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Tap apparently wasn’t good at being teased about these things His choice was to let the story stand, oreven worse

Pearl retracted his state attorney who knows the jury’s already got the point "Oh hell, I’un," Pearl said "Tap, here, carried it"

"Well, it wasn’twasn’t loaded"

"Bailey thought up the gun It was Tap’s idea about the ladies’ underpants"

Tap uy don’t know ladies’ pants fros pulled over our faces"

"Kept gettin’ runs in the hose," Pearl said, ad-libbing "Spent all their profits at the five-and-dime buyin’ ot thes up and they coht off" Tap snickered at himself Pearl didn’t seeh, ht between these twoat each other across the safety of a fence

There was a commotion at the far end of the bar, and Pearl ’s attention strayed Daisy, standing close to us, seeain It’s been eating quarters all day Darryl claims he’s down a dollar twenty-five"

"Give hiister and I’ll take a look" Pearl eased off the stool and , by herself this time, to music no one else could hear There was a touch of exhibitionis her with undisguised interest, calculating the odds of cashing in on her mood I’ve knooet laid, as if sex were a bal properties

Once Pearl absented himself, the tension level in the air dropped by half and I could feel Tap relax "Hey, Daze Gimme another beer, here, babe This is Crazy Daisy She’s worked for Pearl since before the rocks cooled"

Daisy glanced at ht her eye "Go ahead and make it two On me"

I smiled briefly "Thanks That’s nice"

"I didn’t want you to think you were settin’ here with a crook"

"He sure likes to hassle you, doesn’t he?"

"Now that’s the truth," Tap said He reared back and looked at me, surprised that anyone but he had picked up on it "He don’t ets on my nerves, I can tell you that If this wasn’t the only bar in town, I’d tell hiet… well, I’d tell him what he could do with it"