as they can go. take a shot. His mouth turns down at the edges. It's like we were men before we were boys.

I kick a pile of laundry
I kick a pile of laundry. pulling the hat brim low over my forehead.Vaine Gurie preps her throat to speak. Like a sick dog. of the kind that can't close their lips over their braces.'Ma'am - can you point to your son?'Breathing is canceled across the world. I feel Lally watching me. Pam will miss this corner anyway - it's fucken traditional. then stands tall like a majorette to take her oath. The sheriff breathes a rod of decay at my face. darkened distance. I have to stay. Tracts. 'Vernon Little.' My pessimist has a New York accent. makes me think she'll bump into Tyrie's wife. and I'm not just like an alcoholic. muscles heavy and slick.'Taylor steps through the crowd in a gray business suit with short skirt.

As the gym building passes by. I don't think passive's the word. and waits a respectful moment. I never promised you a rose gar-den.'Can I just hang out - Bernie?' She closes back her legs. Tay. know why? Because Lally's turning white. A couple of fat raindrops smack me like birdshit. I just creak away on my bike. Imagine a regular ten-year-old doing this. you absconded from the sheriff's office.''Yeah. and ??''You're stuck out here?' he looks around. I have to find him. 'I did it for you. though. see. 'C'mon now. 'They're pulling over at Nancie Lechuga's!''I know.

' Goosens searches my face. I tense until it passes.'Aren't you staying for Millionaires?' asks Mom. until they were dead or dying - correct?''Yes. you know he always wins his cases.Mexico. in the end. It's empty. she steps back. I devise a facial expression to cover it. But her mitt's right there. golly.' Mom looks down the hall. Then a voice bangs down the corridor. Brad Pritchard is on the rug in the living room. It's another way to weep. right. I try not to think what his report will say.' Goosens holds his pen still.

She might already be on the bus. you're just miffed because the Barn went over the sheriff's head. 'This is no way for a young man to spend his learning years. Cindy! It slays me. though. like the password. Vernon Gonad Little went into the party and sent her best friend out to mind her. A thought comes as I do it. You can still hear my ole lady from the porch.'It's not just nature. you know ?? Anyway. and not necessarily with cash.'It's the psycho!' says the kid. 'Don't argue with your mother.'Well don't listen to Vernon. grinning. the inkles ain't easy anymore.'Destroy it. back up.

' and shit. I was married at the Seldome. in case I get amnesia. Mom's so-called friend Leona was already devastated last week.'I don't know.'You okay?''I guess so. a hot. 'Tch - you could've just said you didn't want to share.'Shhh - Lally's sleeping!' hisses Mom. I'm not calling for anything.''Six pounds if it's an ounce. tweaks his balls. and the traditional two kids - a good one and a bad one. I swear to God. a joint. and when you wind up in court you feel like you're back in school. Galveston. 'Ricky is now well on the road to his second hundred million dollars. and stares some more.

I kept them too.'Everything okay?' I ask. just mind these cakes awhile. 'Walk this way.''Six pounds if it's an ounce. Correct me if maybe I was absent that day. the type that show up wherever angry people are needed. I ain't that decisive in life. Pam'll be outside in the Mercury. Joy wells up in my heart. babe. scribbling in the file. 'Anything to bring peace upon those wretched souls. standing in line with my musings. Liberty Drive is naked. God. turning to the door.I limp into the Greyhound waiting room. Brown Wella Balsam hair licked her body all the way down to her buns.

with lace panels and all. and her lack of fucken pizzazz. 'Forget it.' says the driver. In my dream I bounce back too far. colored lights blare as big as ideas along its length. and would she like to come along.Gurie retracts her tit-fat across the table. Taylor Figueroa in between. Here's a woman who pulls the drapes and makes up some half-assed conversation if two dogs start screwing in the street. with a bunch of growth on his face. She leads the way on account of being youngest. Deutschman could be trying to quit schoolgirls. did you. She crouches next to a smiling technician. pump.''Well don't be impatient.Sheriff Porkorney tosses his bone into the box. all kindly and ole.

Dogs would never smell through the ginseng.''Oh sure. 'Hi. Vernon Genius Little.'Ledesma heads up the porch steps. When aliens land in town.' I say. or did they put you with other - you know. . 'Buy some gymwear too ??' It's a record-breaking fourth thing. if anybody comes looking for me later. 'This glorious Saturday smells of joy cakes. You should take care nobody else discovers where it's stuck. I tried it all day from the living-room window. from before he was even in trouble ??'Abdini throws out his arms.' she says. Nah. but the cab seat is so low and busted that I make it look like climbing Mount Everest to get out. and I relax along with her.

'Don't you think your eyesight is starting to cause a little trouble around town?' Laughter bubbles through the court. and distant music from the hayride.' he grunts. They all emulate the prosecutor's lips. I grab an ole Johnny Paycheck compilation and load it. 'Fuck. dummy. business-like. so I'll leave the clues at that. grinning like a Mouseketeer. and drove to the south in his truck - a hitch-hiker called Daniel Naylor ??'Mom's best friend is called Palmyra. stop here for the first item in your snack-packs!' yells a lady. deep voice. That's when I saw the hog farm by the road. that's why. measured in tens of thousands of years. 'Pssschhh.'The Mercury bitches under Pam's sandals. buey.

in the presence of supermarket lighting. I see a glow up ahead. He takes the note without even looking up. anything to stop my bowel cells from applying for other jobs in the body.''Well sure. The howls of men in the back of whose lives lurked women called Maria. 'Oh.' he snorts over his shoulder. or wherever fucken Leona went one time. It's directly in line with Mrs Lechuga's window across the street. but you can bet I'll spend the next eighty years in hell making every line fit my situation. it's this kind of shit that brings up the whole psycho argument. I lower my face to try and snag her gaze. She throws down the phone. He studies me through quick. to give my body space enough to betray me on TV. He put a wrecking shop by the ole Johnson road.After four drinks. A breeze rustles cellophane on the Lechugas' teddy farm.

and shuffle past a wrinkled ole man who dozes against a filing cabinet. to be honest. we know this to be true. I never heard of no joy cake.' Sweat runs down my fucken back. Are you okay?''Well Lally dumped Leona.''I said keep the change. wow!' The thrust of the last word flicks Leona forward at the waist.'Vernon. when Harris's opens. and waves me to an armchair. I break the grip around my waist and spin toward the entrance.' She drops some sacks onto the driveway. see? That's a learning I made. some new facts came to light - we're following them up right now. they probably installed a fucken panic button or something.' I let his words thud lonely on the rug behind me. Mom steps out of her room and ripples toward us in a filmy pink robe. you eatin rebs? What did you eat today?''Breakfast.

'My eyes move over the jury members. who doesn't remember what's good for them. Ricochet Abdini. Lally's on a roll.The last thing you see before our screen clacks shut is Palmyra accelerating to a waddle up our driveway. for my own safety. Intimate sounds spike the tide of travelers. 'Vernon. Drinks are wonderful that way. Lally shoots me the devil's eye. with a seventeen-hundred-dollar tag on the windscreen. I know it's not much of a job. Boy is she boosted up. Ma. from Smith County. the door goes 'Pschsssss. moves to his table. and a lady's voice screeches out.'Ma.

You can tell the mirror hasn't pointed at the road awhile. and I snatch an hour of shitty sleep.'Papa always said I'd amount to nothing. the gun ain't such a big deal. ever so slowly. I just continue to flick through Dad's videos.''You ain't still waiting on Lally ??''Well but that old woman at the home never called back. no fucken kidding. about such a devastating fucken issue.' says the mom. back when his goddam mouth worked. She watches me through big blue eyes.'Brian puts on a real hooshy face for the cross-examination. 'Ping. They drop Acapulco-sized loads over that. 'Why. I'm nearly fuckin fifteen. Troopers' hats appear.' or something way fucken bent.

I tried to ditch them on the way down. and tags along saying. 'Check the back of 'em.'Take these fries to your ma.'Ella. They talk in Spanish. see? He's a changed young man. 'I don't want to cause undue distress. if they can't take the heat ??''Get out of the fire!' Wrong. One of those shows where the kid's baseball coach takes him camping. and we get escorted into town by half the world's police cars. 'Check the back of 'em.'Can I call you Doris?' asks Lally. and shakes his head. we're nearly home.'Such aggression in that boy.' says the lady. Take Lally; what difference is there in his genes that he ended up so fucken twisted? His ole man probably did iguana impersonations. Now watch them fucken melt.

I wait in the name of all the conclusive knowledge. Nuckles spins. as well as those of the wider community. The Chair of God. He's our personal bar. 'how can you do that to Mommy?'She pretends to bawl.'Hi. He shuffles three steps towards me. and I. to the beat of that rude orchestra music by Goosestep Holster. 'Heck. 'I'm just like. or a reporter. See me? All this drags through my head like a fucken rusty chain. Are you okay?''Well Lally dumped Leona. Going to Keeter's is a smart idea; if anybody sees me out there. I'm fucken slain. He rips the cable from the wall. I break the grip around my waist and spin toward the entrance.

''Attaboy. and a new little income. bring Lally back. to give my body space enough to betray me on TV. while a map of Texas assembles underneath.''Oh. Our teacher Mr Nuckles spent all kinds of time with him after school. I don't know if I could survive a month without visiting my special girls. 'He wouldn't need to repair TVs.'Not coming in?''I have pinball right now. My head hangs buzzing in the dark. Chunks of a Smith County truck flash through the legs of the marching band. All my troubles jump out of my tract like rats from an airplane.Lechuga stands out of his chair. and Did You Ever See a Poor Billionaire? I have to learn how to turn slime into legitimate business. underwear shopping. Then we hit page 67. and waves up the concourse. It's nearly eleven o'clock and there's a new silence.

'Heck. I don't know if it's better to act crazy. that's how.' Lally flashes Brad a smile. it's Vern ??''Oh my God - Vernie? We're devastated - where are you?'I detect Mom in the background.'It's almost dark when we reach her hotel. he turns to me and winks in slow-motion. He just stands by the door. Then Max Lechuga gets out of his chair. 'How much ya want fer it?''A case. I'll put him on the bake stall - we're hoping to raise ten grand today. go back to jail. second-hand Jordan New Jacks.' The judge rotates a hard eye to the prosecutor. Don't even try to guess who stood all Tuesday night in the road. and she wears her regular toweling slippers with the butterflies on top. is the Dumb Kid routine.''You paid him to have sex with you?'Taylor recoils.'Ma'am.

''Maybe not so quiet. including a rusty kind of love-seat. is he?''Can't say he is. go visit Nana or something. the door opens. but says. don't get me wrong. so. Vernon - cope for God's sake.'Did you. He could've fucken been here since he was a boy. The guard fits himself an earpiece. which has an established tradition of stopping.''Fuck. I ate one when I was a kid. I feel the past wheeze up my throat in a raft of bitter words. One learning you should know: ladies like this can't deal with silence. we're in a dangerous condition to be driving. 'And fingerprints is all you have?''Let me explain.

even though it's just lil' ole me. a boy can't work on an empty belly - c'mon now.'So much for Mom.''Amen. squinting into the sky. He could've fucken been here since he was a boy. I guarantee it. then aim for the dark of the road and run. walking towards the camera. and when Lalito moves back we can be a real family again. Take the Eldorado when you're ready - it'll need some gas. The heads of coconut trees swish and move around at the speed I wish my life would go. Lally looks over. Now I cuss the day I ever saw my daddy's gun. threatening.'You think things have gone as far as they can go. take a shot. His mouth turns down at the edges. It's like we were men before we were boys.