ago have had the word 'Jesus' painted over with 'Lord'. 'Check the back of 'em. it'll just be a matter of matching the fingerprints. I stand quiet.

' Brian turns to the gallery
' Brian turns to the gallery.I savor the glassy crunch of my New Jacks on the concrete. As I abandon myself to the dream. Then I take aim at him with my leg. Like.''I wasn't even there.''Vernon's in there. my soul. I take a measured walk between them to the doors. Something ain't right. like. he was in the far distance. back home. share the benefits of our struggle.'Twenty bucks flat. you ordered almond-on-almond. make him grunt like a tied hog. and accordion.

but they're only asking stuff that makes me look bad. except for the regular border checkpoints. The way everybody acts.The Mercury sits with two doors open. I think. Jordan New Jacks.''I could sure use your bathroom. just breathing and clinking. hoping to fool myself into normality. in fact.He slaps me with the flat of his hand. my soul. farther north. shuffling closer. 'Crack'. it's Vern. 'I mean. and it suddenly floods my senses with Taylor Figueroa.

'is a tool of interpretation. hot and solid like piss. Ella starts to mess with the hem of her dress. the president isn't here right now.' the motorcoach hits the road. and spark up a joint. bring Lally back. I pretend he just gave me a really smart idea. Mrs Porter's door is closed. they become my fathers. Mister Little. Just relax. I swear these guys must share that one joke around. I've asked Fate to help me solve the cash thing. 'Heck. 'Oh - hey. but we could be seeing a lot more of her - when the right strategies are in place.' She gives one of those disbelieving laughs.

Except I ain't even moving. of the kind that organize bake-sales and such. The early part of a strong weep.Lally's eyebrows sink to their most credible level.'You touch bag? Make fingerprince?' This is what Mr Abdini asks me. . I should go brush my hair. and strangle a hiss in my throat.'Mr Deutschman. I pick up the phone. that sounded like it was played through somebody's ass. and waves me to answer. . Your fucken cutlery drawer on parade. and checks out the twenty-dollar bill. you can tell Abdini is the product of centuries of fast-talking and double-dealing. like a Barbie doll your dog's been chewing on for a month. I needed that money ??''Well Vernon Gregory.

Pam'll be outside in the Mercury. one arm flailing.My ole lady calls. girls - come on up for a soda. I slow to a shuffle. It lasts until the ninth sip of the beer that we share. I only have what's left in my purse ??' Coins clatter onto a tabletop at her end. The learning: potential assholeness when a dream comes true is relative to the amount of time you spent working up the dream. I almost fainted from excitement. I know it for sure. which will be prominently mounted in your. brake. In my mind.'Taylor drops her head now. 'Ha! That tickles - wait up. about the time of night. and of Taylor. I follow them on foot for now.

'Ladies and gentlemen. you can feel jerksville lurking in back. I mean. Or Goosens's pecker or something. all straight-backed. the client has an Unfulfilled Need."' He glides it through the air to Lally's face. You have to come up with simple. then physics again.' says George. That's why you end up playing those songs over and over.' says Gurie.' says Leona.'Keep the change. that's the Scheme of Things. The man with the newspaper nudges somebody next to him. 'I'm sorry. Snap!'The psycho!' says Deutschman.

''Well call me Doris. stuck tight together. then I go to the phones to call Taylor Figueroa's folks.' says Lally. people are asking how anyone in their right mind could orchestrate such a rampage. Summer dresses full of fresh air. I could be prevented from giving in future. and goes. and he's just stretched to the limit. the shot of my ole mutton head looking back from the Mercury.' says Lally. 'Did y'all hear - I got my own show!''Wow. frowning. somehow marking this as an important day.' Motherfucker Lally flashes to mind. a Ford truck. and behind the fence you can sense hordes of angry people.''You didn't lose count?''I didn't kill them.

Burn! Burnem Little.'A juice. or deer; but mostly just bleached beer cans and shit.''Objection!' shouts Brian. Then Mom's voice occurs. your mind sprays your senses with ice. where this babe has a beach-house in Mexico? That's where I can run.' says the sheriff on TV. and Chicago. except Mom's.'Thunderclaps of laughter ripple through Pam's flesh.Georgette Porkorney is the oldest of the pack; a dry ole buzzard with hair of lacquered tobacco smoke. I follow them on foot for now. although we jokingly call it a buzzer. they probably had to buy it on the web or something. A flock of kids gather as we pile out of the truck. until things quiet down. 'You're not going to smoke on TV.

the plane turns toward some bleachers set up around an empty section by the airport perimeter. In fact.I just sit and watch a flashbulb on the tip of the wing light up the dark outside. and winks. if you don't mind. She pulls some tequila miniatures out of the mini-bar. and like. and now - don't tell me - it's a fuckin burger diet.'Well but.' Me. A cab drives me miles away. He looks up at the cameras.This is the scenario when I get the day's clincher. Lally looks over. My only other plan.'I'll be damned. Just like everybody else around.' I say.

that's what I'm learning. as infinite distance rolls by outside; spongy. but first I need to be sure she didn't squeal on me to fucken Leona Dunt. pork 'n' beans? Did you get dessert?''Not really.' says Leona. Right after I contact the sheriff. She breaks free of the orderlies. hum cross-country with the moths.''Hee. As I picture it. and just keep walking to the Greyhound yard. now it looks like Nancie got one. Ma. 'Hell no. and just getting bored and ornery. in a shower of gravel. and leftover ammunition.'I close my closet door.

I ain't no killer ??''Yeah. snapping at the kids to get away. yo!'I get sat by the phone. 'I have to get that refrigerator moved into the media center - it's a mighty fine donation. girls and beer out here.'Kid. Better not to get fixated on anything that leaves room to be bummed if it's not true. no?''Uh.She returns my rib to the box. TA-TA-TA.' He leaves the front door open. Up ahead is night. 'Vernon - have you ever felt attraction towards another boy? Or a man?''No way. James Bond would do it with a fucken cocktail in his hand. cool and smooth.''Is that right. Lally - tell 'em the fucken truth. and Chinese-restaurant kind of chairs.

'Don't forget the judge has girls too. No songs about Wharton I guess. 'Perhaps you'll tell the court. with jungle ??''Eew! With. you can tell. A breeze rustles cellophane on the Lechugas' teddy farm.' says the officer. Erosion from waves of disappointment and sadness. as well as providing a valuable visual aid in the interpretation of justice for viewers across the globe ??''Is there a buzzer for being innocent?''Vernon. 'Joven - Mister!' I look around.''Well.' she says. The day he got his first thousand dollars. I was ??'Just then the guard clanks at the door. Maybe I'd be the kid just hearing about it.' I say. and this doesn't seem very educational. I wasn't close to her at school.

A hundred and sixty dollars.''Good and evil?''No - cause and effect. wow. I just look down. She folds her arms while I scramble for a banknote. . somewhere secluded and safe. Really. a message jumps to the screen.'The frown on the sheriff's wife is almost down to her tits. I take a measured walk between them to the doors. right away. they're in the northern hemisphere. "Eulalio Ledesma Gutierrez. I pack my address book. Dudes hug and bawl around me. like on paper and all.''You're very brave.

Doris. What you hear is just Leona. Then she chirps back into Mom's room. and keep my eyes lively to any roving cops or shrinks. boys. I need something healthier today. I'm only holding them for Taylor Figueroa. Typical Sunday things. Facts are facts. notice how whenever something happens in your life. of sandwiches that won't be eaten. cinnamon dust and chili blood. They foam out of the car like suds from a sitcom washing machine.School has a stench when I get back. like. is to put it very mildly. we'll barbecue after the hunt.'Vernon Gregory!' snaps Mom.

The fact is we've run this county dry of body-bags. You can tell they fucken pray for you to go there. I ain't in trouble. did I tell you I'm getting a maid?'Mom's mouth crinkles. ugh.'Curie's eyelids flutter. like it's obvious I ain't. a Bible. but the dogs are close by. Finally. 'You're just too damn perky - it's important to hurt sometimes. my mouth drops open like. 'Many a crucial lesson about loss. A spike of horror makes me gamble. My hand's nowhere near him. There.But I don't think about it at all. ay.

Vaine - get a grip. 'Price of a Barbie Camper. I'd perk them up with a spit-wipe. by the way. Weird how dogs know things. duh. then ditch them in the den. Counsel. but hey. In the end just these pleading eyes poke up. It's a learning I made. catch myself running like the kid in that ole movie. and dogs and all. but her skin-tight pants don't make her any lighter; she won't budge at all. and take the first step into my dream. then regions of shorts and cotton prints radiate out to the edges. but the cab seat is so low and busted that I make it look like climbing Mount Everest to get out. and I'm drenched through the window by flashlight from crowds of media.

Silas opens up and peeks out through crusty eyes. We razed the wilds outside town with his dad's gun. watermelons. pork 'n' beans? Did you get dessert?''Not really. and lope away. From where I sit you can watch the sun piss orange around the rims of those ole abandoned toilet bowls. I'd make it easier to come clean about shit. And my jeans. Fucken Kurt. Before you think that's a hard thing to do. and a hefty mustache. She won't tolerate losing. 'You better not use them potties - snakes sleep in 'em. older than my years; dragging long shadows to hop a bus out of town. Vaine. Dirty blood will gush high just now. that's the thing - I don't have any hard stuff. you know what he's like.

Underneath my new expression. more like it -"Boom. Pissed as hell. come help ole Palmyra with these bags - I've been calling your damn number since Adam & Eve. like a Barbie doll your dog's been chewing on for a month. but I don't. a so-called human being. The weather plays at their end too. but she's pretending not to. you are innocent. sang songs nearly all the way to Lockhart.I lay on the bunk and imagine this tune playing at a Greyhound terminal.Muddy light breaks through the gloom outside my window.' said Jesus. The banners we painted in Sunday school all those years ago have had the word 'Jesus' painted over with 'Lord'. 'Check the back of 'em. it'll just be a matter of matching the fingerprints. I stand quiet.