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puppy is lying down by his feet, sniffing the dirt, pawing at her nose. A loose shoelace flops in front of her face as he moves his feet around. She nips at it. She tugs at it, and pulls. He moves his foot again, a good game going now, and she’s entranced. She barks a quick yip, and he waves a hand at her.
    “I know,” he says. “Two martinis, that’s all it took, I’m telling you man…”
    He places his foot by the puppy again and she bites out, dragging her sharp baby teeth over the soft black leather, long scrapes and he stops talking.
    “Dude, hold on. I’m gonna kill this damn dog.”
    He sets the phone down and looks at the puppy.
    “You like that, huh? Tastes real good, huh bitch? Well, here, have a little more.”
    I can hear him, and I go cold. Few things are sacred—babies and puppies, kittens.
    He kicks her in the face and she goes tumbling, snot and blood flying as she flips end over end, and I’m up fast. She lands in the dust of the infield and doesn’t move. Not a yelp or whimper. I go.
    “Sorry, man, listen, where was I,” he continues, back on the phone, one leg crossed over the other.
    I’m across the dusty ground in four steps, a quick glance over to the puppy. She stirs, but doesn’t get up. Reaching out I grab the phone out of his hand and drop it under my boot heel and twist it, crushing it in one motion. He stands up with an open mouth and I shove my fist in it. I grab his lapel and I’m back at the van. I pound him again, over and over, hardly a word escaping his lips.
    “Hey…”
    I let go of him so I can use both fists, because one is not enough.
    “Dude…”
    A flurry of knuckles, right, left, right. His neck snaps back and forth and I finish him off with a black hole uppercut from beyond my hazy vision, a swarm of gnats and bugs around me. The sun has gone, and in the last bit of daylight, the shot catches him squarely on the jaw, snapping it, sending him reeling over the bench behind him and then onto his back. I walk around and drop to my knees. Placing my hands on both sides of his neck I squeeze. The world has gone dead around me. The only sound is my labored breath, lips in a snarl, spittle flying, nose running as I push in, a cracking sound as my thumbs bury in his neck. My teeth are bared like a rabid hyena. I look up to his eyes and they’ve faded to ivory, two buttons, and I let go. Standing up, three birds shoot out of a tree across the fading blue sky. Shadows wrap around me and I scan the park.
    Nobody.
    I ease over to the puppy and pick her up. She’s not dead, but she’s hardly breathing. I pick her up and walk toward a vet I saw just down the street, over on Milwaukee. I hold her to my chest as tears stream down my face. I’m sobbing, my shoulders shaking as I cut through the alley.
    At the Wicker Park Veterinary Clinic I walk in the door, the bell jingling, and place the puppy on the counter. Before the ladies in their colorful smocks can look up, I’ve turned and headed back out the door, catching it before it closes.
    “Sir? Sir, you can’t just leave this here, sir?” the woman says.
    But I do. I lunge to the left, back behind the building, out of sight, and start jogging down the stinking alleyway toward my apartment.
    “No more,” I say to the black alley, as a part of me shrivels, withers, and dies. A hard substance, cold and solid, settles into the middle of my chest. It’s found a new home, this darkness. I welcome it.

Chapter 13
    “…and Robbie, well you know twins, they either totally agree, or don’t agree at all. He wants macaroni and cheese…”

Chapter 14
    It’s dark now, and I’m ready to take a ride. I pull on my leather coat and zip it up. I’ll bring no weapons tonight but my bare hands. I shrug my shoulders. Sore. Whether it’s the remnants of Happy or the sixty push-ups I banged out today, I don’t know. Don’t care. I laugh. It’s an inside joke.
    I decide to do something different tonight. It’s been a while since