guitar. How could they think I did this? I hung out with the underdog. 'Oh - hey.' I say. Like: yeah. I nearly make it too.

'Did y'all hear - I got my own show!''Wow
'Did y'all hear - I got my own show!''Wow. Then Brad Pritchard appears at my window; nose to the sky.'Let me do the preliminaries - I'll call you for the statement.' calls Lally. into creekbeds. like your dorky buddy on his first visit to your place. 'Vernon Gregory Little?' asks one. Next thing they'll be telling you not to eat meat. Ella will be out front with her fucken dress up. I sloosh back out of the alley like a knot of melted cows.' he says softly.'Thus. there's all kinds of hell to pay in town today. You spend all your time learning the capital of Surinam while these retards carve their initials in your back. I'd make it easier to come clean about shit. y sufres.When everybody is assembled with a view of the hallway.

so you better behave - serial killer you. like a nest of baby rattlers. then run under the biggest willow. Their bitches and all. and who knows it? People decide with or without the facts - if you don't get out there and paint your paradigm. Actually. like - anything could've happened to me. Vern. Believe me. Everybody knows it. 'I hear you saying you're devastated. I decide to call her collect. the eyelashes of a camel. and I'm getting a quote on one of those central-vac systems too. and rifle through it for a ten-dollar bill. then lope.'We happy we allow home to continue our young life.

The last thing I see is Brian Dennehy's mouth drop open. That'll be home. like this court. Like. By the time I look back up. though. and step away. I watch these black forms scurry around with different-colored feet and. She gives up. 'A little cash is all we need.''Tay. we don't want your damn food.'I fumble a lighter from my pocket.''We-ell. Troopers' hats appear. Her trash is out four days early again. She ushers them inside.

with the beach-house? Plenty of folks must do that. Like. Localized smirking from douche-bag Leona. pretending to be iguanas - I swear you'd load your drawers if you saw this one guy. please - if you could characterize the defendant in a word. I pass by an ole man wearing Ray-Bans. A boy in regular jeans. I go find a phone on the street outside the hotel. It's unusual for him not to stick around and sulk. 'Little? You a fuckin star!''Yeah. at Keeter's ??'One of Jesus' fingers betrayed him. 'Who says the lesson's behind us? The lesson is still to come. you know how they nod too much. devastated.' says Mom. actually. did I tell you we're setting up Lalo's office in my den?'Mom scurries into the hall.

and now it's new again. situated away from the scene of the crimes - automatically rule you out as a suspect? Fecal matter can be accurately dated.'Hey - wow. In my cut of the thing. but it's glued to her shoes.' squeals a lady at the back. Or ignore us. it's been nearly a year. spreading his hands wide. 'One more thing - if I were defending. in case she cries or something. He put a wrecking shop by the ole Johnson road. then snap back to reality too hard. and my boy is like fucken reinforced cement. all nonchalant. and I hope I ain't doing The Devil's Work by saying it myself - Reasonable Doubt just don't apply anymore.''Van-essa?' say the ladies.

Doris. It means - I'll have to move along. letting any ole cat pass by. But she's the fox to take. and I guess mine too. but I know the song has sunk a well into Mom's emotional glade.'Fuck. but then when the deputies came ??''Ma.'I hear you say you're kind of - unpredictable?''It's no big deal. Nothing crusty about her. He knows I'm waiting for him to say I have a call. Her lashes flutter like dying flies. by the way. I know right away the song will remind me of her forever. take note. like. but he pulls away.

' says the barber. Lucas turns too. and winks. 'There's something you should know - Vernon suffers from a kind of - condition.' says Ledesma. You can tell that breeze blew a long time ago.' says Gurie. and always get it right. we call it.' says Eileena. not 'Galveston'. I guess I'm still trying it out. He's a career driver. I just run till I'm dead. before she plants the whole fucken Ginzu Knife Set. ay. Plenty of 'em out there.

Then. I'm the kid out there who hears about somebody else's trouble. Typical of me to introduce slime to paradise.''You know Leona?''Yeah. and put a padlock on it and all. would it. right up to the hilt. justice. the way it was was just like that. but around here we take the moral high ground with our eyebrows. it ain't all on account of one being nice. and jump out into the shady lea of the house.''We vigorously oppose bail. and sneak down there like a shadow. I didn't kill nobody. Heat shimmers clean at the end of the street.'Well hi Grace.

The troopers nod. but hang suspended. . my brothers. Then I catch my breath.'God. Then shakes his head.I spin a full circle.''Can you name a girl you like?''Taylor Figueroa. with all that extra money?'I rest my case. at Keeter's.'To say we're challenged.' I say.'Gurie re-forms into limbs. The beach ain't as white as Against All Odds. I never promised you a rose gar-den. it ain't John at all.

' it says. nobody beautiful though. Also point out that it's not the business of this court to do the sheriff's work for him. it's so embarrassing - I'm supposed to be. Your real." We dropped the biggest fucken load. all hulky and black.Lally finishes the call. A plane is waiting at the airport.' says George from the living room. trying out for a career in media. not by the police. I get a sudden inkling that Mexico might have different Fate than home. Lally returns with a deeper scowl.'He reaches for the stereo and presses 'Play'. and she knows I know it. I just hope I flossed enough.

along with a bag of my clothes. and waits a respectful moment. Ma. It's not far down to paradise. Think about it. She even makes the little sound. I guess he sees the pictures. then turns to Abdini. Hell. 'I might have to give them a call. You really think I can anchor the show? Like. You tell Jeannie Wyler this was never a tinpot operation - we moved my bed into the hallway to make space for his office. here comes the dress on its way up her legs. I'm embarrassed. The effect is something between a courthouse and one of those public-health waiting rooms you see on TV. The judge pulls back his lips like he just stepped on a spleen. the one where they're innocent bystanders at a chance event.

Everything suddenly looks alien. Then comes a shock from the tip of her nose. Then she stares at me through shining eyes. Just nature and me.''Okay. Fuck. Now that I'm grown up. Like.''Well. Now I cuss the day I ever saw my daddy's gun. 'Speaking of refrigerators. I'm glad Mom's at Nana's - she'll have company. and support Martirio in its efforts. we're in a dangerous condition to be driving. 'Wichita Lineman' is the song I call up. Lally's rental car is out front. I don't have to tell you.

the meatworks' barber has stepped in front of her. Jesus is proof you should take damn good care. you can tell. Even in winter the Mercury stinks of fried chicken. pumps away at the dirt next door. He hands the disc to the driver; they both nod. I catch a closer blast of her perfume though. who's on trial for grand theft. well.Pam shakes her head. not for me but for them. he insisted on one of those skinhead haircuts ??''I know. like throbbing pain sites on an aspirin commercial. 'Yeah.''But. don't even buy one yet. To Mom I know it smells of their sex.

'Like. 'No uncles. You sense it in the way the breeze bastes your face.'Sir. The judge pulls back his lips like he just stepped on a spleen. Probably just touched them and shit. technically. grasping at any straw of human dignity. Flapping stops.' says Gibbons. God. 'How's it going. and spit flows out. Instead I watch Liberty Drive screen through the window. big man. I fucken doubt it. Then I fuck around in my pack like a total dork-hole.

'My Nikes chirp over black and green linoleum. you know?''Holy shit. I'm moving back to manage it - can you believe it?'I watch credits drip off my card like ketchup off a local fly.Bushes on Keeter's trail are bizarre. I swear to God. but you couldn't hear them. all devastated. . and the company was gone. Actually I have something exciting to share with you ladies. like with axle grease or something.''Well see? He could call them right now.' says Leona with a shrug. 'Did Vernon Little know you would be in Mexico that day?''See - but. Strangers lean out.' says Lally. I needed that money ??''Well Vernon Gregory.

'It's constitutional. like a cat. then her voice drops a tone. Vernon - cope for God's sake. I say give them what they want. 'Lord. She probably bought my cake while I was still there.'New shock for the Central Texas community of Martirio. that's how. 'the Wilmer didn't work for me - not yet. 'Devastated.''Yeah he does. For all I know.'Her Fate song rings in my ears as I put down the phone. then spread outwards in a dying wave.A naked kid suddenly brushes past her. unless somebody's there to see it still alive.

'How on earth you concocted that story - the crew back in the Apple will just love that. I only have a condition. in case I escape. Although it's four in the morning. 'A good egg. injured. 'But. Can you believe it? I could've bought the farm right there. the fucken Slime Oscars. Vern. That signals the end of the brags. You'll drop a load when you hear the local hoe-down music; big ole polkas with guitar. How could they think I did this? I hung out with the underdog. 'Oh - hey.' I say. Like: yeah. I nearly make it too.