(for clancy sigal)

my ex-cop brother screws me over, so i go to his saloon, at foster and oakley, to have it out – we exchange words – i decide to punch him in the head, and start to walk around the bar to do so – his goons (regular customers) grab me and spread-eagle me on the pool table

should we fuck him up, danny?

nah, just throw him out

they throw me into the yard behind the joint, a weed patch filled with bricks, broken glass, and dog shit – i pick up a brick and walk around, planning to break his storefront window – i change my mind

instead i stop in the joint across the street and within 30 seconds i’m slugging it out with the asshole owner and land out on foster ave

i head home, foster ave bus to the L train – i wake up at the end on the line, at howard st, and start insulting two chicago cops, there on anti-mugging duty – i am taken into custody and deposited in the drunk tank at the summerdale station, down the street from the saloons – i use my phone call to contact my asshole saloon-keeper brother, home asleep after closing

he arrives in a cab, which waits, dukes the watch sergeant (whom he knows, or knows how to talk to), and i’m released into the night (no arrest record, no bail, nuttin’) – big brother sends me home in the cab after he gets dropped off

this is going on your tab, is all he says