His hands went to his nose and he began his obnoxious habit of squeezing his nostrils together with his thumb and index finger. Squeeze and hold. Release. Squeeze and hold. Release.

After three squeeze-and-holds, he said, ”Fuck it.

I’ll do it. Throw me to the wolves.”

”Good decision,” I said. ”First one you’ve made in a while.”

”Are we done here?”

”I suppose. You in a hurry?”

”I have to take a crap. It’s the bologna they serve in this dump.” His voice, like his face, was devoid of emotion. He hadn’t bothered to ask how his son would be affected. He hadn’t mentioned the boy in months.

I got up and pushed the button on the wall to summon the guards. Johnny Wayne remained seated while I leaned on the wall and stared at the ceiling.

I didn’t want to sit back down. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible. After three or four minutes, I could hear the thump of heavy boots as the guards made their way down the hallway towards the door.

”Hey, Dillard,” Johnny Wayne said suddenly.

”What?”

”Everybody thinks she was such a saint. She was a stupid bitch. All she had to do was give me a divorce on my terms, which weren’t that complicated. She brought this on herself.”

”Don’t say another word,” I said. The vision of flying teeth was acquiring details.

The door clanged and the guards pushed their way through and gathered him up. One of them, a skin-headed, thick-necked youngster, looked me up and down.

”You only do criminal defense, ain’t that right?”

he said.

”That’s right.”

”Then I reckon you’ll be glad to know that an old lady called into dispatch a little while ago and reported that her cat found a human pecker out near the lake. A body’ll probably turn up soon.”

”A pecker? Do you mean a penis?”

”Penis to you. Pecker to me.”

”So?”