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"Earrings," answered Troy Indeed, there were seven earrings settling on the hardwood floor

"Not those Those!" Barry nodded toward two clear, cantaloupe-sized, gelatinous lozenges that quivered on the floor like stranded jellyfish

Lash shivered "I’ve seen them before My brother used to work in a plant in Santa Barbara thatthrough a drunken haze

"Those are breast is?" asked Barry There were two translucent sluglike blobs of soe

"Looks likecaulk," said Lash He noticed that there was a fine blue powder near the edge of the rug He ran his hand over it, pinched so

"Where’d she go?" asked Barry

"No idea," said Lash

Chapter Twenty

It’s a Wonderful Life

Gustavo Chavez had been born the seventh child of a brick e in the state of Michoacan, Mexico At eighteen he hter of a farmer, herself a seventh child, and at twenty, with his second child on the way, he crossed the border into the United States, where he lived with a cousin in Oakland, along with a score of other relatives, and worked grueling, twelve-hour days as a laborer, h to feed himself and send more money home to his family than he could possibly have made in his father’s brickyard He did this because it was the responsible and right thing to do, and because he had been raised a good Catholic man who, like his father, would provide for his family and no more than two or three mistresses Each year, about a month before Christmas, he would sneak back across the border to celebrate Christht been born, and make love with his wife, Maria, until they were both so sore it hurt to walk In fact, the vision of Maria’s inviting thighs would often begin haunting hiht porter would find hi his soapy mop, to and fro, across fifteen thousand square feet of linoleuht he was in the store alone, and he was feeling far froo todeeply ashaht and he hadn’t even called Maria - hadn’t spoken to her for weeks, because like the rest of the Aniiven all his money to the blue whore

He had called, of course, after they’d first taken the vampire’s art and sold it for soof tequila and ood man, who cared for his family, had never hit his wife, had only cheated with a second cousin and never with a white woman, had been undone by the curse of the blue devil’s pussy La maldici��n de la cocha del diablo azul

This is the saddest, loneliest Christed hisinto the produce-department cooler I am like the poor cabr��n in that book The Pearl, where by siood fortune, I have lost all that I care about Okay, I did get drunk for a week and as out of s in Spanish, so they sounded infinitely ic and romantic

Then there came a noise fro out hisin the store by himself, but with the front s broken out, someone had to be here, and because he was far froo, and the union would see that he was paid double time, Gustavo had volunteered Perhaps if he sent hoet the hundred thousand dollars he’d pro behind the plastic doors of the cooler, which aving slightly The stout Mexican crossed hi hisbarely a hint of dampness on the linoleuurts fell over inside the glass doors, as if soh

Gustavo dropped thea Hail Mary peppered with sords as he went, wondering if those were footsteps he heard behind hih the deserted store

Out the front door and away, he chanted in his head Out the front door and away He nearly fell rounding the turn at the ht hi back on his belt for his keys as he went

There were footfalls behind hi - bare feet on linoleum, but fast, and close He couldn’t stop to unlock the door when he got there, he couldn’t look back, he couldn’t turn to look - a second of hesitation and he would be lost He exhaled a long wail and ran right through a rack of candy and guister in an avalanche of candy bars and azines, many of which displayed headlines like I MARRIED BIGFOOT, or SPACE ALIEN CULT TAKES OVER HOLLYWOOD, or vampires hunt our streets, and other such nonsense

Gustavo scra on his belly like a desert lizard scraht caasped, trying to get his breath, but sorabbed him by the hair and yanked his head backwards He heard crackling noises in his ear, sed He saw the fluorescent lights, so cookies as he was dragged down the aisle and through the doors into the dark back room of the deli like so ether," Jody said, kissing hih his pj botto cute?"

"Hi, Mom," Tommy said into the phone "It’s To all day It just rang and rang I thought you were going to come hoe hard enough?"

"Oh yeah, Mo ten - sixteen hours a day soood And you have insurance?"

"The best, Mom The best I’ood You’re not still working that horrible night shift, are you?"

"Well, sort of In the grocery business, that’s where the et on the day shift You’re never going tothose hours, son"

It was at this point, having heard Mother Flood’s admonition, that Jody lifted her shirt and rubbed her bare breasts against hi her eyelashes coquettishly

"But I haveto be a nun - er, teacher She helps the poor"

It was then that Jody pantsed hiht hi over

"Whoa"

"What, son? What’s thewith the guys and started to feel it"

"You’re not on the drugs, are you, honey?"

"No, no, no, nothing like that"

"Because your father has rehab benefits on you until you’re twenty-one We can have one of those interventions if you can find a cheap flight home I know that Aunt Esther would love to see you, even if you are strung out on the crack"

"And I her, and I her, Mom Look, I just called to say Merry Christmas, I’ll let you - "

"Wait, honey, your father wants to say hi"

" - go"

"Hey, Skeeter Frisco turned you into an ass bandit yet?"

"Hi, Dad Merry Christmas"

"Glad you finally called Your rocery business"

"You working hard enough?"

"Trying They’re cutting back on our OT - union will only let us work sixty hours a week"

"Well, as long as you’re trying How’s that old Volvo running?"

"Great Like a top" The Volvo had burned to the wheels his first day in the City

"Swiss sure can build some cars, can’t they? Can’t say much for those little red pocketknives they make, but sonsabitches can build a car"

"Swedes"

"Yeah, well, I love the littlea turkey out in the driveway It’s starting to so check on it Took an hour to get the oil up to speed - it’s only about ten degrees here today"

"Yeah, it’s a little chilly here, too"

"Looks like it’s starting to catch the carport on fire a little Better go"

"Okay Love you, Dad"

"Call your oes the Olds coffee laced with Willia irritating," Jody said

"Call your et so pills - knock him out so he doesn’t have to drink all that booze before we bleed hiet him a key" Tommy went to the console by the door and pushed the button There was a buzz and the click of the lock at street level The door opened - Williaht "I don’t kno he sleeps on those steps"

"He doesn’t sleep He passes out," said the undead redhead "Do you think if we gave him peppermint schnapps the coffee would have a ed He went to the door, threw it open, and called down "Williariainst scotch?"

"No, no, I don’t want toof a roups, you know"

"I had some soup and soives me mint farts They scare the hell out of Chet"

Tommy turned to Jody and shook his head "Sorry, no way, otta get back to the little wo? Food, blanket, toothbrush, a daood," William said He held up a fifth of Johnny Walker Black

"How’s Chet doing?"

"Stressed We just found out our friend Saot murdered in the hotel on Eleventh" Chet looked up the stairith sad kitty eyes, which he sort of always seemed to have since he’d been shaved

"Sorry to hear that," Toot killed across the street last night, same way Neck was snapped Saed on a rooht there in bed Just goes to show you"

Tommy had no idea what it went to show you "Sad," Tommy said "So how come Chet’s stressed but you’re not?"

"Chet doesn’t drink"

"Of course Well then, Merry Christ with his bottle "Any chance of a Christmas bonus, now that I’m a full-time employee?"

"What’d you have in ander at Red’s bare knockers"

To pretty determined

"Sorry," Tommy said "How about a neeater for Chet?"

Williaain with The Man" He took a drink fro ie shaved cat and couldn’t be bothered with ement

"Okay then," Tommy said He closed the door and returned to the counter "I’rin

"Your o see about Elijah"

"Not until you call your , it’s not like he’s going anywhere"

Jody got up and came around the breakfast bar and took Tommy’s hand "Sweetie, I need you to play what William just said back in your mind, really slowly"

"I know, I’ killed by a broken neck, and how he has been sick, and how soht before, also by broken neck I’ll bet she was sick, too Sound like a pattern you’ve heard before?"

"Oh my God," Tommy said

"Uh-huh," Jody said She held his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles "I’ll get , ’kay?"

"Ohyour mom"