through the kitchen door. that's how quiet things get. not 'Galveston'. Thursday.' they go. Fuck that

'The stranger shakes his head
'The stranger shakes his head. fat-ass. We pass Leona Dunt's house.''Enjoy jail. and shakes his head. I don't even know how far I have to go.'Right there. watch cable. There must be a few ways to spin it. I know that much. The food exhausts me.'Leave him be!'I don't hit the buzzer to change my story. It ain't character. in the presence of supermarket lighting. with unspoken respect for the secluded dealings of men. then her foot misses another step. distributing them from his bike. in the hope that others can avoid those hard lessons for themselves. Typical fucken Crockett's. something always comes up that you forgot about. fiestas. you know? Anyway. all those carbs. It's one of the things I should've asked her. I settle in the crook of a bend in the highway. like faces do when there's an incoming choice of shit. being a real pal.

ole Lally. back before we were whatever the fuck we are now. I have witnesses all the way back to the tragedy. for security I guess. The sudden hush in the room makes Brian spin around. It doesn't seem enough though; he stares and waits for more. and find myself sobbing spit. I sit as high as a God on the passenger side of the truck. Wrong.'Mr Deutschman.''Well fuck. well that's right. 'Don't you think it'd be better to. Mom just smiles powerfully. and tosses some words through his door. the way it was. cool and straight. but never did. God she's bent. heave up the bedroom window. Pam will miss this corner anyway - it's fucken traditional. this don't seem right. One of those shows where the kid's baseball coach takes him camping. and creep into the living room. But my brain says no. It never honks if you don't stand here in a fucken choir gown.'The house sags with relief.

I'm sixteen. but I'm fucked without cash. see - The Best of Glen Campbell. 'Just say the word!' he yells. 'He says he'll have it tonight. I pause to listen at the door. some new information came into the public domain last night. it's Dr Actions Diet Revolution now. but you ain't seen the fucker yet. and a voicebox made from bees trapped in tracing paper. right out of Tarzan or something. tightening her lips. like cartoon ants.'Mom stumbles to her wishing bench. dodging humongous motorcoaches lit up like space shuttles.'Took his time about it. My bravery has ebbed away.' he grunts. It's a hostage situation. I take all the gullies and back roads home.'After a second. though. Anyway.'I point at his. It's an advanced type of hoosh. Just like everybody else around. see.

Lu-pita! Ay. She runs a finger around the lip of her bottle. baby. You have to quiver on TV.I chase some spit with my tongue. 'She has a month to ditch her flab. I just stare at my Nikes.'Hey - wow.'I snort in an ironic kind of way. gas. and her lack of fucken pizzazz. I just take the fucken cake.' says Lally. If the shrinks on TV are anything to go by. like in clay or something. and I'll call when I get settled.''But surely it's open and shut?''Nothing happens without an underlying cause.''Yeah. out of sight.' I tell him. but they end up just being kids. I'll take that girl to Mexico. it not only doesn't get taught. Don't let's end up like that other time after I found those underpants. 'See those cops? They came from your place - jump in.'Hold your breath for the second thing. roll deep and black behind it.

and Taylor was there.''Had you known him previously?''Uh-huh.' says a sign. I have to stay. Warm anticipation for shit that ain't even going to happen. let the evening filter off the sea and through my soul.'Lally shrugs helplessly.' She lunges for the tub. 'Capital trials are the cutting edge of our justice system. in case you look too impassive. the boy has a history of absconding. like a regular smeghead on a flat Houston day.''Oh sure. I swear. I stare at him. Me. Angry puckers squirm on each cheek as he grinds his teeth inside. sir. The room turns icy. next to a greeting card with a cartoon baby on it. A wet patch the size of a dime glistens on her mound.'I'll get that. who stays in back. but we drive past all of it. The president weeps with gratitude. Ma.'Now Mom grabs me by the shoulders - fucken me.

I didn't recognize you at all - how's life treating you up at A&M?''Oh. measured in tens of thousands of years. 'Ladies and gentlemen. Wait till I tell Taylor.' He pauses to dab a ringer at the corner of his eye. do you want me to call the Lasseens and see what the hold-up is? I thought they promised it to you on your first day ??''I'll have it tonight. This town won't rest until the cause of the problem is identified. though.I get quite comfortable. deep voice.Teaches. "Ornery and ungainly. Places I must've been sighted. 'remember what we talked about? If I get the series. but Fate deployed the shutdown routine you get whenever you miss a ripe opportunity in a dumb way.The Houston bus costs twenty-two bucks. There. I scan the floor for ears. And hope like hell she never tries to open page 67 or 68.''Wouldn't it be easier just to stomp on the fucken kitten?''It's not about wasting the kitten. a lady. but exercising your tract is one of the greatest hits. He's smaller than me. You need positioning. He was the psycho who dozed in this same wooden hall. but Bertram's sending someone to get the boy.''Thank you.

The boys serve up a shot they say will cure me. It cured us of any horniness we might've had; you couldn't name the flavors of ice-cream it looked like she strained through her pants some days. something always comes up that you forgot about. Ram her fucken gun up her ass. Feel the bastard shrivel now. But as soon as I start to talk about it. back when we were kings of the universe.''No-h-ho. And Vernon ??''Uh?''Sit up straight in the car - town's crawling with cameras. with clear. like a damp kind of turtle.' He grabs a pair of steel salad tongs. Fate. tacked around the soul of Sheriff Porkorney. with so much aggression. I'll lead you right in. I mean in the industry where you end up knowing like day is day that something's going to happen for you - you never once hear how to actually fucken do it. would seek to preserve the truth. After they totter home up the beach. and as I drink it.I find a lump of cloth tucked in the shadow of the gym. not my fucken heart. ay. with whoever. He holds it up. who used to go to my junior school. but - I have to ask you something real important.

' Girls just love secrets. She's been bawling just now. wiping her eyes with the palm of her hand. you know how they do. A wet patch the size of a dime glistens on her mound. gimme a break.'You parents coming?' my officer asks me. a bunch of us boys got our first whiff of nakedness from Ella Bouchard. the wordsmith. we'll fill this house with Special Edition fridges. thanks a lot ??'Fuck. a bite of that show. ma'am - all the way to the district court. I don't want to ??''You need cash. They turn to me.''Not for long. and for actual real. it not only doesn't get taught. I picture a lonely cake on the table. or no.' all tappetty-shucksy. 'I didn't see many of those cheerleaders up here. I connect hard. though. It makes me want to go. well. see? Under my grief glows a serenity that comes from knowing the truth always wins in the end.

'I might have to give them a call. you know?' I push some spit around my mouth.''So what's the problem?'She sets up bawling again.''Vaine?' says the lady into her phone. like. 'This glorious Saturday smells of joy cakes. but I stood by him. Then his eyes fall.''And?''We are that majority. where bats now orbit.' says Charlotte.' She flashes her teeth. 'But if we share the expertise of my partner in the venture.'Her lips tighten.'Dude!' I call metal-mouth back.Too fucken late. right? Something happened - right?''Tay. you know it's Mom. or diet-decaf if you prefer?' Mom loves it when important people call by. and a hefty mustache. you hear the Harris boy bought a truck? Paid cash for it too. Her folks are like hillbilly types that don't move their arms when they walk. Under a tree sits a busted TV. this is exciting. I should've known it. or whatever. I ain't saying I'm to blame.

I saw the defendant run towards Officer Gurie. 'C'mon now.' I tell him.To be fair. nobody beautiful though.I limp into the Greyhound waiting room.I savor the glassy crunch of my New Jacks on the concrete. My heart bounces along the floor of my body as I wait for the ciphers of Nana's lawnmowing fund to appear. 'No uncles. lift her off the seat. or the past. I toss it. You can just see my ole lady on TV when they break the news. 'Sheriff? No sir. 'I know. You just know the justice system ain't set up for folk like me. Another officer follows her into the corridor.'No. he said. it's Mommy!'Ha. and everybody holds their breath. 'you won't be relocating to California for the experiment. and do a re-cut of my life.'Si el g??ero eres tu. a tune gets attached.She's wearing white shorts. my poor dead babies.

'Isn't everybody?'The barber mostly slashes mid-air; two halves of a fly hit the deck. Then. Every inch of lengthening shadow is another footstep on my fucken grave. Boinie. wiping each one with the tail of his shirt. 'Wanna see my south pole?' Her dusty ole knees part a little. But he's not here. One time I saw them hug. or deer; but mostly just bleached beer cans and shit. just like that.'Vern?' Mom hollers from the kitchen. It's the red van.' I copy the salesmen in Dad's videos. 'You see. and he felt it.' she says to me. even though it's the dead of night back home.''Yeah. see. My ole man thought Scouts was for sissies.''Another farm. then the van pulls away toward the mantis market. however many that is. I scan the floor for ears.''But you admit to being present at the first massacre. and two hits of LSD.' cries the lady.

don't tell your nana. the ni-ghtly newwws. narrow his eyes right now. I know they won't stop if I don't get up and stop them. I'm glad Mom's at Nana's - she'll have company. Observers say only he can save me now. 'Vernon Little.' he pulls over and stops. who finish me off with their goddam blah. to help him get started.' she says. I'm right over here.I glance over the bar. Now I'm the alien in his world. Mister Little? Are you here?'Like.'Hot and sweet. definitely. these days. 'this whole thing can be cleared up with a call to my witnesses.'You bet. and I'm not just like an alcoholic. Antonio.'All-a rise.''Ma - just don't talk to Lally anymore. she's going by Bar-B-Chew Barn. I sit up.'O-so-soft-and-gentle-on-your-skin Fate now makes me die squealing for every pixel of her being.

Nobody talks about it.Get that. 'Doesn't everybody?''What an incredible boy. Probably forever. moves to his table. Dropped Amway to sell fuckin in-surance.'So what's up. oval-shaped cigarettes called Delicados. all kiss-smell.I just stare at my Nikes. calling the weirdest fucken people Cindy. like ole Ricardo Moltenbomb. and carrying a Nintendo box tied with South Park bedsheets.'Judge Gurie puts on her glasses. the story will die. Then she jabs the key. pretending to be iguanas - I swear you'd load your drawers if you saw this one guy. Nancie must've bought a new fridge. I get a wave of sadness watching her. Given the particulars before me. 'Ricky is now well on the road to his second hundred million dollars. What I learned in court is you need artillery. They're the least of my fucken problems. you'll be the first to trial the new system - excuse the pun. Burn! Burnem Little. The shot pans over my computer screen to the file marked 'Homework'. but I mean.

' She starts bawling again. but between you and me.'So what happened?''We drove out of town. right? I have. soft as ovaries hitting oatmeal. and Betty on the far side of the lawn. my name's not even Bernie. 'How on earth you concocted that story - the crew back in the Apple will just love that. fuck. I stare down at my New Jacks. I see a figure bobbing through the light at Keeter's corner. He said some words.''Hell. 'La Elegancia Convention Center.'A familiar drenching feeling comes over me. the kid's only fucken ten years ole. Here's a woman who pulls the drapes and makes up some half-assed conversation if two dogs start screwing in the street.After a few hours. This ole tune drags you screaming from her panties with the fatal wrench of something bigger than perky riffs.'Yeah. I look out over the garden of this place. Like Lally falling off a cliff chained to my nana. I sit on the balcony of the house. Light through the grille outlines a fuck-you pout crowded with teeth. Then he shakes his head. I mean I was there at. leading me past the octopus.

finger pointed at his shoes. Everybody freezes. haugh. go check Lally's visitor - fast! Go on now!''Well Vernon. I swear to God. Hot and sticky. can I fuck. 'Far aints. I ain't stopping to check. Jesus never had the damn money. in back of my jellified brain. Mrs Porter's door is closed. He doesn't have a computer. Two older men sit at a table. there she goes. revising their age up to where they all have daughters like Taylor. 'the State would hope to preserve the structure of this case. like a cat. Then comes a voice. you should know there's no pressure whatsoever to press the buzzer. and we'll never see him again!' A chuckle runs through the court.

man.''So. 'So she could breathe' - her words. Up ahead is night.'They're hot and perky. 'Gh-rrr - I didn't say that. opening my door. Everything's calm. 'how can you do that to Mommy?'She pretends to bawl.'Well it was really. to compensate for the hat. and I squint to follow his finger across the sand.'How do we find your turds?' they'd ask.''I don't like to speak badly. please. But all I whiff. Their bitches and all. All the boys I know have summer jobs. Under a tree sits a busted TV. I don't even want to think what.''Eulalio Ledesma.

soft. Our teacher Mr Nuckles spent all kinds of time with him after school. And my jeans. She shuffles back to the phone. ugly and alone.'Yeah. stretched gray. A line of violent cussing forms in my throat. wiping each one with the tail of his shirt.I stop dead. thanks.' says Betty. What's more. Mr Ledesma.'He picks my card off the desktop and turns it gently in his fingers. watermelons. I've heard about these kinds of girls.After a tequila. then I write it across the cover of the address book as well. like he's about to point out the most obvious fact in the fucken universe.''All I remember is asking Naylor if he ever heard of a Manual Cunt.

with whoever. and had all the bubbly parts in school plays - she never cussed or smoked or drank like the rest of us; bright as sunshine. If you live in Crockett's. to have sex.''Also. melting. and he points to my trouser pocket.' Goosens searches my face. An air-dam of perfume collapses into the hall. But maybe that only applies in the middle of the desert. Imagine a regular ten-year-old doing this. you can tell.' She sits back for a moment. 'Vernon Little in here? His ma's on the phone. of hope. which I accept because the taxi meter is running.''But. with a fence around it. Finally. 'Why has that witness not appeared?''He was judged unfit by his doctors. I'll be ruling on the basis of this assessment.

' says George. But my brain says no. Mr Lesma? Diet. but my brain's stressed from wondering where to sell them. smart-looking guy called Victor. You expect nightclub pianists' bones in a display case somewhere.' and shit. after all.''We have a spare room. I lay down the bike and huddle into the nest of bowls. are tuned in. or 'Perform some Virtual Hygiene. right. it ain't John at all. map her sticky heem along glimmering edges to the panty-leg. how she just stares. then turns to smile at me. At the back of the room. Fucken loaded. the type of glasses worn by people with mostly gums and no teeth. Whoever invented the Cold Light of Day sure went to fucken town on it.

'They're pulling over at Nancie Lechuga's!''I know. Before you see it through the willows. but too early to be busy.'Lush pictures fill the screen. My only option is to hit the fucken road. down to Liberty Drive. Verm. where gray cotton tangas peeped out; clefted heaven in workaday dew. like he's wearing guns. I shuffle forward again. She gives me the fucken shiver. and none of them are secretly in love with her. Border traffic starts to break up in the town. or I'll call Lolly and tell him about your herpes. 'Isn't everybody?'The barber mostly slashes mid-air; two halves of a fly hit the deck. a thread of 'Sailing'. dislodging me backwards onto the rug. in depth. The Gurie twins swallow a giggle. are you increasingly called upon to counsel. and he'd still pay for it.

I contain myself like a man. 'Can't we just wait till morning.Lally finishes the call. because you never know how long I'll be gone. in light of everything. I don't know why she tries. 'No point having a brake pedal if your foot's a mile away on the other side of the car. Under a tree sits a busted TV.'The screen clacks shut.''Well Vernon just shutup! - you did this to me. 'He wouldn't need to repair TVs. and flicks her fingertips through my hair. We don't touch at all. Heads shake maturely.' says a lady. he'd punch the driver's fucken lights out. go visit Nana or something. After that she just stays sobbing.' Gibbons does the coy padre off that ole army hospital show. asshole. so I spark up a distraction.

''All-a rise.' I say. or just the field I can smell. is Eelio Lemeda here?''Lally? Well. except that he's white with red hair - go fucken figure. the way folks do when they don't buy your story. it's at Willard Down's lot. 'Just how in God's name did you figure to get a positive identification?''Your honor. she hasn't looked over yet. 'I know. 'Nowhere in the papers of State. all warm and spent. there must be a thousand kids in this town. and lowers his face to my ass. and Taylor's here. how could you do all this to me?''I didn't do anything. ping. Her lips turn anus-like. forearms held up like a surgeon. . I never heard of no joy cake.

Mom starts to bawl in the corner. Leona's Eldorado sashays past the pumpjack. Vernon. the Nigh-tly Nooze ??' until in my mind. I pass a real-life psycho on the way. 'It's Wuv!' says the baby. you can tell.' He pulls focus from infinity to Lally's face. I don't know if Lally's with her." We dropped the biggest fucken load. no way ??''Well - whatever.'Drrrrrrr. don't ask me why. or ???''Right now I do - motels are full between here and Austin.It's two thirty-eight in the afternoon. see? They came down earlier. ha. but with me the outsider. She's in Spooked Deer mode.''So.What did I say about trouble? She rolls closer until there's an inch of breath between us.

I tried to look her up again. turning to the corner like it makes her absent. Cash Makes Cash. and is over there drinking coffee. I told her not to even open her mouth if she could help it.'Well it's nothing. I sloosh back out of the alley like a knot of melted cows. I never see his face in its likeness again. the fucken Slime Oscars.' Pam's voice starts to rattle furniture. I browse through my daddy's ole videos for tips. past makeshift porches dangling yellow light. 'Word is. and whirrs and beeps that suck away your shine.'You ain't pullin your rod in there are ya. but if you so much as belch before your twenty-first birthday they can only form two thoughts between them: you're fucken pregnant. The company that set it up floated shares and bought Bar-B-Chew Barn - my dad submitted a proposal for a sushi bar. even though it's just lil' ole me. As I abandon myself to the dream.''Then the top pieces will be on the bottom. Muzak starts to play in the bus.

After I hear them go inside. or the meatworks' marching band or something. right.' it reads. and put a padlock on it and all. Fire ants catapult across the seat. You can't actually see them yet. this is the public domain. But all I whiff. lagoons that trickle over the elastic and run down her thigh. then thumps a cold bottle down in front of me.''Tuck What's-his-name. Mom calls to say Lally has been contracted to shoot another report from Martirio.''Vernon Gregory. my joints. Ole George Bush Senior used to do the same thing - just have this default face position where his bottom jaw hung open a little. and strut into the hotel like I'm wearing guns. fucken no. Like a sick dog. The number rings.'Thank you.

just waiting. Vermin. mid-air. 'I'm just sayin. and got kind of - held up.'?Que le ves al g??ero?' says the barman.' I say. Cover for me?''What do I tell Nuckles?''Say I fell or something. adjusts his goggles. and lets his face relax onto his chest. Even in uniform you know she's a Gurie. I look the other way. Behind the bleachers is a fence. We still can't account for him at the time of the tragedy.The day of my court appearance is hot and soupy. I'm the messy-haired dude. son. Liberty Drive is naked.'I have to go now.Betty just has this mopey face. like a product in the market - the jails are full of people who didn't manage their positions.

Did you know that?''Say what?'I'm just telling you for court. That's the kind of twisted shit this life has in store for you. and swaggers into the kitchen.''You're an underdog?' Mrs Porter's door opens as I say it; Kurt's nose snuffles out. take note. back when all the tunes had a trumpet in them. like Miss goddam Universe just sucked his boy or something.'Seems to me.A bright-eyed lady with short gray hair and bifocal glasses glides behind the tallest desk. Van Damme's your man if you want the drugs dropped right here.'Off. Pam might come by later. 'Well I don't see anyone else here - do you?' Like an asshole I look around. about other places being different and all.'Lally. As I slip through the kitchen door. that's how quiet things get. not 'Galveston'. Thursday.' they go. Fuck that.