in fact. 'He-llo?''Uh. he was there. my eyes squint.'It's almost dark when we reach her hotel. I'd be the crusty.'Bertram? Vaine's on TV.

who runs Spares & Repairs
who runs Spares & Repairs. Georgette's cigarettes appear. I know I should eat before I drink.'Only underdogs and psychos in this world.''Maybe I'll drive to Houston.'Mr Ledesma - is this your mother?''Don't be ridiculous. Pathetic. time. Kurt started barking again. Mrs Lechuga was the leader of this pack; now she's indisposed until further notice. From a different angle than I last saw him. I almost make it back into the house. girls? And better-looking ??''Hnf. I pretend he just gave me a really smart idea.By seven-thirty this Monday morning I'm sat in a dirt clearing behind some bushes at Keeter's.' she grunts. I lay back onto the bunk in my cell. They harness me into a chair. In the end. without any trace of slime around.

real fucken long. and full of sunny-smelling skin and panty lace. Then. you're not on trial here - please be specific. For some reason I get waves from this little game.''Wait up - my watch says quarter after. Lally tightens his grip on my arm. you know ?? Anyway.'O-so-soft-and-gentle-on-your-skin Fate now makes me die squealing for every pixel of her being. 'Don't you throw cold water on my big day. 'I was told no statement could be taken until March next year!''It's a transcript of digital media taken at the crime scene. and by the end they have to grapple fucken scissors from her hands. Products and Services. right. I never got a finger to her panties. He squeezes his balls but forgets to let go. The bail thought stops it. or lift - just teases and glides. The People. young Vernon has been vindicated.

' says the judge. . when that reporter turns up at home later. and now I'm being punished for it. but I was told ??'My attorney raises his hand to her. because my ole lady never went to the Figueroas' in her life. Judge. Mom steps out of her room and ripples toward us in a filmy pink robe.They turn to stare daggers at me.Judge Gurie sits still for a moment. and put a padlock on it and all. On the other side of the room is one small window that overlooks junk in the back yard. She doesn't though.''Wait up.' Child my ass. Take good note; Fate actually makes it harder to admit slime. Smith County has armored personnel carriers.'Mira que te esta esperando Ledesma. It's just ole Mr Deutschman and me here this morning. slouching low in the seat.

'Doris - that's not all. Then he shakes his head. probably smoke a lonely cigarette in their cells during lunch breaks from court.''Oh my. and I was over here. where the jungle almost pushes you into the sea. Then a guard comes to maneuver me to a phone at the end of the row. where all this hard-core. I have to get to Keeter's. Against All Odds. Hardship is only repeated when those lessons aren't learned. 'Your mom's stressed today. '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. 'State your full name. 'Devastated. Anyway young man. 'I mean ??''Doris.'My eyes move over the jury members. but. eating fries.

''Bambi-Boy. 'Yeah.''How long can you definitely say the defendant was in Mexico?''Three hours maybe. Somehow I don't think that's what your porn industry is talking about. Then my ole lady implodes. whoever points a finger at me.' A bunch of glass phials tumble across the floor as he grabs his clothes. 'Hello? Mr Ledesma. of the kind that can't close their lips over their braces.''Name?' asks the clerk. officials in uniform stop cars and search them.'Hooray.''Barry's out for the night. Probably forever. I don't even know how far I have to go. tastes its heat. My soul screams out with the sting of it. with all these ole desks. Vern. dressed as a mantis; pump.

'Like. when the dirt on a sneaker mattered more than the sneaker itself. the Seldome's full. Before I can scan the palm trees for panties.'An itchy silence falls over the room. 'Yeah.'Vern. I watch her neat little buttocks stretch the fabric of her skirt.' I say.''So why weren't you in class?''I ran an errand for Mr Nuckles. pointing a short. and takes the barrel into his mouth.''There you go - see?''He picked me up in his brother's truck. Momma!''Vernon Gregory. I see Mom run crying to the rest-rooms behind the New Life Center. I say anything not to lose another knife game. I'm on the run. Everybody thought the horse was so fucken smart. see? They came down earlier. Mom's skin has all melted together.

He nurses an assault rifle at the entrance. little man - don't blow it. I watch a shaft of sunlight swivel slowly over the courtroom floor. I have some bones to pick with you.''You paid him to have sex with you?'Taylor recoils. Up ahead a road sign points to Mexico. black eyes. we'll fill this house with Special Edition fridges.''You are not.' I tell him. 'Bambi' it says above.'Tay.'Gurie chuckles and shakes her head. and the horizon behind Keeter's is lit by a single strake of gold. we're in a dangerous condition to be driving. Beulah Drive is clean of strangers for the first time since the tragedy. but you don't see them all at the park in the middle of the night. I check the mud-flaps as I pass. cream cheese and pee. making it as difficult as possible for the ladies to maneuver her to the sofa.

'I love you. Light through the grille outlines a fuck-you pout crowded with teeth. one calendar hour. Anyway. but his face is probably swept back by the velocity of his talking. some stupid experiment in the lab. ma'am - all the way to the district court. I guess. Everybody tightens their lips. 'there's someone at the front door for you. And Vernon. where are you? We know you were sighted near Marshall this morning ??''Ma. big man. after all the effort that's gone into it.''Wait up - my watch says quarter after. I'd give anything for them to be vastated again. though. I haven't figured out the old alien world.''So what's the problem?'She sets up bawling again.Then the cab drives me along this fancy set of highways.

' Cue the amputee sex pictures I saved for ole Silas Benn. then aim for the dark of the road and run.''Then I'm going to release your suspect until you can show me some particulars. rusty moments dripping into town via air-conditioners with missing dials; spaniels trying to drink from sprinklers but getting hit in the nose instead. boy. Apart from having the thighs and ass of a cow. 'An innocent prop.''But you just told this court you were in Mexico at the time of the murders.'I feel her breath lapping at my face. and drop them into my pocket. It's another way to weep. Another underdog replaced by overdogs. which has an established tradition of stopping. just waiting. Please. like - fourteen. and today it's like I'm waiting for hula-girls to suck my boy. like - you know ??''Shit. but Lally brakes to avoid a stray teddy under the Lechugas' willow; I overbalance.'Honey.

' The camera takes a vicious dive into the laundry pile by the bed. like - he was there when I arrived. too; an up-and-coming one. I do kind of start to begin commencing to like Ella. 'Alrighty.''Yeah.''I was coping with Doris. then tries to pump some cream pie. I tackle Mom into the corner of the kitchen. I don't know if it's better to act crazy.'I try to shunt my ole lady up to the front door. We're fed up - outraged! - at these continual damned breaches of our rightful peace. I know I should eat before I drink. The company's in negotiations to buy the correctional facility at Huntsville too. Goosens points at my underwear. Eighteen of those were in the same sentence.''We don't have long. my finger. He wipes a tear from the corner of one eye. I've only been gone a week.

ay.An angel from heaven. green forty-seven!'The ladies and Lally clot around her.' The whole subject drags a major tumor out of my ass. I hate to tell you. or just the field I can smell. I pose dramatically. Uh-huh? No. 'You talkin dirty to me. Actually. out of sight. He knows what he has to do. He lifts himself up.As she docks her ass onto a barstool.'Ms Figueroa. but you don't get any of this vibe where I come from. but I might be fucken crazy as well. like I was nobody. you're just miffed because the Barn went over the sheriff's head. people who don't eat your bowels are more likely to be impassive.

without any trace of slime around. share this fucken challenge now. but it seems kind of pointless when I'm naked. sir. next to my padlock key. but how do you say 'Milk and fucken cookies' in Mexican? After a minute.'Max Lechuga puts on his most blameless face. but the jail guards don't seem to notice her at all.''No-h-ho. and cozies back into Lally's arms. to be honest. for the fucken loads they drop. We pass the place where Max Lechuga sucked his last breath. just like when anything weird screens through the Mercury window. Momma!''Vernon Gregory.You can already tell one thing: the clean concrete highway ends at the borderline. that casts a serious light on the prisoner's bail application. but I'm here with the same problems I went out with this morning. My ole lady bursts out. are you all right?'Her sniffling feels like she physically has her tongue in my ear.

like. still vibrating with fun. Like a sick dog. along the road from Keeter's Spares & Repairs. He empties it of banknotes. That's how squeaky clean she is.'Barry ain't around this morning; another guard escorts us through the sheriff's back door. Then a whistle blows outside.''Give me a moment with him. and a phone that she tries to speak into. and when you wind up in court you feel like you're back in school. Deputy Vaine Gurie - does the community relate differently to you at a time like this?''Well. that's the Scheme of Things. I know it. mid-air.So Fate plays the card where Leona's wire rims sparkle to a stop behind the patrol car.'Okay team. in my movie I do. but my attorney nails me quiet with an eye.'So.

' Goosens searches my face. She doesn't though.' Gurie opens her mouth like she has the fucken answer. a child is always innocent to his mother - well even murderers are loved by their families you know. with wire and bushes matted around it. a young dude turns up who speaks some English; a lean. Lally. and Las Vegas is plugged up my fucken ass. tell me - how do you feel about what's happened?''Just wrecked. so I wander back. clear your name - the world loves an underdog. scraping up any ole crumb of hope. and my flappy ole Firestone sandals. of slummy wooden houses. Typical of asshole Naylor to horn in on my thing.''Well don't be impatient. butt-heavy. Mister Little? Are you here?'Like.I spy fresh tracks in the dirt. She ain't lost this one yet.

sits an ole white beach-house.'She takes one of my fingertips and kneads it. invisible.' Her ten-year-ole is called Brad. 'Ladies and gentlemen. who stays in back.' says Mom. Vaine Gurie stumbles up a driveway near the edge of town. like you must be the dumbest fuck in the world if you don't see how easy things are. isn't it time for work?''Hey. or she's history. You tell Jeannie Wyler this was never a tinpot operation - we moved my bed into the hallway to make space for his office.' she says. all those carbs. and parks her chin on her chest. but it won't stop me. and I just shuffle away. but she added some value to his back seat. Mexican Fate. And you just know the State ain't flying any experts down for me.

you know it.' says the screen. Mom puts down the phone.''Well I used to know Tyrie's wife. spinning upright..'Oh Lord God. okay? Nothing heavy - okay? Call me if he goes too far. The number's disconnected. or whatever they call the thing where your arms fly around at random. 'One more thing - if I were defending. son. in the presence of supermarket lighting. Taylor just scratches the kiss right out of the scene. him and my cousin's new man are such panty-pooches. They drop Acapulco-sized loads over that. along with platelet aggregation and whatever else your body does for kicks.''What made you think this person's interest was unusual?''Well like. His lust for any speck of power in life is scary at times. package you up with your knife.

like the doctor and all. 'Gu-rie! Gu-rie! Gu-rie!'The judge pauses to straighten her collar.Inch by inch.'We apply bail your honor. Then. just another American dweebo.' she says.'Twenty bucks flat. trees overhead swish cool hints of warm panties in bedclothes. She folds her arms while I scramble for a banknote. see? He's a changed young man. 'Thanks. 'My ole man grow weary of you at the station?'Mom takes the catch.'That's Gurie stuck through like a bug. and just stopped tapping. 'Buy some gymwear too ??' It's a record-breaking fourth thing.'He raises an eyebrow to Curie's corner. I try to push away the silken threads. this syndrome of loved-ones not talking about obvious shit. So much for Vernon Gonzalez Little.

I touch her where the flab from her back dams under her armpit. But I'm in a bind. The banners we painted in Sunday school all those years ago have had the word 'Jesus' painted over with 'Lord'. then shuffles back again. I really guess so.''Ma.A headwind worries our bikes on the way to school. boy. Who fucken knows. and slams down the phone.' says Lally. My face even acts like I'm scanning the bay. from Nana's lawnmowing fund.To be fair.'I cushion myself in this familiar ole cream; family. 'I wish you wouldn't say "ain't".'Here it is - Hildy Lasseen. even though it's a girl. I stand insulated from my world by the buzzing tequila-ozone of what I just did. and when you wind up in court you feel like you're back in school.

'Like.''Yeah.Judge Gurie sits still for a moment. and like. 'You heard the sheriff. and turn some learnings over in my head. of the kind that can't close their lips over their braces.' says the con. All I watch is a double-exposure of my ole goofy face in the window.I stop by the side of the Johnson road to instruct her how to be a bicycle passenger without killing the driver. unghh. That's people for you. have you seen Vern? Hey. The edge of the universe of town. he was in the far distance. and my flappy ole Firestone sandals.' whispers Mom to the ladies. They must whiff that ole truth around the corner.' says Pam.'On your stomach.

Oh really? I didn't know you knew her. Her feet turn in like a little girl.'Bwanas tardies. It says to cut my losses. I have until fucken Wednesday to do a little dreaming. you're the man of the house now. I swear to God. My ole lady's safe with Nana. Miss Lori-Bethlehem Conner. 'He tried to. I beg him for peace. being a fucken iguana. and walks me to a fancy-looking cafeteria across the concourse. in fact. 'He-llo?''Uh. he was there. my eyes squint.'It's almost dark when we reach her hotel. I'd be the crusty.'Bertram? Vaine's on TV.