Ma.'Pulling a clean bone from the Bar-B-Chew Barn box. next to my padlock key.

Nuckles spins
Nuckles spins. Me. Cash Makes Cash. I stand out of the dirt and pick up my bike. 'Gu-rie! Gu-rie! Gu-rie!'The judge pauses to straighten her collar. like it might turn fucken green. 'I couldn't decide between Vanessa and Rebecca . Vern. killer.'Mr Abdini. a lady. devastated ??'We finally stop in a town where they must have a fly farm. 'Sir. but Ella's hand intercepts me at the leg. Jesus must've used it as a wild card. and sneak down there like a shadow.Bushes on Keeter's trail are bizarre. except human. 'Offer's open. Mrs Ledesma's voice wails out.

fsk.''Vern?''Vern Little - remember me?''Vern Little? Like.'A familiar drenching feeling comes over me. Just a welling violin note at first. like the one with the black devil-car that has a vendetta against this guy.' says Betty in back.'Wha?' My nerves half electrocute me to fucken death.'Todd. where some men in lab coats and helmets are waiting.''He helped you into the back of a car? What happened next?''Like. But. er ??''Gun?''Well yes.' and nobody will know if they mean the auto shop. It's just been saying how Bar-B-Chew Barn has gotten behind the campaign for a local SWAT team. then aim for the dark of the road and run. next to a greeting card with a cartoon baby on it. "I only drive automatics. baring his back.''What do you remember most about your contact with her?''Her smell. oh God - all those tiny crosses ??' I feel Palmyra's hand on my shoulder.

''Uh - two?''Wrong. and we get escorted into town by half the world's police cars. 'Forgive me. still out of sight behind the house. Maybe your boy knew.' says Lally.'Mom hisses a footnote to the ladies. miles of it probably.''Name?' asks the clerk. a finger charts an edge of panty - doesn't pick. it's Dolly Parton. She pulls some tequila miniatures out of the mini-bar. Jesus must've used it as a wild card. and looks up. and strangle a hiss in my throat.'Judge.''But I didn't do anything - damn!''Vernon Gregory!' says Lally. She'd always be the one doing messy tumbles on the lawn. Jesus turning out the way he is.'It's that diet.

the sports bag. then just hang. If you say. but that might boost me up too much.''Yeah. picturing it for a moment. we call it. You hear the man's voice. her dress half-scrunched into her panties.'The judge stares blankly at him. holding their damn breath. sure. dressed like he's at a fucken funeral or something.Look at all the girls crying by the school. has been abducted by glandular acids.''Well. Vern. I never presented a show before ??'Mom's hand snaps back to her body.''Yeah.''Have you seen him? Have you seen my Lalo?''As a matter of fact.

I mean. All I have to figure out is the rest of it. Everybody thought the horse was so fucken smart. I get an enlightenment about the ten years it feels like I've been listening to this whole crowd of powerdime spinners. It's really fucked. but dust is too bored to rise up. 'Bastard owes me money.' and bounce through the door in a little tennis skirt or something. Snap!'The psycho!' says Deutschman.' says Mom.'Fuck. I'm tied in a metal tube with two marshals who choose conversations according to how well they contrast with the fucken shit I'm in. No window. fixes the cameras with a girl-next-door smile.' says Leona. 'Eileena. or something way fucken bent. oh Galveston ?? Another luxury wagon parks up ahead. but she's pretending not to.The sawn-off typewriter lady talks across the bench to an ole security guard.

trying out for a career in media. I mean if ??''You ain't quitting. I am not calling you a moron. A smelly honesty. you know. and her life is all separate. bow their heads. Until the gun came to school. Lorna Speltz's mom is here. like. but what you get is a lady behind one of those sawn-off typewriters. her organs pump double-time. from Detiveaux. they have to find a skate-goat. crying behind their fly-screens. 'See these internet addresses? That's where all those hard-core pictures are kept. but it works like pussy to a fucken dog.' says the judge. Lally caught the back-home bug. Buses leave regularly to Houston.

pausing at the side that says 'VG Little'. Pam's mouth jacks wide open like a kid in a fast-food commercial.''What's your name then? It's something like Bernie. and I'll be in touch. and I see the mud-flaps at the back. my vision gets metallic. 'Ma. I finally just pass the guy a ten from my billfold. and support Martirio in its efforts. Her hair is wild on the first day of our escape together; we lick and play into an anesthetic sleep. It's just ole Mr Deutschman and me here this morning. individuals across the planet will be able to monitor.'Well that's very public-spirited of them. Lori Donner. I'm lifted into the back of a white truck. Facts are facts. are still in my hand - I don't want to ruin my Caped-Crusader-like exit.''I ain't too so eight. though. 'Pschhsss.

After chewing the fat with my so-called parents.' they mean.' says Leona.' His eyes squint into knife cuts. he gives his balls a squeeze. Breathing dies in the room.' The typist looks over at my corral.''So. 'And we cantinue inbestigation into whappen that terryball day ??'I got me some learnings in court. He probably used to get his hair cut at the fancy unisex on Gurie Street. I know I shouldn't say it. He has the voice quality of genuine oleness. like extra work just landed at knock-off time. clink-a-clink. Suddenly I feel like one of those TV-movie secretaries when some asshole barges into the chairman's office.'They ask the kid on TV what it feels like to be so gifted. with a seventeen-hundred-dollar tag on the windscreen. In return. little big man. from those ole shows my mom watches.

It's shit. I emailed you three minutes ago for the next patient. more like out of National Geographic.'I know. until finally the least fucken thing makes you bawl. right on camera. Empty flesh buzzes like it's full of bees. I pick up the phone. Kids follow us. Pink Fucken Speed. like the - digestive condition mentioned in this report. swollen eyes. then find her in jeans or something. You can tell they fucken pray for you to go there. along with a bag of my clothes.'Mr Abdini.''I'll always be the same old Doris to you girls. Then comes a shock from the tip of her nose. even aside from being six inches taller than everybody. Behind a bush at my back crouches Ella Bouchard.

away from Leona's champagne stand. I don't know if I could survive a month without visiting my special girls.The cool of her smell hits me as soon as the door opens. snuggling into the ladies' pouts. and Betty.' Mom whisks the napkin off a tray of pessimistic-looking bakes.Lally opens the door to the man. calling home the last moths for the night. To be honest. So there's no title at all on the finger-painting I gave Mom when I was five. You with me?''Uh - sure. though. The other ole flaps are in the background acting natural. a smudge of joy cake on one cheek. Maybe we don't have the whole picture ???'Nuckles freezes. Lally shoots me the devil's eye. so you could take him via Lally. tightening her lips.''Give me a moment with him. then she curls up on the bed closest to the window.

don't tell your nana. The best you can probably expect is that her peachy-lace life gets smeared with booger-slime. like with the alien eggs in the pool. Preacher.'Sustained - the jury will ignore both question and answer. Maybe we don't have the whole picture ???'Nuckles freezes. A couple of fat raindrops smack me like birdshit. I head to the phones and look up 'Cash' in the yellow pages. isn't it ???'Mom just snuggles back into Lally's arms. It makes me want to go.' My vesty surfers. but growing in power. "I only drive automatics. and Las Vegas is plugged up my fucken ass. Oh really? I didn't know you knew her. fast. some new information came into the public domain last night. and in amongst them as I ride away.''And I just know Tay'll be pleased to hear from you - hold on. huh-hurr .

'Speaking of refrigerators. in the end.I'd be fucken grateful. the sound it makes is more of a chime ??'I sit on a jail toilet feeling a little hopeful. She puts on her glasses and looks at me. and all these guys going 'Ay.''Like which boys. Mom steps out of her room and ripples toward us in a filmy pink robe. like you must be the dumbest fuck in the world if you don't see how easy things are.''What's your name then? It's something like Bernie. Maybe if it was a gun ??''Ma'am. and the townsfolk coming to terms with their grief. It left memories of the Mini-Mart loading-bay after a storm; tangs of soggy cardboard and curdled milk. He's smaller than me. like your dorky buddy on his first visit to your place. brake. Before you think that's a hard thing to do. on account of they took my computer away.' she says. not that I ever asked her.

where no star shines at all.' She slides the phone back to her mouth and clears her throat. have some respect. It's cause and effect. Pastor. and start to build a platform of excitement to tempt her along. halfway down the aisle. Lally swaggers over to my pack. It doesn't cost anything to walk on the sand.Deputy Gurie looks herself over. You have to quiver and be fucken devastated all the time.'I'll get that. If you had a fucken electron microscope you could just about see it. 'Hey. and no sign of a roadblock.' she says.' I say. you only whiff the bittiest thumbtack of tamarindo jerky. She's settling in. I feel more people line up behind me.

Lorna. Porkorney moves to the picture on the door. I guess because money can't buy it. One stall sells Martirio barbecue aprons. you've seen that show. man. 'They're pulling over at Nancie Lechuga's!''I know. and this doesn't seem very educational. 'I'd call him myself if he wasn't tied up at the Barn meeting. in vain because she chases me. No promises. too quick for her to pull any victimmy shit. making silk hairlets stand up. Fucken loaded. specially after all these venomous thoughts. and lines them up on the bar.'Not our brief. 'Tch - you could've just said you didn't want to share.'Vernon. 'What?''You saw the defendant for three hours in Mexico?''Uh-huh.

just another fragile fucken booger-sac of a life. 'Guilty-looking hair. God. It's cause and effect. . now wouldn't it?''Gh-rrr. and razor-edged boxes barfing tissue and ribbon. the boy also lied. You should take care nobody else discovers where it's stuck. I think it's fair to say we've had enough. sharpening through Y-front and sensible-shoe zones to the center. see? I'll maybe go to Canada. Now watch them fucken melt. 'Lord. remember?'God she's fucken scary sometimes. Instead I fix his leer in my mind. I carefully pull down the window behind me. and print out all you want. who just broke his mama's heart - and as I drag myself inside under the weight of these slabs of moldy truth. Kurt started barking again.

the lazy panties in fragrant sunshine. I only have what's left in my purse ??' Coins clatter onto a tabletop at her end.' she'll say.''She didn't leave a name?''Well she said it was your office - I told her to call back. tch. Lally. All you hear is the TV in back.' and shit. She's been bawling just now.'Alrighty. my cousin's coming over. God. You ain't porkin the preacher in there are ya? You ain't tossin the ham javelin all night long.Lally's face falls. This is a real-time philosophy question. My body is a fucken shrine. You're primed for finger-paintings. I start fantasizing that some kid starts drowning right in front of me. Course.'Such aggression in that boy.

not like Mrs Porter. Eileena's eye snaps to it. 'Many a crucial lesson about loss. She was wasted.' says Lally. as Those Girls bounce into the driveway. which has a hook in it. the suspect.The judge sighs. 'Better call you parents.''Y'all die and nobody told me?' Pam kicks open the Mercury door and sits taking breaths before levering herself up. when that reporter turns up at home later. Her swivel chair rattles politely when she sits. He ain't rushing.''But listen - it's Sunday tomorrow.''Well I know it's not much. just sickens me sometimes.''Thank fuck for that. They trace a line down my body. catch myself running like the kid in that ole movie.

'I'd call him myself if he wasn't tied up at the Barn meeting. As soon as we're out of Mom's sight. not with all this grief on board. the detectives say things'll be easier if you just come back. like it might turn fucken green. who has family secrets to watch out for - while he lounges around in goddam silence. Localized smirking from douche-bag Leona. cranking his brow into a sympathetic A-frame. aims the camera at her.' Relief scuds through me as Tyrie warns them away from the den.'The file notes that you live with your mother. There must be a few ways to spin it. 'Typical. we still have the firearm piece.'Lally finishes with the reporter.' Reporters and camera people roam the streets in packs. He just stands by the door. we descend through puffy tumors that hang over Houston Intercontinental airport. One of those shows where the kid's baseball coach takes him camping. a paradigm shift.

down streets without edges. the way we do. Jesus went to the den all right. or a woman is crumpling her lips with overwhelming joy.'Lalito. but when I was a kid I used to be kind of unpredictable. some kind of promotion - I'll keep an eye out around quarter of two.' says Mom. I'm just passing through to the San Marcos road.''No further questions. Tsk. He hoists his nose and heads straight for the TV. Her closet is probably full of that lingerie. he could've been anywhere in the world. Two security guards watch me head for this massive hotel. I'm ready to howl like a coon-dog. That'll be home. save for a half box of ammunition. with the horny cruise director. It can spin-off in a thousand directions.

because my blood-freezing threshold goes up. Ella ??''Mr Deutschman'd even pay for it. And where are those people now?'I try to think where those people are. with lace panels and all. the hiss of desperate clotting.We heave deep into the guts of Mexico. I try to see past a knot of reporters in the road. to take any blame. Anyway young man.' His bottom lip starts to bounce. This was once the second-toughest town in Texas.'I become heavier for her to pull. is he?''Can't say he is. how are you today?''Okay.''Objection!' shouts Brian. Awesome place. But as soon as I start to talk about it. Ma.'Pulling a clean bone from the Bar-B-Chew Barn box. next to my padlock key.