E L watches wrestling on Saturday nights. He likes<br >.~n Verne Gagne goes for the sleeper hold. He jumps<br >f his chair and slaps his thighs with both hands. Then<br >mks his arms around， one across his chest and the other<br >ht， with the hand cupped as if it s on someone s skull，<br >ae s doing it himself. He imagines that it s him putting<br >Blackwell into slumberland and that it s his partner，<br >Dog Vachon， lying outside the ring， blood running down<br >.ce and pooling on the concrete， black and shiny.<br >hoebe， come here，" Asel says. "Verne s going for the<br >er."<br >it Phoebe can t hear him. She s in the kitchen with her<br >phones on. They are the kind that wrap around the head<br >lave tiny speakers that fit inside the ears. She has a song<br >:eeps playing over and over again. It s an Emmylou Harris<br >~ She hears something new every time she plays it. She<br >s something new about how hard it is to kill off the ghost<br >no-good man. At certain times in the song， she presses<br >fingers into the palms of her hands and at other times，<br >spreads them wide and tilts her head back， her braid so<br >~ that it curls up at her feet， snug and warm on the floor.<br > erne Gagne lets go his hold on Jerry Blackwell and whips<br >into the ropes. Everyone at the Hartford Civic Center<br > their feet. Asel can hear them. He wishes he were there<br >， so his voice could join the others in urging Verne on to<br >0ry. Verne gets his hands on the chair that Blackwell used<br >~pen up Mad Dog s head. He holds it in the air and turns<br >nd and round. It s a folding chair， made of steel and wood.<br >will make quite a dent in Jerry s noggin when it comes<br >shing down. But Verne isn t that kind of guy.<br >!Break it，" Asel whispers and Verne does. He breaks it<br > his knee and drops the halves over the side， where they<br >