'We don't talk to the locals, and they don't talk to us.'

'Why not?'

'We're gay, and they're not.'

'Have you ever talked to a local?'

'About what?'

'Anything.'

'No.'

'Why not?'

'Why? What would they have to say that would interest me? They're a bunch of h.o.m.ophobic, anti-Semitic, unintellectual racists. They have no appreciation of art. They know nothing about wine. My G.o.d, they'd rather eat barbecue than crepes. They get their news from Fox. They have zero sophistication. They should be thanking us for bringing culture to this awful place, but instead they call us "Chin.a.z.is" and act disgusted because of our s.e.xual orientation. I hate everything about Texas.'

'What about the weather?'

'Especially the weather.'

'Anything you like?'

'All the interesting people in town.'

'I take it you don't mean the locals?'

Kenni snorted. 'I mean other artists from New York.'

'Why do you want to live in Marfa?'

'I don't.'

'Then why are you living here?'

'Fame and fortune.'

'You're working at a pizza joint.'

'This is a temp gig.'

'Pizza?'

'Marfa. See, we're not Marfans or Texans, we're temps. We're all just temping here. We come down here, get discovered, then move back to New York rich and famous artists.'

'Like a reality show.'

'Exactly.'

'That ever work?'

'Not yet. But the buzz here is incredible. I've got a better chance of being discovered in Marfa than in New York. There's maybe a million artists on the make in New York. Here, maybe a hundred. And with the national media all over Marfa, this place is great for networking-it's like Facebook with French food.'

'So what kind of art do you do?'

'What else? Installation.'

'What are you going to install?'

'A plane. Half buried in the ground, as if it flew right into the prairie but stayed intact.'

'What kind of plane?'

'Triple-seven.'

'A jumbo jet? Won't that be expensive?'

'I'm taking donations.'

'How far along are you?'

'Three hundred and sixty-seven dollars.'

'Only forty million to go.'

'I'm not buying a new one.'

'Did Nathan use drugs?'

'No. Never. Just weed at Big Rick's studio. Part of the creative process.'

'Getting stoned and eating Cheetos?'

'I love Cheetos.'

'Who's Big Rick?'

'Rick Fusini. He's rich and famous.'

'I've never heard of him.'

'Because you live in Texas.'

'Marfa's in Texas.'

'No, it's not. It's a suburb of New York City now.'

'Tell me about Big Rick.'

'Oh, he's outrageous. At a gallery opening week before last, he painted "The Real Axis of Evil is the US, UK, and Israel" on the outside wall of the building next door, so everyone would see it.'

'We saw it.'

'The locals went absolutely apes.h.i.t! It was fabulous!'

'Did Nathan have any trouble with any of the artists?'

'Trouble? Like what?'

'Anything.'

'You mean, that would make someone kill him?'

'Like that.'

Kenni went back to picking paint. 'Big Rick kicked him out one night.'

'Why?'

'Because Nathan had sued him. For a pipeline.'

'A condemnation suit?'

Kenni nodded. 'Big Rick bought land outside town, for his installation. He's going to stack automobiles to spell out "Bush Sucks" so people flying overhead on their way to L.A. can see it.'

'There's a masterpiece.'

'Big Rick hates that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Billy Bob Barnett. We all do.'

'Why?'

'He's an oil man. Artists hate oil companies. They care only about money while they destroy the planet.'

As if reading from a script.

'You do know that oil money funded Judd's art?'

'What? No way.'

'Way.'

He pondered that a moment. 'I wonder if an oil company would fund my art?'

'Maybe Billy Bob.'

Kenni shook his head. 'He hates us. But we hate him because he's a fracker.'

'So you're fighting him?'

'With Carla.'

'You know Carla?'

'Everyone knows Carla. She recruited us to fight the fracking. She hates Billy Bob, too. Gave us these T-shirts. I introduced her to Nathan.'

'Why?'

'Because he said Billy Bob was contaminating the ground-water. She got really excited.'

'About what?'

'Said she finally had an inside man.'

'What did Nathan say?'

'That he almost had the puzzle solved.'

'What puzzle?'

'That would prove the contamination.'

'Did he show any proof to you?'

Kenni shook his head. 'Said he'd be breaking the lawyer code of conduct. But I pushed him to go public, to take his proof to the media, change the world. That's what artists do.'

'Really?'

'But Brenda told him to keep quiet about it. That's what wives do. She was scared. So was he.'

'Of losing his law license?'

'Of Billy Bob. And his beasts. We talked about what he could do. That's when he decided to write that letter to you.'

'Did he show it to you? The letter?'

'Sure.'

'But not to his wife.'

Kenni shrugged.

'So Nathan sued this Big Rick on behalf of Billy Bob.'

'Billy Bob wants to put a pipeline under the land, but Big Rick says that would mess up his art. So he said no. Billy Bob is condemning part of it for a pipeline.'

'And Nathan represents Billy Bob. Did he and Big Rick have words?'

'Big Rick has words with everyone-most begin with an "f." He's not gay. Mostly, he's a drunken bully-he's big and he's mean ... rumor is, he killed someone back East, that's why he moved here. He has guns.'