“I mean, it’s safer in New Zealand. In terms of the class war. You’d need your own plane, if they shut down commercial travel.”
“I’ve surveyed properties in New Zealand, and I’d be happy to send you an information box,” said Whitney. These kids loved “boxes” of all kinds. They spent thousands of dollars for “Mystery Hype Boxes” containing old sneakers and T-shirts. Maybe it was because they lived their lives online that a real box was such a thrill. （They even filmed themselves opening boxes, and watched videos of strangers opening boxes…） Whitney’s packages contained house listings, foodstuffs, and rare clothing and shoes. Xavier helped her find good stuff. If a thousand-dollar shoe in a box made a child billionaire buy a ten-million-dollar home, it was a great investment.
“I’d love an information box!” said Mongrel/Meathead. When they pulled into his driveway （where three cars were parked: a Tesla, an electric Porsche, and a Ferrari）， Whitney had him click a few items on her phone （square footage needed, waterfront?, pool?, shoe size）， and promised him she’d be in touch. The kid unfurled himself from the Tesla and said goodbye. Whitney shook his hand firmly, and told him it was a pleasure to get to know him.
“Me, too,” he said. As she turned the car around to exit, Whitney glanced back and saw her client taking a breath and looking around. He looked so young, this kid named Gene, a lost boy in the city. Whitney hadn’t even asked where he was from, and if he’d told her, she’d forgotten. She’d seen him only as a commission, and she suddenly felt a twinge of shame.
Tears welled behind Whitney’s eyes. It was the thought of Gene wandering through his rental mansion with no one to greet him, or make him a snack. It was the vision of Bobcat in a concrete prison yard instead of running down the basketball court on a perfect fall evening.
Was Xavier involved with this dead body?
Was Roma?
Was the young woman who died the one who bought the pills?
What had happened on the greenbelt?
-5-
Craigslist > Austin > Community > Childcare
Warning BEWARE!!!
DO NOT USE Nanny Poppinz Caregivers!!!
Warning! Fraudulent childcare in South Austin. Nanny Poppinz sent me a nanny with a fake name. They said they had completed a background check but THIS WAS A LIE!!! She stole checks and a phone from my bedside table when she was SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING MY BABY!!! Her fake name was LISA STEPHENS but her real name is TIFFANI BUSTELLO!!! She is in trouble with the law for lying about her identity to police and a hospital. She will be looking for more children soon or skip town. DO NOT USE NANNY POPPINZ and if you do, use at your own risk!!!!
-6-
Annette
ANNETTE SAT ON HER upper deck, hoping to see the coyote, sipping a cup of coffee. Louis came through the sliding glass door in his work suit. “I wonder what happened to the coyote,” said Annette.
“I told you, those things are dangerous.”
“Not this one,” said Annette.
Louis sat next to her, took her hand, began planting kisses on her palm. “Come here,” he said. Annette smiled tightly, tried not to move away. She wasn’t in the mood for sex at all. “I just…I liked taking care of it,” she said.
“Forget the feral animal,” said Louis. “I’ll be your coyote.” He leaned toward her, and she did not allow herself to rear back.
Don’t lose Robert, she thought. Don’t lose everything you have built.
It took all her strength just to remain where she was.
-7-
A Remembrance of Lucy Masterson
SPECIAL TO THE SUGAR LAND HERALD
By Junie Levine
Graveside services for Lucille Rose Masterson are scheduled for Saturday, June 8, 2019, 3PM, at the Wheeler Cemetery in Sugar Land, Texas. Viewing will be held at Robertson Funeral Directors Saturday, June 8, 2019, 10AM–2PM.
She flew through the air like an eagle, landing somehow on her feet each and every time, her grace provoking gasps and standing ovations. Lucy was a hometown hero, shining brightly for a short time before shooting like a comet to Austin, where she died last week, a fallen star. Her cause of death has not yet been released.
Lucy was also my best friend, and while I stayed here in Sugar Land, jettisoning my dreams of becoming a big city reporter to become the manager of Panera Bread at the Sugar Land Mall, Lucy went for her aspirations, leaving the day after graduation with one pink duffel bag and the money she had saved when she worked with me at Panera Bread, before I became manager.
I will never forget the days we spent behind the counter, joking around and talking about Lucy’s many boyfriends. （I only dated Todd Levine, who is now my husband of three happy months!） Lucy adored her baby brother, Arlo. She also had three older brothers—Grant, Christopher, and Walter—who made sure that no one messed with her. One time, Lucy was having a romantic interlude with her high school beau when Grant and Andrew burst into her room with baseball bats! That was the end of that romantic interlude.
Lucy and I became friends when my family moved to Sugar Land. I was eight years old, new in third grade at Sugar Land Elementary. We had moved from the Panhandle, and I’d never really thought about my bowl haircut or wearing my older brother’s hand-me-down pants and T-shirts. I mean I guess I had thought about it, but I hadn’t wanted to make my parents feel bad or I don’t know but the point is I showed up for my first day wearing a T-shirt with a picture of a train and below that the word train.
I will never forget seeing Lucy that day. She wore pink, pleated corduroy pants, an aqua T-shirt, and a headband with pom-poms that matched her outfit. She had a rainbow backpack and silver sneakers that lit up when she jumped around, which was always. At this point, she was already kind of famous for gymnastics. She left class at one p.m. every day to go to the gym and everyone said she was going to be in the Olympics someday.
Her father of course is Jim Masterson of Masterson Honda, and they always had a new car. Also, all of Lucy’s spiral notebooks had animals on them and her pens and pencils had pom-poms like her headband but in different colors from the ones on her headband.
When I say she was my best friend I do not mean to imply that I was her best friend. I was maybe her fourth best friend, depending on if Skye Gutierrez and she were in a fight.
After her shoulder injury, Lucy valiantly found a new dream: to move to Austin and go to college. Understandably, all her brothers decided to work for Masterson Honda （except for Arlo, of course, who is only eight!）。
I visited Lucy one time in Austin. She was super busy and had to work at her waitress job all three nights I was there （and forgot to call me when she went out one night after work） but I was able to get a glimpse of her sunny days. One morning, we went to get pancakes at Kerbey Lane Cafe and they were the best pancakes I’ve ever had. I told my husband Todd we have to go to Austin just for those pancakes sometime. Maybe like a romantic surprise getaway or something, since our honeymoon was one night at the Sugar Land Ramada.
Lucy was like this:
Her hair was spun gold.
Even after she had to quit gymnastics, her body was strong.
She always loved silver and pink, even when she was older.
Three days before she died, she answered when I called and told me she thought she might have fallen in love for the first time.