She thought she was very funny and just loved laughing with herself. Dog pulled into a 7-Eleven and used his fake ID to buy a second six-pack of Michelob Ice while Beeper and Sick caused a diversion by Beeper's pretending to slip on the floor and Sick's having to help him up as Divinity browsed shelves and tucked whatever she wanted inside her denim bag.

'I think we find him we have some fun,' Dog said as he peeled out of the parking lot and started thinking about Weed again. 'I don't like him." 'That's 'cause he paints, baby, and you can't do a fucking thing,' Divinity said.

Dog felt himself get meaner. 'He needs to learn about life,' Dog said. "Bout showing respect.'

'You go about making him show respect and Smoke's gonna tear your ass off and feed it to a pit bull,' Divinity said as she sipped her beer.

Tuck Smoke.' Dog turned back onto West Gary Street. 'I'm not fucking afraid of him.'

It wasn't true. Dog hadn't been Dog until last Christmas when he'd just turned fifteen and was shopping around for a little crack and ran into Divinity and Smoke at the mall on Chimborazo Boulevard. Smoke sold Dog a couple rocks and then pulled a pistol and stole the rocks back and kept Dog's money.

'Hey, gimme my money if you ain't giving me the rocks,' Dog told him.

'Not unless you earn it,' Smoke said.

Smoke talked Dog into robbing some woman at gunpoint downtown near the Monroe Building. Dog turned over forty-seven dollars to Smoke. Dog would never forget what Smoke said to him next.

'Now you're mine. I own you.' He pointed his Clock between Dog's eyes. 'You're my slave. Know why?'

Dog said he didn't.

'Because you ain't got shit in life. You go home to shit. You've got shit for brains. You're so fucking shitting stupid you came out here buying crack and robbed some poor old lady, probably gave her a heart attack. That could be murder if she dies. I might just have to tell the po-lice.'

'You can't.' Dog was so confused. 'But you can't do that.'

Smoke started laughing at Dog and Divinity joined in. Dog was named Dog and became a Pike. He started cutting school so much he got suspended all the time, which gave him permission to keep cutting school, which was kind of confusing, to him. So much was confusing, and whenever Dog questioned and maybe said he didn't want to rob nobody else or break into another car or restaurant, Smoke got in his bad way.

He knew how to hurt Dog and make Dog scared for his life. Smoke didn't mind killing. Dog had seen Smoke run over animals on purpose, like a cat the other day, and a puppy that was all the way off the road on someone's driveway. Smoke had a game he called 'Squash the Squirrel', which was just what it sounded like. Smoke would swerve all the hell over the place to run over a squirrel and he kept count. Smoke bragged he had killed somebody before in the city in North Carolina where he used to live.

He said he walked right into a crippled lady's house and stabbed her fifty times just so he could take her handicap van for a drive. He said he came back after ditching the van and stole whatever he wanted and fixed a sandwich and ate it, staring at her dead, bloody body and then opening up her clothes. He said she was so ugly he cut on her a little more in places he wasn't even supposed to look at. He said his grandmother used to live with his family until he punched her in the face and she decided to move. He said she had nagged him one last time and that was that.

Smoke said he got locked up for killing the crippled lady and was let loose free as a bird the minute he turned sixteen, and no one except his family knew what he had done and never would, because that was the way the law worked. Dog knew it wouldn't be long before Smoke killed somebody again. He had that need. Dog didn't want to be the one who filled it.

'Baby, oh baby,' Divinity suddenly said as she twisted the top off another beer. 'Look at that ride. Ummmm ummmm.'

'We gotta keep looking for Weed,' Beeper reminded her.

'Oh no,' Divinity told him. 'Uh uh, baby. Stop right here 'cause I'm getting out.'

At West Gary Street, the alarm sounding inside Brazil's head seemed as audible as a fire truck moving traffic out of the way. Three teenage boys and a girl who looked like a. hooker were fondling Brazil's car as if they wanted to gang-rape it.

The boys were laughing, making their cool moves in wide-legged jeans half falling off, one leg rolled up, one down, big hightops, Chicago Bulls jerseys and stocking caps. The girl was dressed in a short tight black skirt and low-cut black tee shirt. They stared defiantly at Brazil and he stared back.

Brazil walked directly to his car, keys in hand, a Colt Mustang strapped around his right ankle under the leg of his worn-out jeans. His mood had been bad before he got here. Now it was dangerous.

'This your car, baby?' the girl asked.

'Yup,' Brazil replied.

'Where you get it?'

'Crown BMW on West Broad,' Brazil said with a smart-ass smile. 'They got a good selection.'

'Oh yeah?' the girl said. 'Well, Pretty Boy, that don't matter 'cause I just picked this one.'

Divinity decided she was the spokesperson for the gang. For one thing, she wasn't as drunk as the others. For another, the car man was as fine-looking as hell and she might just enjoy herself a little.

'Listen, baby.' Divinity stepped closer to him. 'Why don't you take little Divinity here on a little ride in that bad car of yours?"

She stepped closer. Pretty Boy moved back. The other three closed in. Pretty Boy was standing by the driver's door, street punks all around him.

'What's the matter, sugar?' Divinity brushed her fingers over Pretty Boy's chest. 'Euuuuu. What a man! Ummm-ummm.'

She pressed both of her hands against his muscular chest and liked what she was feeling.

'Don't touch me,' Pretty Boy said.

Beeper got in Pretty Boy's face.

'What'd you say to her, motherfucker?'

'I told her not to touch me. And get out of my face, asshole,' Pretty Boy said without raising his voice.

'Get outta my way,' Divinity told Beeper. 'He's mine.'

Beeper stepped aside. Divinity wanted to touch Pretty Boy again. She was getting interested in him touching her back. She leaned her breast against Brazil's arm.

'How's that feel, baby?' she cooed. 'It sure do feel good to me.'

'What the fuck you doing?' Dog exclaimed, grabbing her elbow and pulling her away.

'Man!' Sick started walking in cocky circles. 'Smoke see you, he kill all our asses!' he almost screamed.

Only Beeper kept his thoughts to himself. He seemed tired of Divinity showing off her parts as if she was some kind of V10 Viper that everybody wanted to drive.

'Let go of the white-meat boy,' Beeper suggested to her.

'Let's just take his car and get the fuck outta here,' Dog said nervously, looking around and wetting his lips.

'I'm not giving you the car,' Pretty Boy told them. 'It's not paid for.'

Divinity laughed and got close to him again.

'It's not paid for!' she hollered. 'It's not paid for! Oh baby, well it's good to know that 'cause we sure wouldn't want to steal no car that wasn't paid for!'

Sick, Dog and Beeper got into it. They started laughing and sneering, strutting around like badass chickens in a barnyard, pants hanging lower, boxer shorts riding higher.

Divinity put her hands on Brazil again, and she smelled like incense and her breath was bad. Her fingers trailed over his chest, and when she pressed up against him, grinding her pelvis into his, he shoved her away.

'You don't touch me unless I give permission,' Brazil told her in a tone that was four-star general.

'Motherfucker,' she hissed. 'Nobody pushes away Divinity.'

She reached under her short skirt and slipped out a thin switchblade. It zipped open, the long steel blade glinting in the uneven light of the street.