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You got to tell the truth," she said. " Punch, jab. "Pow poom. " Chondra was already with Evelyn, sharing the front seat of the thirtyyear-old, plum-colored Chevy. The car had nearly bald blackwalls and a broken antenna. The paint job was homemade, the color nothing GM had ever conceived. One edge of the car's rear bumper had been broken and it nearly scraped the ground. I got to the driver's window as Tiffani made her way down the steps from the landing. Evelyn Rodriguez didn't look up. A cigarette drooped from her lips.

He licked his lips. The drool strand stretched, broke, and fell to the pavement. Pant, pant, pant. " No movement. " Another display of teeth that seemed more smile than snarl, but who knew? Another moment of standoff, then I decided letting something this pintsized obstruct me was ridiculous. Even with the bulk, he couldn't weigh more than twenty or twenty-five pounds. If he did attack, I could probably puntkick him onto the Glen. I took a step forward, then another. The dog came toward me deliberately, head lowered, muscles meshing, in a rolling, pantherish gait.

He sounds cute," she said. " "Not offhand-could be some kind of bulldog, I guess. " "Well," she said, "the law says you have to try to return him. " "Well. " "You could put an ad in the paper-'founds' are sometimes free. " I thanked her, called the newspaper, and placed the ad. Then I pulled out the Yellow Pages and looked under veterinarians. " I let the the dog sleep for an hour, then took him for another ride. The clinic was a milky blue, cement-block building set between a wrought iron foundry and a discount clothing barn.