@@@@@ I thought: I killed him just as surely as I 254
@@@@@
I thought: I killed him just as surely as I killed
Monica Goldstein's dogI know that sounds like
bullshit, but -
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Only it didn't sound like bullshit
I had stopped his breath
ii
There was a glassed-in sunporch on the south side
of El PalacioIt looked toward the tangles of
tropical overgrowth in one direction and out at
the metallic blue of the Gulf in the other
Elizabeth was seated there in her wheelchair, with
a breakfast tray attached to the armsFor the
first time since I'd met her, she was strapped in
The tray, littered with curds of scrambled egg and
pieces of toast, looked like the aftermath of a
toddler's mealWireman had even been feeding her
juice from a sippy cupThe small table-model
television in the corner was tuned to Channel 6
It was still All Candy, All of the TimeHe was
dead and Channel 6 was beating off on the bodyHe
undoubtedly deserved no better, but it was still
gruesome
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"I think she's finished," Wireman said, "but maybe
you'd sit with her while I scramble you a couple
and burn the toast
"Happy to, but you don't have to go to any trouble
on my partI worked late and had a bite
afterwardI'd spied the empty
mixing bowl in the kitchen sink on my way outHow's your leg this morning?"
"Not bad"Et tu, Brute?"
"I'm all right, thanks But he looked tired; his
left eye was still red and drippy"This won't
take five minutes
Elizabeth was almost completely AWOLWhen I
offered her the sippy cup, she took a little and
then turned her head awayHer face looked ancient
and bewildered in the unforgiving winterlightI
thought that we made quite a trio: the senile
woman, the ex-lawyer with the slug in his brain,
and the amputee ex-contra
