He lifts his kid into the truck as I stumble to the gas station to buy a phonecard. I check the mud-flaps as I pass. Heaven, boy. Between them are painted the words, 'ME VES Y SUFRES.' My vesty surfers, or something. Wait till I tell Taylor.
She answers after five rings.
Tayla.'
' Tay, hi, it's Vern.'
'What, who? Wait up…' Bumping noises come down the line, a man's voice rumbles, then quiet, like she moved into a closet or something. 'Yeah – who?'
'Vern.'
Dead fucken quiet for around a decade, then she comes back, real close to the receiver. 'Oh my
' Tay, listen…'
'Like, I can't believe I'm talking to a
'Shit, I ain't no killer…'
'Yeah,
'Get outta town,' I say. 'That can't be right.'
'But, like, you killed
' Tay, please listen…'
'Oh, babe. Poor tortured babe. Where
' Mexico.'
'God, have you seen back home? It's like Miami Beach, the whole town's wired for cameras, with live web access, twenty-four seven. The company that set it up floated shares and bought
I watch credits drip off my card like ketchup off a local fly. ' Tay I'm at a public phone…'
Pulsating music and crowd noises break onto the line. You hear the man's voice, then Taylor yells back: 'It's
'Hell, I don't want to…'
'You need cash, right? I have, like, six hundred put away for my vacation.'
'It'd save my fucken life.'
She sniffles, then her voice drops a tone. 'You talkin dirty to me, killer?' I swell in my new polyester pants. 'But, hey – where to wire it? Did you stop somewhere? And what if they, like – you know…'
'Shit, I guess that's right.'
'Vern, call me from wherever, like a city, or a big hotel – I'll check with Western Union.'
Her Fate song rings in my ears as I put down the phone. Six hundred bucks will probably
'He-llo?'
'Pam, it's Vern…'
'Oh my
I detect Mom in the background. I should've known it, they're probably on their nine-millionth burrito by now. Her sniffle wavers up to the phone, but Pam fends her off. 'Are you eating properly? Don't tell me you're not
Mom snatches the receiver. ' Vernon, it's
'Ma – I'm just real sorry.'
'Well Vernon, the detectives say things'll be easier if you just come back.'
'I don't think I can do that.'
'But all this
'Ma, I didn't kill nobody, I ain't running for that. I just have to make good, see? I'll maybe go to Canada, or Surinam or somewhere.' Bad fucken move. Mothers automatically detect the missing word in any multiple choice situation.
'Oh
'I said Canada or Surinam, Ma.'
'Well but the longer you stay away, the more trouble will be waiting for you, don't you see that? Vernon? Mr Abdini says you have a defense, he's been poking around, he found some clues and all, and when Lalito moves back we can be a real family again, just like before.'
'You ain't still waiting on Lally…'
'Well but that old woman at the home never called back, so why not? Vernon? It's love, a woman
'Mom – when did you last speak to Lally?'
'Well he's very busy,
I snort in an ironic kind of way. I guess it's ironic, when somebody passes off total bullshit as reality. Points drip off my phonecard as if they're points in my soul; I feel like I'll expire when they run out. I make a note to try and keep some points, in case they end up being cross-linked to my soul. Another learning about deep shit: you get real fucken superstitious.
'Where
'Ask him when he last
'Mom, these credits are gonna run out – what's important is that I'm fine, and I'll call when I get settled.'
'Oh
I badly want to leave her some cream pie, tell her about my beach-house, and her visit and all. But I just fucken can't. I just kill the call.
seventeen
'Ay, ay, ayeeeeeee,