Chris beat up one or two more people, but I put out the word that Ray, Alex, and Joe S. were behind the extortion. They quit, immediately. My friend Joe, the one with the heroin problem, saw to spreading the word to people who should know. His brother Rich, who was in jail at the time, had $750 next to his name and this upset Joe.

Despite that bad beginning, Joe and Chris did manage to get along. There was a foreshadowing of the end of my friendship with Chris when the three of us went to a party with Darren, who you may remember from a previous entry peed on my kitchen floor with my hungover father watching him.

Chris got drunk as a freshly grounded cosmonaut in about 2 hours. At the time I was playing chess with a shy redheaded girl, and I was showing no mercy. I had her on the ropes. She made a series of 30 perfect moves, and I made 2 slightly wrong moves. She capitalized and actually won the game, after being down a queen and two bishops. To this day I wished I'd asked for her number. She was amazing.

Chris, drunk as a hobo who spotted a $20 two hours past, was in the garage yelling at people, stalking back and forth bumping his shoulder into whoever was in his path. I think he got shot down by some girl he liked. Darren, Joe and I dragged him outside and loaded him into the car, and off we went to my garage.

Chris kept talking about one person in particular who'd drawn his ire, saying how he'd kick his ass, etc. Darren and I knew better than to push Chris ' buttons when his head was full of steam, but Joe showed no such restraint or prudency. By the time we arrived home, Joe was laughing like an Irishman and Chris was ready to deck him.

They fought in the street. Joe was nimble, quickfooted, and economic. A real old-fashioned pugilist, bouncing on his heels. Chris was a lumbering hulk, throwing his massive hams through molasses in slow motion. He nailed Joe once on the cheek, but the rest was all Joe. Chris earned a shiner and a swollen ear, and he eventually tried to bullcharge Joe. Joe sidestepped and tackled Chris, and to keep the bronco grounded he wrapped Chris' neck in his elbow crook until Chris choked and finally nearly passed out.

Chris protested that he had won because Joe cheated by strangling. We had a very loud arguement over whether there are rules for fighting, all of us vs. Chris. My neighbor railed against our brutish and immature feisitiness, and he stared daggers at me until I raised my arms in surrender and promised him some peace and quiet. We settled down, played cards and drank Bombay Sapphire gin shots.
6:05 PM - Bottle Rocket Fire Alarm