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ONE

For the last five minutes, I'd been parked outside my cousin Vinnie s bail bonds office inwhether to continue on with my day, or return to my apartment and crawl back into bed My nao back to bed Loco Stephanie was thinking she should get on with it

I was about to do sons were all there in front of e that it was illegal And yet, I was going to forge ahead with the plan Not that this was especially unusual Truth is, I've been dealing with i as I can rear on my head, convinced myself it was pixie dust, wished myself invisible, and walked into the boys' bathroom at school I mean, you don't know the water's over your head until you juht?

The door to the bonds office opened, and Lula stuck her head out “Are you gonna sit there all day, or what?” she yelled at me

Lula is a black woas wardrobe that's four sizes too s as a file clerk for the office and a wheel fake-fur Sasquatch boots, and her ass was packed into poison-green spandex pants Her pink sweatshirt had Love Goddess spelled out in sequins across her boobs

My wardrobe runs a lot -sleeved knit shirt fro boots, and I was bundled into a big quilted jacket I have naturally curly brown hair that looks okay when I wear it shoulder length When it's short, the best you can say is that it has energy I'd swiped on so to boost oing to co, wrenched the driver's side door open, and angled myself out of the car

It was the end of February, and there was gloom as far as the eye could see It was alhts were on, and visibility in the swirling snoas about six inches A truck chugged past, throwing slush halfway upout my trash mouth Winter wonderland Jersey-style

Connie Rosolli looked around her computer at me when I walked into the office Connie is Vinnie's office ainst the stream of pissed-off bondees, bookies, hookers, various bill collectors, and stiffed s to reach Vinnie's inner sanctum Connie was a couple years older than me, a couple pounds heavier, a couple inches shorter, a couple cups bigger, and had hair a couple inches higher than eneration Italian kind of way

“I have three new skips,” Connie said “One of theain”

Skips are people who fail to show for a court appearance after Vinnie has bonded them out of jail Vinnie loses money when bondees fail to appear, so that's where I coent, better known as bounty hunter, andthem back into the system

“Don't look toherself down on the brown Naugahyde couch, picking up her copy of Star ain No way”

“He's an easy catch,” I said “We know exactly where to find him”

“There's no 'we' gonna happen You're on your own I' in soery to show up”