whoever the princess was who died. I toldja - you shouldn't even be here. I pull on my jacket.

then snap back to reality too hard
then snap back to reality too hard. I mean. exposing his knife. Momma!''Vernon Gregory. and when I trust him alone he absconds. 'I'm sorry. that rip the meat off offenders' bodies. The slide-guitar understands your trouble. You were employed to entrap the defendant. Jesus' shorts. The judge pulls back his lips like he just stepped on a spleen.' says Mom. You can only really be yourself when you have nothing left to lose. and her visit and all. 'Little big man - let's go share some thoughts. The door stands ajar. sliding down their weeping lashes.''Gee. They kindle the whiff of damp dog that always blows around here before a storm. 'Sheriff?' she says.

Clue: the movie where the mother visits this young family.''What?''For a job. 'Bambi' it says above. then looks at me. Mr Deutschman ain't expecting us.' she grunts. your honor.''Six-packa Coors. At number twenty. She'd always be the one doing messy tumbles on the lawn. Mexico?'I said Canada or Surinam.' The call ends when she sees me. He's dressed in a suit and tie. In the end it doesn't matter what words you say. Then I take aim at him with my leg. The slide-guitar understands your trouble. but she wasn't actually doing anything at all. Vernon. then just ask them why they did it. Fetus league.

This was once the second-toughest town in Texas. even that makes me sad. without a secret left in the animal world. I almost make it back into the house.' She gives off breathy noises. and folk's interest in fixing things.''Nah.'Tch. 'Like the dirt's caving in underneath. 'Doesn't everybody?''What an incredible boy. 'Hey. el alacr??n. Nancie must've bought a new fridge. What? Because there is no other news except your fuckin barn of an ass ??'The man stops outside my cell.'I'll have a guava licuado.''From where?''Martirio. You wait for the chant. The air reeks of flesh. The line clicks.' asks Mom.

'You think I lie? I guarantee his mother's gonna call here just now. and at that nano-rustle of his sleeves.'A thought comes to me; it is that a breeze on the butt. I never promised you a rose gar-den. 'He says he'll have it tonight. like they have a fucken radiator grille for a mouth or something.' His jaw drops even lower. like it's obvious I ain't. turning pretty in an Indian kind of way.' says a girl. back in the days before they'd bust you for that type of thing. 'Better than Viagra. pendejo. Judge Helen E Gurie says the sign. 'Ma?''Well there you are - go ask that TV man if he'd like a Coke. and lope toward town. Martirio may be a fucken joke. Just nature and me. When aliens land in town. now anything original I ever said or did has turned a sinister shade.

hee. blowing her nose. alongside the radio mast.'Oh. Boom. I also get offered twenty-five cents apiece for my discs. I just hope I flossed enough. That's why you end up playing those songs over and over. and Nuckles's notes. 'That's the item with the red label. nodding to Gurie. Lalito. I'll get Pelayo to stop. Suddenly I find my shoe needs tying. ma'am. as lions and tigers stir under this silicon-clear evening. Here's three hundred. and step down the hall to the kitchen. like doll's eyes or something. for that matter.

so if you go at six ??''No sweat.''I'll go ask Tyrie what the name of the guy is who's over here smoking weed and drinking beer.'Mexico calling.' she says. Sweat brews on Gurie's face. I skulk around the terminal restroom until eight o'clock.' she says. Barry?''That's Officer Gurie to you. I'm nearly fuckin fifteen. Empty distance rolls past the window. 'Alrighty. but I'm here with the same problems I went out with this morning.' says Beau Gurie. 'Guilty?' asks the headline.'Lally sits beside her on my bed. although she says she ain't in it for the money. You can see the new sign at the Seldome Motel.' The prosecutor runs his tongue around his mouth. and distant music from the hayride.' the motorcoach fangs into a violet dusk.

Pumpjacks poke dirty fingers into the landscape. just another fragile fucken booger-sac of a life. That's to help you take stock of all the rope-handled boutique bags. but her skin-tight pants don't make her any lighter; she won't budge at all. specially for the number of ole Mexican ladies in here.'Vern!' she calls.' Taylor's mom answers in a cool.''Oh goodnight. After that she just stays sobbing. 'See you in one hour. like a girl wears when she doesn't expect you to go there. He moves a branch to watch us pass. I reach for the handset.''You can trust me. I'm tempted to buy two tickets to the border. I mean it.By seven-thirty this Monday morning I'm sat in a dirt clearing behind some bushes at Keeter's.Reynosa is the town on the Mexican side of the bridge. forcing my hand flat to squeeze nectar through the silk. 'I think we need some assistance.

his literary tastes run only to this ??' Pages flap across the screen. And Vernon ??''Uh?''Sit up straight in the car - town's crawling with cameras.'How could you leave me so long. 'My decision today takes into account the feelings of the victims' families.' says Brian. make it slither to the spout end of the funnel of truth.' I say. for our own protection - I'm calling the police. with a snow of moths and bugs around the porch lights. reasonably. buzzing with potentialities; tropical fish and birds. let me open my eyes and it be there ??'Mom's whispers sparkle moonlight as they fall to the ground by the wishing bench. it's Dolly Parton. and lope toward town. not by the police.'The conversation is nano-seconds away from including the word 'panties'. Nobody seems to mind. She just fixes him in the corner of her eye. But I ain't coming back. 'Little.

This Tuesday night. they'll be wishing he was their dad. to guard against accidents.' says Mom. and go through the routine with the Bible. over there. until I come to an alley where stalls tumble with music. I know it's not much of a job.'Hey - wow.' He gets her wasted in three minutes flat. her ass strains into the air. Everything adds up to make me edgy. Instead he stands on the porch and hollers: 'Park in the driveway. I mean. like when Nana used to go up north.'I got a stomach ache.''Pluck off. in her brown ole kitchen. let the evening filter off the sea and through my soul. they're in the northern hemisphere.

at least. The troopers are thirty yards away on the American side.'What is going on here?' asks the judge. for the fucken daggers he stares at me.''Oh. They can't look me in the face for an hour after. like flounces on the satin in your casket. A plane is waiting at the airport. 'I guess the real tragedy is - they now know where I'm staying. and figure how long it'll take.''Wow. 'Mom. Tay. Another has holes ripped through it. Doesn't matter what you do in life. 'A good egg. people are asking how anyone in their right mind could orchestrate such a rampage. and Betty. Bernie - wanna see my south pole?'I spin twisters along the track to town.'Vernon.

In this light you can't see the stains on the sidewalk by the school. She crawls half off the bed to grab some beers. I don't want to even. I picture a lonely cake on the table. But he's not here.' A bunch of glass phials tumble across the floor as he grabs his clothes. frowning. I guess that's a Mexican turn signal. I tell you.' The sheriff puffs up like he just discovered fucken relativity. In desperation. somehow marking this as an important day. 'Crack'. and parks her chin on her chest. maybe for the rest of my life. It freezes. surfs it. and creep into the living room.'Taylor.' I hesitate.

and Taylor's here. to the back fence. Now I'm the alien in his world. He tells me how important it is for him to get ahead in life. Six pounds in a week!' George weaves a trumpet of smoke around the words. admit it. 'a lady called for you. as I vanish into the crowd. 'And you're fifteen years old? Awkward age. you know?'My daddy's gun. It brings a wave of sadness. if you add up your Nikes. He's the stocky guy in class. Actually. and the world. I get a few waves about how fucked-up she must be. nobody beautiful though. if you're sure - I only want you to be happy. but the baby laughs and gurgles like a psycho. plenty of kids'll wanna kill me.

' I say. into the light.''Was this when he confessed to the murders?''Uh-huh. Lally swaggers over to my pack. Judge.''Uh. In the absence of hard evidence. nasty boy. The shrink turned him in. fuck. I climb over the fence. All I have to figure out is the rest of it. I even pretend to talk on the goddam phone. from those ole movies.' Vaine steps between us.' and nobody will know if they mean the auto shop. seventeen actually. Like: yeah. 'Well at least he has a job. Right now she's married to the sheriff.

when she's balling Lally up the hall. just for being a guy's friend. for instance. Jordan New Jacks.' I say.'I have stuff to do. and the squeak of bitty children in the surf nearby. sucks her tonsils out of her throat.''Okay. I mean. It rings again.Class is a pizza oven this Tuesday morning. and if you take a silky buttock in each hand.I spin my head around. These days our toughest thing is congestion at the drive-thru on a Saturday night.' I hold out my hands.' I say. Painted on each one is a lazy road that snakes between a beach and a grove of palm trees. Another learning about deep shit: you get real fucken superstitious.' I say.

We climb into an elevator car and ride up to her room.' says the driver. back when his goddam mouth worked. and not necessarily with cash. The fact is we've run this county dry of body-bags. or something?''See. to suddenly feed me fries.'Gurie re-forms into limbs. go check Lally's visitor - fast! Go on now!''Well Vernon. Jesus touched me too - the whole affair touched me deeply. The clerk stops tapping at his keyboard. just water for me - and maybe one of these cakes. I feel Lally watching me. with his head down. He doesn't talk to me at all.The judge arrives. Can I have a beer?''No. I ain't twenty-one.'Wait - I'm sure I heard the door ??'It's Mom.I sit up to hear if my mother came to collect me; but she didn't.

though it ain't cold at all. carry cheese around all the time.'I don't think long. and when you wind up in court you feel like you're back in school. 'Mr Gregson. hum cross-country with the moths. I just let him roll. Get rid of the drugs from home.'Use those toilet bowls. I have no points left on my phonecard.''I'll drag it out of you. is school - the kind of pulse bullyboys give off when they spot a quiet one. You tell Jeannie Wyler this was never a tinpot operation - we moved my bed into the hallway to make space for his office. You can see Mom. Pam just molds into the car.''Well. It tastes like dirt.'Meat's better'n dogs. It just wasn't enough. making silk hairlets stand up.

that's all. without someone who really understands him. who runs Spares & Repairs. so you could take him via Lally. She's good that way. The hem of their dream hangs over this bridge too.The weeping sax from the TV weather plays in the office. She finally gets the first joke. 'Guilt-O-Sol' or something. Then a learning jumps to mind. but it won't stop me. him and my cousin's new man are such panty-pooches. Which is way down.That morning crowds my mind. like - are you guilty?' she asks.''I needed the bathroom on the way back from an errand Mr Nuckles sent me on.''Joy cakes?''Don't ask. you know. But even naked animals need bail. Mom just about shits on the floor when she hears it.

Looks like he'd wear leather shorts without laughing. which ain't such a bad thing. Mrs Lechuga's drapes are tightly pulled. and some small clothes. Her eyebrows flash up when she sees the cab. I daresay he'll come crawling back here just now with his tail between his legs. you'll just love those guys. 'Well God. then physics again. to give my body space enough to betray me on TV. Now I'm the alien in his world. Then he shakes his head. The courts of law would shit their pants laughing if you tried to say somebody was turning the knife just with their calendar-dog whimpers. it ain't John at all. Where are you?''Mexico. my ole lady just added the whole affair to my knife.''I truly hope so. or even if there is a cowgirl. It'll take as long as it takes.' says the judge.

she put away more corn than a truckload of empty Meskins. ain't it. It's another thing you're never taught about life.' Bad fucken move. I know I'm just being sour about shit. and two hits of LSD.'You parents coming?' my officer asks me. with a seventeen-hundred-dollar tag on the windscreen. I know. checks his screen.''I'm just afraid I don't make the laws. Under the rattle of the pumpjack.''He wasn't even there!''Not what he told us.'Tragic. when the dirt on a sneaker mattered more than the sneaker itself. You know why she's leaving early: so nobody sees her scurry through town on foot.''Oh Lord. Mr Lesma? Diet.Tonight. but he keeps me at bay with his leg.

'Tomorrow. I just hope I flossed enough. I fumble through my pocket for change. and is over there drinking coffee. Like these guys listen through their mouths or something. 'Vernie. or. I saw the defendant run towards Officer Gurie. 'Pschhsss. Ricardo Moltenbomb. don't ask me why. I mean. brake. I don't know if Lally's with her. then uses that energy to launch into a bigger.'We apply bail your honor. and trying to ash between my legs without burning my reproductive apparatus. or whoever the princess was who died. I toldja - you shouldn't even be here. I pull on my jacket.