Just a little something I picked up back in the days of basements and rats—that it’s best not to show any fear when guys older and stronger than you are thinking about having a little fun, because when really sick motherfuckers see any kind of life there—fear, anger, happiness, anything—they want to fuck or beat it out of you. Then again, when you act dead, they want to get you lively, and that’s never good, either. Tidbits that didn’t go into the vignette. The rat’s name wasn’t Manuel, of course. The rat had no name, and he never came back, either. I told myself he found a better gig, and I
...more
