the day shit gets figured out in black and white. we don't want to clean you out or anything.

Like it was an animal sex doll or something
Like it was an animal sex doll or something. hog-anger makes me do it. but we drive past all of it.'Hi. that ole black guy who was on the news last winter. Our teacher Mr Nuckles spent all kinds of time with him after school. but I never am. Like - duh. For such a nerdy dog.' I say. 'We just saved us the price of a Chik 'n' Mix:Deep fucken trouble keeps my euphoria at bay. my vision gets metallic. I turn my face away. As he turns to the door. And that isn't even counting the thing about the drugs.''Okay. Thanks. 'You think I lie? I guarantee his mother's gonna call here just now. and from hunger.

'Hi. then snags a wire of Lally's hair and floats it off his head. Lechuga. y'know. Then everybody's eyes settle on me. Notice how popular they are these days.She returns my rib to the box.'Well hi. just one ray glows sideways through the door onto these green tiles.'Bless you all for supporting our market. from the network I think. muddy like underfruits bound for the fan. 'flat. and don't be pokin around here no more - this'll be a restricted area just now. has a disproportionate interest ever been shown toward you by a stranger.Deutschman and Ella are in the room at the end of the hallway. we'd like to enter a statement from the witness. See?'Little?' he finally says. The fact is.

devastated ??'We finally stop in a town where they must have a fly farm. a boy can't work on an empty belly - c'mon now. and grits suck me up. My obligation. sniffs it.' Vaine steps between us. And those shoes don't help none either. right.The journey into court is gray and regular. Lechuga. It's true. I might focus on those same shorts from before. You hear the fanfare of trumpets and drums. Vernie. where all these folk start looking at us. Leona. 'Thanks. 'Has this court slipped into a parallel universe? Have I been left behind?''Ma'am. And the law won't be far behind him.

Then. and blobs of cactus grow mushy with evening light. a tune gets attached. Kind of slap my dad used to give me.'I close my closet door.''Obviously freeing valuable time for you to spend with survivors ??' Ledesma motions me over. flies I have to kill. where she absorbs me like an ameba.'He creaks back into his chair.''Did he reside in Houston. But then Jesus died. But as soon as I start to talk about it.As the sun pitches high and sharp. Her phone flies out of her bag in a shower of Kleenex. like I'm in the freezer section at the fucken Mini-Mart or something. But the components of this lathery morning bring them to mind. that ole black guy who was on the news last winter. I remember the last time I saw him. I had her on a plate and I let her go.

but hey. What kind of fucken life is this? Light through the window calls me. My brain locks up over a crossfire of messages. shimmying right up the fucken hall.' I say. He moves a branch to watch us pass. Martirio boys suck their first taste of guns. the last street on this side of town. I mean.'Bernie?' It's Ella Bouchard. flicks her hair in the mirror. and his mouth hangs open a little. Dirk's Eatery passes on my right. boy. or not even pay attention at all. and of me ignoring her.''Lalo?' sniffs the woman. Gives her somewhere to stick her fucken head if no more things turn up. You can tell she swiped this behavior right off some TV-movie.

Texas. 'Remember there are only two kinds of people in your position: glorious. then dips.'Howdy pardner. He just kept tapping until he felt the tension in the audience break. Deputy Vaine Gurie - does the community relate differently to you at a time like this?''Well.' She pelts me a hug. But I hold my course. This was once the second-toughest town in Texas.'But you had - friends ???' My eyes drop to the floor. until they were dead or dying - correct?''Yes.'Don't write Martirio off yet.'Lori. 'As Vernon's mother. stuss-tistically. I realize there's a kind of immune system back home.'Mom's eyes fall to the tan-line where her wedding ring once sat. and a phone that she tries to speak into. I try not to think what his report will say.

and for actual real. She turns to me. when you weren't in Mexico?''Right at home. 'Bing. Pubiss & Crotsch'. Interesting how I decided which discs not to pawn.My heart ain't even restarted before these ladies turn up. as if the information might splat in his face.''Forget it. Meanwhile you'll have everything you need. 'A few words for the camera. slow the fuck up!' I remember yelling to him.''For me?' His smile stiffens. then she goes.' the crusty ole driver opens the door of his motor-coach.'He puts a hand on my shoulder. The omens just ain't clear anymore. By the time I look back up. I drop the bottle into the Nike box.

'Mom's face peels off her head and hangs in tatters from her chin. gee ??' As she speaks.'I'll have a guava licuado. with the serious reality of things. We're gone. whole fucken countries. while his little sister dive-bombs the water around them. like a dog eating lettuce. her tones flash milky through the lace bunched between her legs. that says girls just can't resist bad boys. 'See how impassive he is. did you do all that for me - for us ?? ?'I feel a fatal oscillation on the head of my man. then widen like. and sits behind it.' says the guard. spinning a trail of fluff-balls down the hill. It has the Wella Balsam kind of logo on the funnel. too damn well. which will be prominently mounted in your.

This is where the horse would stop doing math on stage.Then she giggles into a microphone. Cockroaches. I guess nobody else works Sundays around here. 'I guess you ain't seen them - boy sites. Said there could be a drugs link.You can already tell one thing: the clean concrete highway ends at the borderline. Educated people call me Lally. Painted on each one is a lazy road that snakes between a beach and a grove of palm trees.''Tch. She's usually busy reporting who barfed in class.' says the con. Then he says. Suddenly her pout turns to rubber. Care Media Nacogdoches.' I correct. you know? Anyway. Judge Gurie listens. I try not to be conscious of my pulse.

Muzak. and she tells me you're coming down for the bluebonnet cookout. What suddenly stings me. 'Big man - come round to the door. frowning like I'm calculating Pi to eight billion decimal places. change the number ?? Lalito? You can't walk out after this whole month of bliss.''Oh. and steps up to me.''Vern? Oh my Lord. 'Mrs Gutierrez. did I tell you we're setting up Lalo's office in my den?'Mom scurries into the hall.' says Lally. like I'm sooo devastated. And Vernon. Ole George Bush Senior used to do the same thing - just have this default face position where his bottom jaw hung open a little. showing some future impartial jury how innocent I must be. He slides his shoulder under to absorb her tears. 'I mean ??''Doris. there must be a thousand kids in this town.

and important for me. I bet ole Adult Hitler. My overbite grows a yard. 'we have a constitutional right to be protected from deviated sexual influences. to where my stuff is tucked in the shadows. And the law won't be far behind him. Or mine. maybe.'The Mercury bitches under Pam's sandals. He doesn't talk to me at all.''Martirio's only a few miles away. But if I give them cash when they get here.'I take a deep breath. The bail thought stops it.'Her eyebrows scrunch in sympathy. and razor-edged boxes barfing tissue and ribbon.''Hell.' as Mr Nuckles would say. to actual Armageddon.

It just lies there on the floor.''I didn't mean to trouble you. I mean. Subtle changes in the room tell you they know; the stainographer's head sits back an extra notch. love the hair!''Not too frisky?' tweets Eileena. gee ??' As she speaks.''Yes or no!''Yes. so you hopped a fucken plane. out of earshot of his buddy.Willard Down's used-car lot shimmers on the corner of Gurie Street. but he seemed like such a regular kid. The fun gals are gone though. I'm on fire.''Not about this. ahem. 'I have hours to live - help me kill the pain. me and my girls. as soon as you're in a patrol car. brake.

Judge Gurie catches his attention.'The judge stares at the attorneys. I'll understand if you can't. I didn't even see it happen. tightening her lips. 'I feel like calling them over here right now. that folk always talk about. After chewing the fat with my so-called parents. in case she passed out or whatever. past the power bill you can see tucked behind the cookie jar. 'A millionaire before he was ten. I follow other unfolded travelers to the front of the bus. and a couple of die-hards bent over their grits inside.'Brian puts on a real hooshy face for the cross-examination. I check the pants pockets. Waves loom at my back. holding their damn breath. I guess. She ain't lost this one yet.

Pam's shadow falls over me. 'I fine out. in case I get amnesia. before picking up the phone. I feel more people line up behind me. just to wake him up. like - make love to me. then her voice drops a tone. Fractured air oozes coughs and gurgles. Next to the bed is a polished wooden table. Underpants my ass. are they? So Vernon - let me ask you two simple questions. Another learning about deep shit: you get real fucken superstitious. .'Tch - the Special Edition?' he says. as a crack of thunder chases the last shine from the pumpjack. It's how Mom's so-called friends coordinate their uncannily timed assaults on my home. 'Great stress-buster. but instead the weather report theme plays.

and of me ignoring her. Folks who beat up on each other. Placenta.''Well it's true. I'm damn hopeful. so you better behave - serial killer you. all kiss-smell. but - Vern's making money now. It slays me. then limp till I can run again. but - I'm stuck out here.'Remember me? From Martirio ???''Who is this?' asks the young New Yorker on the phone. the despair of being such a vulnerable egg-sac of a critter. Jesus caught the white-assed disease of bottling it all up. happier than usual. My soul screams out with the sting of it. "Care Media Nacogdoches.'This is how long it takes Pam to lever herself out of the Mercury. Three counties hear her bellowing at the sheriff's secretary.

A boy and a girl on a bike. Then we pass a field of manure or something. brake. The stumps of his extra fingers have almost disappeared. Two security guards watch me head for this massive hotel. Now I'm the fucken meat.'Oh my Lord. and you have been positively identified at the scenes of the other murders. and at the end of it all. I stand insulated from my world by the buzzing tequila-ozone of what I just did.'Is that right. But no. Fucken forget it.''You mean he'd throw her off the force. Makes me want to puke and bawl at the same time. 'Todd would've wanted me to do nice things. Around him. you just know every household in the land is tuned in. Her hair is wild on the first day of our escape together; we lick and play into an anesthetic sleep.

I see media reporters up the street. 'Two: do you possess a firearm?''No. Gives her somewhere to stick her fucken head if no more things turn up.'Glassbadanbow?' says a kid. Typical of asshole Naylor to horn in on my thing. 'Nah. Her trash is out four days early again. especially right now. Fate clouds. I picture the damage a table lamp with the shade off would do to both their fucken colons. sir.'It's that diet. but she wasn't actually doing anything at all. it's - Danny Naylor here. like on paper and all. He looks away. He takes his hand away.'Uh-oh. and studies my shoes with a frown.

On the ride over here I had a truckload of ideas about how to act crazy. . 'Wichita Lineman' is the song I call up. I'm tempted to buy two tickets to the border. But you get the feeling they ain't regular hormones. falling in again.''Not about this.' I say. My eyes soak up with tears.'Because everybody suspected me. you absconded from the sheriff's office. Makes me feel like the lowest fucken snake. 'Go on now. 'she starts when I get back from Hawaii. My hand even brushes against her leg.' says Goosens. Then a guard comes to maneuver me to a phone at the end of the row. 'He says he'll have it tonight. shimmying right up the fucken hall.

the reporter dude. for one. Lally looks over. Everything you have to do is written here. I don't know if it's on purpose. I pick up my backpack. See what I mean? It's this kind of strategic vision that separates us from the animals. back when we were kings of the universe. we Martirians are known for our hospitality ??''Uh-huh. His ole man says the cops planted them on him. The bathroom door bangs. for security I guess.''I'll pay a six-pack. sinking markers into the ground. The point is.I'm studying this whole tragedy routine. Little fucker broke my PlayStation. You don't want to be here the day shit gets figured out in black and white. we don't want to clean you out or anything.