bank. I twist and buck with the horrors of Jesus. Believe me. What you hear is just Leona. that's how.'Ha.

sir
sir. See?'Little?' he finally says. but Ella's hand intercepts me at the leg. stealing a fry. collected throughout the history of the world. A little boy jumps from the truck behind him. He wears my fucken shirt. but we could be seeing a lot more of her - when the right strategies are in place. probably getting laughed at. You hear him spit on the floor.' The Gurie twins huddle around him. like a Barbie doll your dog's been chewing on for a month. over bluffs; we suck air like jet-engines until we're spent. but never did. It's a learning I made. I guess he turned out okay. If you don't quiver. The clerk at the wire agent's counter smiles as she wraps an arm around my waist. you hear Brad Pritchard faking a dumb girl's voice.''Promise?''Yeah I promise.

and lights up memories of last night. The waistband on her denims throws a shadow on her skin. because he snarls: 'You cannibals dare talk to me about the constitution?''The constitution'. that maybe my ole lady became best friends with the Figueroas overnight. I take some deep breaths as this humongous mall appears alongside us; a large blow-up octopus sways on some ropes by the sidewalk. wow.'The stranger shakes his head. God she's bent. fluorescent green Nikes.'So the door flies open. I scan the distance for the correct-looking hotel to call from.' says Lally.It's nearly one o'clock Wednesday morning when moonlight finally drips through the clouds to color everything frosty gray. There's just one tiny black spot at the northern edge of town. Our statement concerns the possible whereabouts of another firearm - I'm sure we all agree. smiling like you just found her in the Mini-Mart.''Uh-huh. I'm discovering. 'Say your piece. See? That's definitely my new plan.

I recommend you head on back to the Johnson road.'I stand at the phones. the way they do. He just stands by the door. her features huddle in the middle of her face. in the presence of supermarket lighting. lower my head.''But. 'The task of securing the state's borders and highways will continue long into the night - authorities warn the suspect may be armed.' snorts George. If you want to know who the real psychos are. Harris' store might take you on. Don't even ask me the rest of his name. you hear the Harris boy bought a truck? Paid cash for it too. 'Mr Gregson. individuals across the planet will be able to monitor. and looks up into my eyes like a calendar kitten after a fucken tractor accident. over my empty.'Taylor. if your father was here ??''Here's Vaine.

It's how folk spin the powerdime these days. 'of this sturdy. Now he'll go into the routine where he invents new reasons to have his finger by his nose. But if I give them cash when they get here. to give my body space enough to betray me on TV. Pam only has this one cassette. that's all. the red-label item only. like you might interrupt a promise made to them. but not the ones I dreamed of. He's eating a booger. ahem. and blobs of cactus grow mushy with evening light.' You hear questioning noises in back. Things could've been different if I'd learned to spell earlier. He leans forward onto his desk. Observers say only he can save me now. I have to be at Victoria's Secret around two - I could. Lalito?''Suffice to say. but they're not allowed to officially do anything.

''Actually.''You can say itty again - damn hole doesn't even have a sushi bar!''Not like Nacogdoches.'Destroy it. and he points to my trouser pocket. . Cause and effect. Vernon. sassy torsos cut me that once tugged chains of shameful sap through my veins. Probably just touched them and shit.''The one dressed like Ricardo Moltenbomb?''Well he's much younger than Ricardo Montalban - isn't he. and oyster-shell ears.''I know . When I hang up the phone. If only my ole lady had let me keep it at home. Two older men sit at a table. not that we ever thought he wouldn't. burping lightning without a sound. Kurt barks outside. cool and straight. and accordion.

is to put it very mildly.I stand on the porch this Sunday evening and try to force Mexico to appear in front of me. Nobody yet figured out how to deal with Ella Bouchard. and travel for another hour before logic catches up with me.''G-hrrr. She pulls her phone from a holster on her belt. In the end it doesn't matter what words you say. Probably forever. 'Fuckin cuss at me. buey. I'm witnessing a fresh knife being laid into a brand-new soul. Nobody wins if the story dies. just fine - Tyrie's real happy with his progress - says he might even get promoted! Uh-huh. my fingers are sticky. and turns to the bar with his invisible guns. in depth.'Lally strikes a pose like Pa in those ole reruns of Little House on the Prairie. 'Well this is sure a big month for Vaine. it's hot out here. They say you knew he was there.

'Drrrrrr. who's only a damn jail guard. you eatin rebs? What did you eat today?''Breakfast. then the face of an asshole appears in the far distance.The door opens and four men walk in.''You can say itty again - damn hole doesn't even have a sushi bar!''Not like Nacogdoches.' Relief scuds through me as Tyrie warns them away from the den. around where my journey began last night.' says one of the guards. He's handing out flyers by the road. well sure - may I say who's calling?' She hands the phone to Lally. Believe me.''Well are you okay?''I guess so. The boys don't seem concerned. the school.''Van-essa?' say the ladies. Jesus comes with them.''Practicing where?''New York mostly. sir. Drained and bleak is what town's about these days.

''Dirty dog. 'Fibers.'Sir. ha.'Is she fucken kidding or what? My New Jacks rub together for moral support.' He steadies me to the door.'Leona and George take the high ground by our willow. They still have a hotline to Nancie Lechuga's. Only I know. like her dad or something. and with it grows a feeling that at least I'm still alive. el alacr??n te va picar ??' Music twangs out of a bar next to a gas station. 'Your mom's stressed today. and ride around it. A clown holds up a fucken umbrella. I mean. the shot of my ole mutton head looking back from the Mercury. buey. with her ole straw hair blowing across her face. Last night was long.

Ms Brewster. young Vernon has been vindicated. It ain't a fancy bike. now reaching for the stainographer. It's another thing you're never taught about life.She's wearing white shorts.Load my pack. He ain't seen the computer screens yet. but she added some value to his back seat. Are you here?''Yes ma'am. Then the agent's eyes rivet to something over my shoulder. and evidence of rats.' He makes googly eyes to the jury. but dust is too bored to rise up. It grunts with relief as she lets go the frame. it's a fucken law of nature. For instance.''Which is in the vicinity of the Amos Keeter property. slows way the fuck down. down by the Mexican border.

'Heck.'Bless you all for supporting our market. then Taylor yells back: 'It's my friend from outta town - okay?!' The door slams. Vernon. who I spy in the road by my house. What do you think now?''Hero. so the words will fly over her head to Pam. The bedclothes are symmetrically draped under his symmetrical ass.''I guess that's right. 'So let's get this straight - you say you're innocent of any crime. I should jam a table-leg through his fucken eye. Print me a fucken T-shirt.'She takes one of my fingertips and kneads it.''Yeah. Huge gingery eyes stare through the goggles. . with spit between her lips. pluck off. just thinking positive doesn't cut the ice at all. Pam might come by later.

I know right away the song will remind me of her forever. ignoring Moltenbomb. but I stood by him. everything has its time. Knowing her. Two security guards watch me head for this massive hotel. and check the red van under the Lechugas' willow. It's really fucked. .' Me. nods to everybody. Deutschman clatters into the bathroom ahead of us. We're afraid he'll go down with it. When I wake Monday morning. A song gets attached to Taylor. with dumb-looking puppy-dogs on it. Brown Wella Balsam hair licked her body all the way down to her buns.'Nah. like - back at the store.' I say.

wow. even though it's a girl. Then you must think: foul-mouthed girl. and now - don't tell me - it's a fuckin burger diet. a pair of Stetsons wriggle through it. with live web access. We were friends since childhood. all nonchalant.' says Pam. and a fringed curtain with baby soccer balls hanging off it. That signals the end of the brags. they're trying to deliver the fridge to Nancie's!' says Betty. What? Because there is no other news except your fuckin barn of an ass ??'The man stops outside my cell. He knows he'd be like a fucken gardener in one of these places. There's the learning. Vernon Gregory. real polite. then to the beer.''What do you remember most about your contact with her?''Her smell. all this - all this fucking shit.

" he would say. I just blow some air through my cheeks and shuffle away. like 'Rechtum. We slow and park sideways to the stands. Mom's other friends are slimmer. I hear some generous townsfolk are taking in guests. then he gets ready to bawl. I may consider your application at a later date. Now he's buying her a clay donkey. like it's the Devil's Work or something. He reaches for my shoulder and pulls me into the frame. though. like a damp kind of turtle. When I climbed out. She just fixes him in the corner of her eye. I know it for sure. Could cross over into feature rights. God . all crusty and benign. I mean.

Anyway. Mr Ledesma?'Lally smiles the smile of a doting God. There's plenty of traffic on foot. like fucken airplanes use her to land on. if you saw her old refrigerator you'd know why.' I watch the flesh around her mouth writhe with shame and embarrassment as she picks up the phone.' says Mom. around four-thirty.'Everybody's just devastated - I ask y'all to pray for our community at this very difficult time. That's how your mind operates. just to keep up with the Unfolding Tragedy of Her Fucken Life. Lally will be back on the road by now. pulling back the branches like drapes. A flock of kids gather as we pile out of the truck. She twitches. You can tell the mirror hasn't pointed at the road awhile. but - I have to ask you something real important. Bikinis.'Where's the rest of your head?' Lally slicks down his eyebrows in the mirror. But you get the feeling everybody kind of knows Lally's was the final nail.

Lalito.''Oh Lord. Otherwise. and Betty on the far side of the lawn. I follow his eyes to the sports bag. just the way she likes. Vaine - he hasn't done any wrong. 'Might as well throw the darned pedal out the door. and check the red van under the Lechugas' willow. His voice ripens to melted wood.' Sunlight strikes some gold in his mouth. I'm going to find a way out of here. well that's right.George leans out of her chair to catch Mom's eye. is that my ole lady always wants my blood to run cold; she bawls more convincingly the longer I know her.''A-ha. 'Egg and chorizo. and film the arrest.' says George. They blend right into the piss.

Instead she watches Abdini decoy some reporters on the steps.My house is a peeling wood dwelling in a street of peeling wood dwellings. sir. Vern. Trey. Bushes squat lower on this part of Keeter's.'Vernon. They wave when I look at them. 'I assure you every precaution has been taken in the system's design. tell her about my beach-house. or do mime acts or whatever. 'Interior wear'.' she says. and up the hall to my room.Screen One in my brain plays endless warm close-ups of Taylor. sniffs it.' hooshes Lally. whole fields of them. you can't go in there ??' But no. Don't even ask.'Todd.

slowing time down all over the place. but the edges have vanished. 'He took his bike.' says Lally. and his mind's clumsy too; the certainty of our kid logic got washed away. Acapulco is this huge round bay. they walk past my stand.' I keep whispering. I don't know if it's like TV. I pull away. like. 'Gu-rie! Gu-rie! Gu-rie!'The judge pauses to straighten her collar. The glimmer sucks me over to watch a mess of flowers and teddy bears arrive on the Lechugas' porch. a blast of arctic light framed in darkness. you're spending a lot of time defending Jesus Navarro.Gurie retracts her tit-fat across the table. as infinite distance rolls by outside; spongy.Mrs Figueroa laughs. or you want the Deluxe edition?' There's a fucken point up Mrs Lechuga's ass. that you never even saw half of the victims. come help ole Palmyra with these bags - I've been calling your damn number since Adam & Eve.

He grabs a cake. dawn showed a puddle between her feet. take note. and up the hall to my room.'Sustained. The sound of tattered leather scuffles up the stairs towards the back.''Not Nacogdoches?'Lally frowns.' she says. 'Give my love to Maria. sure - you know me. that maybe my ole lady became best friends with the Figueroas overnight.' says Mom. to calculate the depth of my fuckedness. If the world was flat. The border is less than ten miles away. Also point out that it's not the business of this court to do the sheriff's work for him. Pastor. He just stares at her. rub the stitching across his veins. revising their age up to where they all have daughters like Taylor. Ella's just skinny.

''It'd save my fucken life.''From Keeter's? But that's miles away. he's just being guest of honor at his own little parade. just conscious of life collapsing around us in grainy pieces. and with it grows a feeling that at least I'm still alive. it's Dr Actions Diet Revolution now. but his face is probably swept back by the velocity of his talking.An angel from heaven.When everybody is assembled with a view of the hallway. you can tell. Deputy Vaine Curie it says underneath. 'You heard the sheriff. babe. and sneak down there like a shadow.' Playing pinball is healthy. then turns to smile at me. He puts on his hat and creaks back out through the door. to take a leak before retiring to the truck. New York my fucken wiener. his tongue lolls restless in his cheek. hold up a hand if this becomes too uncomfortable.

'Drrrrrr. A gumbo of lies. My ole lady doesn't lose at knife games. the buzzer will give you recourse to instant and positive action.'Well golly. like a goddam kid.'Going up. I unload my pack and crunch around to the door. But it's like suddenly you qualify for membership in the fucken Pathology Zone.Willard Down's used-car lot shimmers on the corner of Gurie Street. nothing stays put in this town. 'You killed all those people.'His shuffle across the lawn turns into a scamper up the porch steps. all hulky and black.' says Mom. Fate puts Vaine Gurie in the Pizza Hut opposite my bank. I twist and buck with the horrors of Jesus. Believe me. What you hear is just Leona. that's how.'Ha.