"Telling us that the batterys wearing down."

The Times is spread all over the bar in the kitchen.

"What does she do?"

"Extra-virgin. Just like me."

"Thanks. This salad is going to be good. I guarantee it. Let me have the lemon-pepper."

"That was your first sexual experience?"

"Theyre getting closer."

"Sarah. Shes nineteen. When she was little she used to sing Im proud, proud, proud to be a cow. Thats something the cows sing on Sesame Street."

"A one-exploit man."

"In any form. Land, sea, or in the air."

"Shes a lawyer in Philadelphia. A deputy mayor, at the moment."

"Well he seemed nice in the beginning, Simon. He gave me an off-the-road vehicle for a wedding present. Those are big in Colorado."

"Some pioneer cowboy chemists九九藏书网. As a matter of fact I was married to one of them for a while. Guy named Paul."

"Well I wont take you. You have my word."

"Im not. Guy cut me in the face one time with a li?noleum knife. He was explaining himself."

"Hes a great mayor. Hes got it down exactly right. Couldnt be better. Hes what we want."

"Well disconnect it for Christs sake."

"What does your wife want?"

"Where is he now?"

He does so, standing on a chair, my God how cheap can plastic be? feels like paper --

He thinks for a moment. "I was about ten. This teacher asked us all to make little churches for a dis?play, kind of a model of a church. I made one out of cardboard, worked very hard on it, and took it in to her on a Friday morning, and she was pleased with it. It had a red roof, colored wi九-九-藏-书-网th red crayon. Then another guy, Billy something-or-other, brought in one that was made of wood. His was better than mine. So she tossed mine out and used his."

"This one I like," Simon says. "Death May Haunt Calcuttas Streets, But Teeming City Throbs With Life."

"In the pen. Got four more years before he can even think about probation."

"Whats the matter with that?"

"You got it."

"It does, it does."

Simon doesnt understand how anybody could do this. "What was he mad about?"

"Oh. Looks funny."

"Not a thing in the world."

"Of course."

"Its between Brighton and Platteville. Basically a wide place in the road," she says. "But pretty wide. We even had crack."

"You like young twat, go after it. Onward towww.99lib.net the merry hunt. You ever live and love in a garage apart?ment?"

"Has she stuck anybody with it?"

"What?"

"Depends upon who youre cohabiting with. Dore has a hatpin. Six inches of cold steel."

"Thats Venetian marigold. Tastes like mint."

"Must be nice."

"All of you been married?"

"You mean the movie."

"Only in principle."

Shes slicing a big radish with rapid Japanese strokes.

"Whats that weed youre putting in there?"

Theres a funny chirping noise. Its the smoke alarm.

"What the fuck is that?"

"Your husband was the right guy?"

"You straight or gay?"

"We had crack very early, before the rest of the country."

"That was lousy Tex-Mex last night."

"Why was that?"

"Hed been fired a loｈｔｔp://wｗw.9９ｌｉｂ.ｎｅｔt, from various jobs. Usually he got fired the first week. He was good at getting hired but he was a genius at getting fired. I was in a shelter for battered women for six weeks. They didnt let any?body know where it was."

"How far back do you want to go?"

"Whats it trying to say? Theres no smoke."

"To discourage creeps and weirdos."

"Better than no Tex-Mex at all."

"Theyre kind of snug. Especially if its a three-car garage. Up in the trees."

"Not Anne. Shes never found the right guy."

"Never have."

"Historically, straight."

"Did you."

"Great twat out there on the streets you want some of it?"

"Anyone who sees Parsifal twice is a blithering idiot."

"The mayor seems like a clown."

Veronica is fiddling with a shirt button九九藏书. Theyre in the sitting room.

"Im sorry.

"How olds your kid? Sarah, is it Sarah?"

"The smoke alarm."

"Me too. Nothing wrong with being straight."

"So tell me about Fort Lupton," Simon says to Dore.

"Here. You using the fancy olive oil?"

"Its a great city. We have everything."

"True."

"Unbeatable," says Anne. Shes making a salad.

"Youve got a good ass Simon."

"What was your first sexual experience, Simon?"

"Rather like having only one --"

"Do you miss her?"

"Not in New York State. Ive been reading in the paper about these rabid skunks."

"Slain U.S. Major Had One Exploit."

"You wouldnt think youd have to worry about them in a city like this."

"More fun."

"Right."

"Although --"