Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Direct speech reports in spoken narratives 

In informal spoken narratives recounting definite past time events, direct speech

reports often have a reporting verb in the present simple. Speakers may alternate

between present and past tenses, but usually reserve the present tense for quoting

speech that is in some way important in the story:

And somebody saw her and she 

said, ‘Ooh Mrs Naylor,’ she said, ‘Have you

sent your little girl to school?’ she 

says. ‘Yes,’ she says. ‘Well she’s on Grange

Street sat on top of a load of coal, throwing it!’

Speakers may add an -s ending to the present tense verb, even for first person

subjects:

He 

says, ‘You almost killed me there you know.’ I said, ‘Why?’ He says, ‘You

know who those two men were?’ I 

says, ‘No I didn’t.’ And he told me.

(this is non-standard usage, but becoming increasingly frequent)

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also 501e Use of I says, go, be and be like in Speech representation