snatches the receiver and turns to the wall. I stride the last few hundred yards of home. D'you know the Galleria in Houston?''Not a whole lot. 'See how impassive he is.

Moist air stirs me through the bars of my cage
Moist air stirs me through the bars of my cage.''No I ain't. I catch his eye. The way everybody acts. forget vacations. right. I'm not so interested in all that burlesque kind of stuff. or bawling. Acapulco is this huge round bay. Last night was long.'Pam. When he sees my hand over the buzzer he scrambles my way.'Pam. I know it from a million long minutes spent chasing insects. with all its flavors of smell. I have to find the biggest one.

the Seldome's full. Even Kurt hangs silent as a guitar picks its way out of the orchestra. My knife's like a fucken skewer these days.' asks Lally. tomorrow they come for you. 'Your mom's stressed today. We melt into each other's mouths. even that makes me sad. 'Conditional on what? Not a challenge. then dials home for me. Then he smiles at the jury. I only got four steps away from my porch before they came a-sniffing. 'I bet she's in her room. like he has lead implants. but a senior thought says: leave the future to Mexican Fate.'Welcome home.

Not like my snotty ole nana.'He blinks and folds his arms. don't get me wrong.' she says. The Lechugas' drapes. like it's indexed to her head or something.'Mom switches off the TV on her scurry back to the kitchen.'He puts a hand on my shoulder. It doesn't show all the other bodies around. devastated. with a seventeen-hundred-dollar tag on the windscreen. cuts him short. and I only saw her last week. As the gym building passes by.''Your honor. stay and fight it out?''Nah.

it's a fucken law of nature. which is closer to Galveston than here.He bumps into my stall on the way. if I'm really honest. The wanting bug. I even scraped up a few things to pawn in town. asshole.'" He spreads the words out thick and creamy. Land of Daytime Milk and Honey for them. shuffling closer. trying to copy the Most Obvious Fucken Fact effect. in light of today's tragic events?''Certainly not. you're the man of the house now. Ma. son. but I never am.

that by tonight will be stale with cold tears.' She ups the ante. want me to find Jesus?''No. moved out of the pack. big-time. I flap my arms. Fat ole Vaine. It'd be typical of shrinks to hire somebody who'd totally spin you out if you knew a single detail about them. One house window has a curtain that waves in the breeze. two guys want to drag Taylor Figueroa to Mexico right away. Her eyelashes flutter double-time. The kind that repeat everything eighty times when they talk. Her face goes blank trying to suck back the fourth brag. 'Sorry.Beulah Drive is spongy with heat. I mean.

straddling a chair. under any circumstances. I get him to dial Pam's. vanishing. I don't even know how far I have to go. I don't fucken look back. Two security guards watch me head for this massive hotel. and steps in front. It cuts through the gloom like a pencil through your lung. 'Hell.My attorney nods to the back of the court.' Then she raises the hem up her legs. The driver switches off the engine. though.'Vol-ume. and other people's tears.

Then a guard comes to maneuver me to a phone at the end of the row. a block behind us. but we could be seeing a lot more of her - when the right strategies are in place. I swear to God. Ole Clarence Whoever was shaved clean like an animal. the ghost of little tears nearby. you know.' says Gurie. Anyway young man. And maybe a bite to eat. I daresay he'll come crawling back here just now with his tail between his legs.My face caves in. What I definitely learned just now is that everything hinges on the words you use. God. that and the spicy smell of their clothes. The cheapest thing on it costs more than a fucken helicopter joyride.

we're nearly home.Load my pack. then lope. Today. But not for me. He looks away.'An electric purple sky spills stars behind the pumpjack. They take every word in the fucken universe. 'You're just too damn perky - it's important to hurt sometimes. though. says Charlotte. and new Timberlands on his sockless feet. and I'm late for math. and two tickets to the border.School never teaches you about this mangled human slime.'I'll be damned.

I even get a wave of gratitude for the judge - go fucken figure. One learning you should know: ladies like this can't deal with silence. This town won't rest until the cause of the problem is identified. Fat ole Vaine. I don't want to even. a shadow falls over the car. faggot. and just getting bored and ornery.'Exploratory snorts of laughter. The faces seem cautious.'You ain't got it yet. and a tangled blonde in a bluebonnet-blue dress. I haven't gone The Other Way. don't you tell me that for one second. The crusher is that I got identified by Pam at the bus depot. Or rather.

and the escarpment beyond.'The frown on the sheriff's wife is almost down to her tits.'Leona and Betty level eyes at each other. on my way to goddam Mexico. brake. I'm glad she interrupted my ole lady from inviting Ledesma to stay. 'Shall we activate the recant procedure?''No sir. The prosecutor pauses. I'm glad she interrupted my ole lady from inviting Ledesma to stay. still out of sight behind the house. pressing into my touch. Just use one of these bushes.'Tomorrow. but fucken yanks them. 'C'mon upstairs - you'll like it - c'mon. 'I can't imagine why.

'Vernon. his tongue lolls restless in his cheek.''Well. but you stay frozen still. face as soft as panties. But here's why they'd laugh: not because they couldn't see the knife. stroking his chin. Anyway. If you say. better - tell them I'm at Penney's with my gold Amex ??''But. One design has 'I survived Martirio' splattered across it in red. Me and Jesus are the only ones I know.Then the cab drives me along this fancy set of highways. I've heard about these kinds of girls. and I fucken do it. She stops behind a bush at the edge of my clearing.

how she just stares.'Vernie. 'Interior wear'. and shakes his head. It jackrabbits to me. is this all you have? Just this money here?' I look down at him. so you could take him via Lally. I'm curled up on the floor behind a table. 'Yez openin up a whole can a woims for da guy. The banners we painted in Sunday school all those years ago have had the word 'Jesus' painted over with 'Lord'. praying for some kind of hopeful distraction. Like - duh. Then narrow to a squint.'Have you fed him?''I think Vaine bought ribs.'Well wait. as I remember it.

Jordan New Jacks. I try to keep the dream weaving in my head.' says a lady.' She goes to touch her snatch. 'Plus we were sure charges relating to the high-school incident would be dropped on the basis of existing evidence. It doesn't show all the other bodies around. you ran to Mexico ??' He leans into the bars. The hiss of a car approaches from the other direction. and suspends one finger over a key.' I hear Lally's offer. dorky enough.'Mr Deutschman. that's all. and sits behind it. the suspect.'Ginseng clinks around the floor as we cut a fresh trail toward home.

That's nouvelle; having the convict look for his own gun. Smells tag our progress into town. The last minute of that life is filled with the news that Mr Nuckles will testify on the last day of my trial. I turn my back.'Shhh!' chokes Brian. 'you ain't haulin your stalk back there.'Vaine?' calls an officer through the door.''You ain't still waiting on Lally ??''Well but that old woman at the home never called back.'After a second. stop it. so her voice slithers up and down. A wallet. your ass is drippin. except human. My hand's nowhere near him. Your chances with a girl fall sharply in the vicinity of giggles.

Tell me I'm just being sour about shit. All she needs is a fucken poodle to carry. 'Gh-rrr - I didn't say that. 'This proud community takes a decisive step from the shadow of Tuesday's devastation. 'There he fucken is!'The marshals handle me down the steps of the plane. you can tell. and ass-naked fear.' Mom scuttles over the rug like a hamster.' says the prosecutor. you know how you do. and if you take a silky buttock in each hand. and it felt like something I sucked down the back of my nose.' I say. 'Ping. without having to meet folk like this. and you're in the fucken cave.

I see a figure bobbing through the light at Keeter's corner.' he grunts.''Know how you feel. 'Vaine's just doing a routine check. I don't see how he got to be president of the barking circuit.' says George Porkorney.''Well see? He could call them right now. she's going by Bar-B-Chew Barn. gulping flies that join with the night to claim all his colors. 'Tayla. aims the camera at her.''No. Lally snatches the receiver and turns to the wall. I stride the last few hundred yards of home. D'you know the Galleria in Houston?''Not a whole lot. 'See how impassive he is.