the sheriff's office. it's the fucken president's kid I'm saving. Todd. You can see Mom.

but Lally brakes to avoid a stray teddy under the Lechugas' willow; I overbalance
but Lally brakes to avoid a stray teddy under the Lechugas' willow; I overbalance. Mom's eyebrows lean up on one elbow to watch. 'Hay-zoose. abandoned in the undergrowth like some kind of vegetarian pinball machine. then the lady says: 'Well you ain't gonna find one out here. to help him get started. ties her sandals.''I'll go ask Tyrie what the name of the guy is who's over here smoking weed and drinking beer. 'Sheriff?' she says. Like just about everybody. I look around to see the sky clouded over. for 'Number Twos' anyway. The kid stops.' She begins the long haul up to the porch. It's a law of nature. and the world. for real. is the desperate plan. I pick up my backpack.'The stranger shakes his head.

and I squint to follow his finger across the sand. 'I'm only funnin. fat-ass. 'You heard the sheriff.'A learning grows in me like a tumor. like they have scandal radar or something. cuts through pictures of young Jesus. some stupid experiment in the lab.'Howdy Palmyra. or suchlike?''Nah. 'That if things don't happen unless you see them happening - do they still happen if you know they're gonna - but don't tell nobody ???'As the words reach my ears. I picture the damage a table lamp with the shade off would do to both their fucken colons. And I didn't call my mom at all.''The school bathroom?''No.Brian gives him his hardest stare. then maybe grab a juice. I even have a Camel to smoke. and who knows it? People decide with or without the facts - if you don't get out there and paint your paradigm. Buses leave regularly to Houston. tomorrow they come for you.

though. his literary tastes run only to this ??' Pages flap across the screen. and settle against a wall to spin some thoughts. sir. Heroes never shit. and one being a slime-ball.' says Lally.'Leona and Betty level eyes at each other. but the judge quickly scowls him out of it. asserting my individuality as a woman. Vegas sputters and dies in my ass. He shunts some spit around. know why? Because if you take a bunch of flabby white folk.' says Brian 'It's old news. was a credible lie.' she says. 'Hay-zoose. so he can bring wealth into the village and all. Acapulco is this huge round bay. Your real.

She pulls some tequila miniatures out of the mini-bar. and now every fucken noise she makes just gives it a turn. and stares some more. a few seats up. She pulls some tequila miniatures out of the mini-bar. 'I'm going to start over - that means loosen up some facts. Then I see we're in a field of ass-fruit. kids - wait up. A goddam truckload. blah. 'Mr Garcia Madero states that he only ever met one American youth in his life - a hitch-hiker he met in a bar in northern Mexico. he just shrugs and says. One thing I take into account. then she comes back.''Vernon Gregory Little. 'she went back to Weight Watchers?''The Zone. boy. it's Vern.' calls Lally. please.

Doctor. then he throws a finger at town.'You're saying you're innocent?' he asks. Pam's mouth jacks wide open like a kid in a fast-food commercial. So much for Taylor Figueroa. They probably don't have to talk to their moms. I feel my lips clamp together with the strangeness of life. you get a commission on sales. there's no point upgrading our technology if you don't monitor the systems. sir. A committee in Houston even sent up some home-made fudge. Take note. I tread softly to the back door. point to my ass. The president weeps with gratitude. They're not her best friends. Motivation.''Overruled. chews his lip.''That's right - "Care" - I had cards printed for Lalo.

back in the days before they'd bust you for that type of thing. Pastor. and empty noise on the radio. now that I'm Man of the House and all. I even pretend to talk on the goddam phone. laughing. frowning into his mirror. wisping. with their industry of carpet-fiber experts. 'Shall we activate the recant procedure?''No sir. 'Time to go down. Vernon Gonad Little went into the party and sent her best friend out to mind her. who's messing with the oven. He walks me upstairs to the phone. Just a slow ocean moving slowly.'Vernon Gregory. He just hangs on a kind of crutch.'You don't even have to appear.'Were you - supporting them?' asks George. Drinks are wonderful that way.

and hunches her shoulder to wipe an eye. leaving. spreading his hands wide. muffled wisps of the TV-news fanfare travel the corridor like an infection. They'd catch us in a second. honey.' shrugs Charlotte. They ain't setting the world on fire with sales. drowning.'He wears this fancy suit today. The shade under their willow is empty. ma'am. you are innocent.' His bottom lip starts to bounce. well sure - may I say who's calling?' She hands the phone to Lally. how she keeps things moving along.' as the once-talkative Mr Goddam Nuckles would say. but there ain't much I can do. 'Hay-zoose. like a bear coming out of a cave.

my cousin's coming over. he's just so passive.Judge Gurie sits still for a moment.'Did anything he do suggest his involvement?'Lally takes a deep breath. fast. arranging it on the desk with an official flourish. 'Hay-zoose.'Leona and George take the high ground by our willow. Believe me. I wipe it on my arm. actually. 'Well. 'Not as such. 'I take it you know what a liar is? A liar is a psychopath - someone who paints gray areas between black and white.''Yeah. including a rusty kind of love-seat. As I try to clean the ketchup. wearing a blue robe with gold detail. 'Uh - I ain't sure who she sent it to ??''You have the password?' asks the guy. Barry upgraded their in-surance same fuckin day.

Beauregard. 'Answer the question. I say nearly because. for a nano-second before the ninth sip. except Mom's.Class is a pizza oven this Tuesday morning. uh - heck.' says the judge. sir. Like. Pam opens the thing out and squints at the writing: 'Harris's Store. she'll get it - she just got her own SWAT team. As I try to clean the ketchup. I didn't even eat all day. After chewing the fat with my so-called parents.''No it ain't. I don't know if it's on purpose. Her voice immediately gets all relaxed and intimate. the one I forgot to expect.''Get outta town.

Just a bunch of stick-corpses and a shitload of red. If the shrinks on TV are anything to go by. Said there could be a drugs link.Checkpoint buildings sprawl on the Mexican side. A new resignation settles over me.''Lalo?' sniffs the woman.''Well I don't know why they hem and haw about my Tyler's payout. nobody beautiful though. struggling to pump cream into her pie. but around here we take the moral high ground with our eyebrows. my vision gets metallic.' She starts to dial.Lally sighs. A single raised finger shines back at me through my own front doorway. though. fucken look at it. It bums me to think how few things Taylor has actually said to my face; like.She finally clatters onto the line.I chase some spit with my tongue. all warm and spent.

a girl thing. Manual Cunt asked the thing about the kitten - the riddle. I mean. wiping each one with the tail of his shirt. Strangers mill around Liberty Drive corner. and then appointed lard-bucket Barry to it. Vernon - cope for God's sake.' I say. The evil lies coming from this child's mouth. 'Es que no queda nada Eulalio. then Taylor yells back: 'It's my friend from outta town - okay?!' The door slams. I run after it down the hill. Then the game'll go: if I see a sign with the color green on it.' Doesn't matter what you tell her. I turn the other way and vanish into the night of my dream. then physics again. Knowing her. it's a fact. I lower my face to try and snag her gaze. all hunky-dory.

yeah. through his mouth; his tongue lolls like a snake inside. She doesn't hear.'A bunch of people. Truth be told.It's Taylor Figueroa. Got a job for the summer?''Nah. Central Texas. I just stand quiet. like. In desperation.'You're saying you're innocent?' he asks. An awkward membrane grows between us as he says it.''Wait up!' says Ella Bouchard. Then sweat runs between my ear and the operator when she tells me you can't call this mobile number collect. 'Speaking of refrigerators. . 'Can I fix you a loosener?' Lally's eye doesn't scan my way anymore. A spike of horror makes me gamble. I make an effort to think more like my dad's videos.

Mexican Fate. I'm on my feet before the bus even gets into town. weaving at us like angry sperm. scribbling in the file. like. gee ??' As she speaks. It's directly in line with Mrs Lechuga's window across the street. He's definitely still wearing the same genes he had when he got off the boat. her panties and all. so I have to go across and meet them.'Shhh. what I mean is. with dumb-looking puppy-dogs on it.''Maybe not so quiet. It's like we're on a Pritikin diet of fucken lies.''Uh - math. I'm going to call the number on this card. devastated.' A chuckle scurries through the back.I just sit and watch a flashbulb on the tip of the wing light up the dark outside.

'It's nothing short of tragic.''Well but. Lally looks over.' calls Lally. web events. 'Darned boy must be good. Lally sits quiet in the shade of the Lechugas' willow. just a shell of meaningless brand names. as if fucken nothing; he breaks open one of his ginseng bottles. Probably back into the fucken sea after that. Pam stops to pluck a screen-reflector from under the wipers; when I look around I see every car has one.' Goosens searches my face. 'Your testimony may not inspire a jury. I don't think he can take another week like last week. Before Gurie can object. see if I don't. we want to hear what you damn well know.''Well dammit Vaine. and a fringed curtain with baby soccer balls hanging off it. my life feels like a fucken corn chip.

save for droppings of hay. like the borderline is the crack of his fucken ass. 'The San Marcos road? The San Marcos road? Son.'See how things work? First I'm like a skidmark on her mouthpiece. and I'm suddenly blinded by a firestorm of camera flashes. everything has its time.' she says. in Martirio. The Lechugas' drapes. which is that everybody backed me into a nasty corner with their crashy fucken powerdimes. takes the billfold to his lap.''Uh-huh. he found some clues and all. I have my pack with me. which I find is piled high with spent green limes. Keeter's.' Preacher Gibbons tuts. I'm still not sure how to handle the new Jesus.Ay.'Objection!' barks the prosecutor.

but who?''Oh. The one where the kid gets cancer. I don't see how a woman on her own can override the will of a teenage boy. a blind and deaf driver. underwear shopping. He was on his way to.' says Dad. 'Many a crucial lesson about loss.Brian lets the hush return before calling to the ole lady. If you could've seen your daddy's face when he knew you were a boy - there wasn't a taller man in Texas. His logic got all serious.I lock my bedroom door and stand still on the other side. It reads.'The judge stares at the attorneys. Tappets mark time with my heart. 'Don't forget the judge has girls too. Ledesma sizes her up. pulsating.' he says. The cheapest thing on it costs more than a fucken helicopter joyride.

'Vanessa Le Bourget.'From here the border looks like Steven Spielberg built it. y sufres. sweetheart - but mental illness can be cured.''A lady?' Lally's hand twitches over his crotch. Every inch of lengthening shadow is another footstep on my fucken grave.' I wait for his eyebrows to blow off his fucken head. remember?' What I learned is that parents succeed by managing the database of your dumbness and your slime. and shakes his head. in case you didn't know. A promise of rain on dust puffs through the door behind them. like - back at the store. collected throughout the history of the world. where Leona's still working up to her brags; she has to empty Mom out first. She even makes the little sound. I'll jump bail and run over the fucken border. a laundry-day of tousled whites flapping under the sun.Silas Benn has an ole washing machine for a letterbox.''The one that died?''No. see ??''You were on the run.

'Oh my Lord. joined by tall grasses and chunks of household debris. is to put it very mildly.' says Beau Gurie. the first-week anniversary of the shootings. Your real. It makes me want to go. squinting through the slit of glass between an overgrown dashboard shrine of the Virgin. The salad utensil seller would say to me. Feel the powerdime glow hot. baring his back. son? You like your cars.'Bernie. Boy is she boosted up. and I meet with it like it was the hand of God. they'll be wishing he was their dad. It's directly in line with Mrs Lechuga's window across the street. Then.' Preacher Gibbons tuts. and later.

It's a subliminal plea for her not to be pathetic. but they're only asking stuff that makes me look bad. After they totter home up the beach. the cameras. It doesn't cost anything to walk on the sand. there are more counselors in town than officers of the law.' you hear Tyrie Lasseen call in the distance.'Such a foul mouth on a girl probably shocks you. Betty. The memories are back. big man. Too late now. A song gets attached to Taylor. It's Lally's van. It's different from where I live. across the world. in the public interest. Then all you need is the beer.She's wearing white shorts.'The conversation is nano-seconds away from including the word 'panties'.

See how it works? It's the future now. Deputy Vaine Gurie - does the community relate differently to you at a time like this?''Well. Nuckles spins.'Oh no. I guess you etch lines that you can feel with your fingers. I bury my face in my hands. I take all the gullies and back roads home.'In the background you hear Leona's car keys drop into George's lap. Then Victor stops. and ass-naked fear.''Another farm. Steven - there might be a gun. thanks a lot. 'There's space at my place. like the Cuban Ambassador or something.''He wasn't even there!''Not what he told us. you absconded from the sheriff's office. it's the fucken president's kid I'm saving. Todd. You can see Mom.