“She was a tall woman with a wide smile,good tits and a way of licking mayonnaise out the corner of her mouth which suggested she might beequally good at licking mayonnaise out the corner of yours.”

“Smile with instinct, then lick your wounds in the darkest of dark corners. Trace the scars back to your own fingers and remember them.”

“Why the hell was she smiling like that?...Her mouth was blown so wide that the soft insides showed at the corners, like another grin was building in there. As if her laughter tumbled. Like joy was a living thing.”

“She didn't see him at first. She was watching the dancers. Her color was high, and there were deep dimples at the corners of her mouth. She looked nine miles out of place, but he had never loved her more. This was Willa on the edge of a smile.”

“Is this how you repay my goodness--with badness?” cried the boy. “Of course,” said the crocodile out of the corner of his mouth. “That is the way of the world.”

“I assumed he would be busy with some inflatable whore! Or did she round a corner to fast and bust a tit on her way here?”