BarkEEp 1

I oozed into the bar looking for sympathy. "Hey Fra- you're not Franco." Some old guy with a dead rat stuck to each cheek was behind the bar. "Where's Franco?"

"Hospital."

"Gimme a beer." His shirt was too clean for a bartender. "Who're you?"

The guy put the beer down like he was afraid it might explode on impact. I didn't like the way he was looking at me. "Strictly speaking," he said, "I'm the guy that put Franco in the hospital."

I sucked down half my beer. The old fart didn't scare me. "Yeah?"

"Y