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"I can’t go against ," he said, for the twentieth time

"You can, but you won’t," she said Ditto

"Because I’m not perfect like you want lass door and dropped it a few decibels, for decency’s sake "Shohere else you can get that kind of money from," Cub hissed, "and I’ll take it to Dad"

The idea of that ed down, and a certain world with it, was beco into soas-station maps that open out to the size of a windshield She was involved in a ith those scientists And strangely, also, with Hester She craved to tell Cub his ed for Cub to be his own ht A husband as not just his mother’s pawn but also the head of his household: was that too ure near the store entrance began to grind his hips and emit a thin electronic rendition of "Joy to the World" It must have had some sensor inside that set the affair in motion when they walked near it "Okay," she said, "let’s focus Christ us have some of her stuff?"

"Here’s your Christue that one The store contained enough plastic baubles to cover a hayfield

"Great," she said "Family heirlooms made by slave children in China" Her mother used to spit that one out like a curse: slave-children-in-China Dellarobia was startled by the words she’d channeled, and that drab army of orphans she could still see in her mind’s eye She used to picture them in poorly made caps and jackets, resentful of happy ho her father’s handmade furniture business and her mother’s work as a seamstress Eventually those brats even shut down the knitwear factory where her mother had stooped from business suits to underwear, in the last decade of her eht, Dellarobia could fatho a bad an to toss things in: roach and ant killer, Krazy Glue, Clorox, antifreeze, shopping by the sa his way through the dollar store A quest that made her think of the skinny oldthe heap with his hoe, seeking sorow Soifts, honey If everybody on our list is planning suicide"

He rolled his eyes, shook his head A as to be endured Men learned that froht

"Well, why do I always have to be the police? You’re over ten dollars already"

"Oka-ay," he said, too loudly "Since you already blew forty on your tar and nicotine" He trudged off to put the items back, and shortly returned with two T-shirts, Fire Department and Little Pony, in the correct sizes Six and ten dollars respectively She took the the pathetically thin fabric between her fingers The side seaes, already raveling apart

"Why is girls’ stuff more expensive? Look at this Half the amount of fabric, half the quality, and aled "I don’t know, because boys wear their clothes out faster?"

"Oh, please You think anybody’s on our side?" She tossed the T-shirts onto a shelf, entirely in the wrong place, and she didn’t care Let them hire extra help; people needed the jobs They turned the cart into the seasonal aisle "Just ask Hester about the ornao up in her attic and steal soht of the wooden ornao, which must still exist somewhere What a coh: attic boxes, funeral upheavals, yard sales Like an insect going through its stages, all ai away