– Hey, Phil.

– Aw shit. Aw fuck.

He tries to duck off into the crowd. I hook the collar of his shirt and tug him back.

– I said, hey Phil.

He turns around, adjusting his collar, flipping it back up James Dean style.

– Oh, hey, Joe. Didn’t see ya there.

– Yeah, well, it’s dark in here, so I see how that might happen.

– Yeah, dark in here. Couldn’t see ya cuz of all the dark.

He smiles at me, lifts his drink to his mouth and tilts the glass just enough to wet his lips. He’ll drink like that all night. Has to, he’ll only buy the one drink. When no one’s looking he’ll snatch up any glasses left unattended and suck them dry before the owners can turn from the jukebox. But that one drink he paid for, he’ll nurse that all night. It’s like a badge of honor he can show a bartender or doorman if they question his right to be here. Hey, man, I paid for my drink and I got a right ta finish it. Only way he’ll toss that thing down is if someone offers to buy him another.

– Buy ya a drink, Phil.

He brings the glass up, vacuums the contents and nods.

– Yeah, that’d be great. I was about to offer, but sure, thanks.

A waitress bustles past and I lift my chin. She gives me a harried half smile, too busy right now to work the charm for a tip.

– What? What?

– Double bourbon, rocks. And…

I look at Phil. He glances at the bar, cataloging the bottles on the top shelf.

– Oban neat.

She starts to leave. Phil grabs her arm.

– And a water back.

She nods and starts to leave again, but he still has her arm.

– And no ice in the water.

– You don’t let go my arm I’m gonna piss in the glass.

He lets go of her arm.

– Jeez, what a bitch. What crawled up her cooz?

– You, Phil.

He giggles.

– Yeah, yeah. Sure like to, Joe. She’s a piece.

He brings up his glass again, tilts it, lowers it, and looks into it sadly, having forgotten already that he emptied it. He reaches between a couple sitting at the table next to us and sets the glass down. He looks at me.

– Sure could use a drink.

He’s trying to sad-puppy-eye me. Problem is his eyes are betraying him. The pupils are screwed up to the size of pinheads, the whites marbled red, his irises, usually muddy green to start with, are a sickly diarrhea shade, and I’d swear there’s sweat breaking out across the damn things.

– Jesus, Phil, what the fuck you on?

He bounces up and down on his toes, his enormous blond pompadour swaying.

– A bender.

– Of what?

– Uh, the usual, man.

His eyes scan the ceiling, searching for the contents of his bloodstream.

– Bennies, couple bumps of crank, little freebase.

The cocktail waitress appears with our drinks. She hands me my whiskey.

– Double bourbon, rocks.

And offers Phil his.

– Oban neat, water back, no ice.

Phil looks at the glasses.

– I didn’t order those, I ain’t paying for those.

I hand the waitress some cash.

– I got it, Phil.

He smiles and takes the glasses.

– Thanks, Joe. I was about to offer, but thanks.

The waitress takes off. Phil guzzles the water.

– Jeez, needed that.

He squeezes between the couple again to set the empty on their table.

– Well, see ya ’round.

He turns to go and I snag him again.

– What’s the hurry, I just got here?

– Sure, sure ya did, Joe, but I got a thing I got to get to.

– What’s that?

– A, you know, a thing.

– No problem, Phil. We’ll have a little talk, then you can go to your thing.

– Sure, sure. Um, hey, but I gotta hit the can first. Take a leak.

– Fine by me.

He just about sighs with relief. I put my hand on his shoulder.

– In fact, why don’t I go with you? We can talk in private. Long time since we had a private chat.

His free hand goes to his face, covering the crooked nose and the scarred cheek I gave him last time we had a private chat in a bathroom.

– Hey, no, that’s OK, I can hold it.

The couple at the table are collecting their coats.

– Here, we can sit here, let’s talk here, Joe.

– Sure.

We sit at the little table. I stare at him and he stares down into his expensive Scotch, turning the glass around and around with his fingertips.

– How many days you been on the bender?

He jumps.

– Uh, what? Oh, uh…

He starts counting on his fingers. Finds them inadequate to the task.

– Couple weeks maybe.

– Not too healthy.

He carefully weaves the fingers of his right hand into his pomp and scratches his scalp.

– Well, healthy, you know? I mean, healthy? Not really my MO.

I smile.

– Nah, guess not.

He draws his fingers clear of his hairdo and wipes greasy pomade on his tight black jeans.

– So?

– Yeah, Phil?

– So, ya got something to ask, Joe? Cuz if you’re just looking to break my chops or bounce me off the walls I, not that I’m looking forward to it or anything, but if that’s the plan, I kinda wish ya’d just get it over with cuz I really want ta get on with my evening and see if I can’t maybe score a little something to keep me going a little longer.

– Going for the record or something?

– No, no, just, you know me, just that I got my hands on this bag of bennies and I, you know, don’t have such great self-control so I kind of just did ’em ’til they were gone and by then I’d been up however long and I thought I’d keep the party going, but, jeez, I been up so long now, when I come down the crash is gonna be murder and I really don’t want to deal with it if I can, like, put it off.

– Sound reasoning.

– Yeah, that’s what I thought.

– Speaking of drugs, Phil, you hear of anything new?

– Anything new?

– Like a new product going around?

His ears literally prick up.

– New? Something new going ’round? Ya on to something new? What’s the deal? It like an up? There a new up out there, Joe?

– Settle down. This’ll be something for people like me only.

He screws up his eyes, trying to focus.

– People like you? Like what, like nonusers? Shit, man, I’m not into the light stuff. You know me.

I lean across the table.

– Focus for a second here, Phil. I’m asking if you’ve heard about a new drug out there.

I point my finger at my own chest.

– Something for people like me.

I point the finger at his chest.

– As opposed to people like you.

He concentrates, looking from my finger to me to his own chest, then back at me.

– Oh! Oh, shit! Oh, yeah! Oh, I get it.

He points his finger at me.

– Some shit for people like you.

He points at himself.

– But not for people like me.

He grins.

– I get it.

He wets his lips with Scotch and his eyes wander off.

I slap the table.

– And?

His eyes come back around.

– And? Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, I heard about that shit. The new deal, the shit the new kids are into. ’Course I heard about that shit, who ain’t? Shit, Joe, where ya been, under a fucking rock?

– Wish I could get my hands on it, whatever it is. Try some of that shit.

– It’d kill ya.

– Me? Naw. Never.

– It’s cutting through the Vyrus, Phil. It’d kill ya.

– Well, OK, sure, maybe, ya put it that way, maybe. But if anyone could hack it, it’d be me.

– ’Spose it would.

We’re walking down A, leaving Niagara behind us. Phil wants to score and the place is dry.

I could just beat it out of him, give him a good one every time his mind starts to wander, but with the amount of speed he’s pumped into his system the past two weeks it could take a lot of slapping around. Not that I’m opposed to slapping Phil. Not that I’m opposed to beating the hell out of him for that matter. A worm like Philip, he was pretty much born to be slapped. Christ, he was any more of a Renfield he’d be stuffing his face with flies and cockroaches. God only knows how Phil ever found out about the Vyrus, probably by being somewhere he shouldn’t have been, but he’s been existing on the edge of the community for some years now. Really, it’s kind of a miracle none of us have killed him yet. Guy’s right hand’s been keeping secrets from his left for so long he doesn’t even know which is which at this point. But he won’t fuck around with me anymore, not after the last time. He used up his last Fuck-With-Joe-Pitt Coupon about a year ago. I made his face look different when he cashed it in. He tries to play me again and I’ll take it clean off. So we walk down to the Cherry Tavern.