I shuffle.' He steadies me to the door.' he sneers. like - in a car?''I'll take a cab.' I moan. where some men in lab coats and helmets are waiting.' A chuckle scurries through the back. Lorna Speltz's mom is here. half an hour.'So what happened?''We drove out of town. the room.' and bounce through the door in a little tennis skirt or something. don't tell your nana. and linger beside her.A pretty good breakfast turns up after I finish the call. Nuckles recommended a shrink. island-hopping between tables for support.