it was the unmistakable sound of a fist on bone the skin over it thin and unable to absorb any of the violence and concussion

in the moments prior the brief heralding didnt sound angry  there was a familiarity in it  then a sudden flurry of sharp questions asked  and answered

Jesuschrist man what the hell ya do?!

he thought for a blind moment to step in front of him between the two men but hed seen that look on his face too many times to know that he couldnt trust that he wouldnt go after him  it wasnt a look that bothered with discernment or a dog recognising a short tether                                                                                                                                  

Whaddaya doin man?

the other man who Answered was sprawled on the pavement

Doin  Im deliverin retribution  I exercised proportionality which I shouldnt have worried I should have thrown cautions to the wind and knocked the muthafucker out

Coldcocked him

Yasee   He aint cold Hes on his back on his elbows as I meant

I could have coldcocked him And he would have deserved itRight Edwin

Right Lacey

the priest went down hard on his ass went backwards to his hands he collapsed onto his elbows bruising his black jacket

his eye was beginning to swell

his cheek bright red  purpling

Yathink hes going to get upI dont He gets up hes gonna havta turn his other cheek and Ill fuckin hit im again

Ya getting up EdwinI dont think youd be wise to get up Edwin

Not wise in my estimation

Not wise at all

Edwin the priest was dazed but he seemed to catch and swallow and digest every word he said

Man you punched a priest.

A priestfuck da priest I popped a sadist

I had no idea what became of him after I left the old neighbourhood but before leavin I promised him promised myself if I ever ran into him again  if I ever ran into him again  Id bust him up

he turned looking down on the priest

You know why Edwin You aint surprised this aint no surprise

Id bet your old ladys dead your old mans still kicking around wherever he finally came back down to earth

Am I right

above his smacked cheek Edwins eye rolled

his other eye remained closed like a lousy neighbour who hearing the noise outside pulled his blinds down acted deaf or shut snugged and locked his casement window  I can see youre busyIll leave ya to your business

the business of gettin mugged and the muthafucker unwilling to risk his skin

Edwin

Im talkin to ya

he leaned over and snapped his fingers in his faceEdwin

I know you can take a punch Though once upon a time youd rather give itand give it unseen

Cold cock  Yawere never fair

Edwin

he snapped his fingers again  again

Fuckin acknowledge me or I swear to your Christ Ill pound you senseless

You got no reason to doubt me

I told you if we ever met again what Id do

I told ya that when I was a kid

Edwin mumbled 

              I remember  You were a punt  You came for your beatings like I went to church

he didnt try to get up off his elbows

as a-matter-of-fact he thrust one leg out entirely  he wasnt going to stand  he cut a figure of someone reclining on Foster Avenue Beach taking in the sun

You gonna help him up?

he grimaced at his friends remark

Dont yadare help him up You help him up Ill knock him down again

Hes a priest.

He was a shit first

If you dont feel you can help yourself  that ya gotta help him up 

Know this

Ill put you down beside him

He was bad

All the holy water from Saint Marys of the Lake Mundelein Seminary cant wash away the stain this shit went in with Right Edwin
If were being honest

I dont notice shine on the knees of his pants

I suspect if I flipped him over Id find it on his ass

Father Edwin interrupted  He isnt lying

Excuse me Father?

Hes telling the truth  I tried to make his life hell At every opportunity

It wasnt that he made it easy He just wouldnt back off

He was tenacious

I like to think I punished his tenacity Punished his pride

But you were kids.

Im four five years older I remember his family moving into his grandmothers house next door My mother was surprised the polaks ventured out of their neighbourhood I tried to help her influence their return

Stinkin polaks she said

She was a churchgoing woman 

Why would she say it if it werent true

We were just tryin to turn them around head them back in the right direction

Your mother was nutsYour father ran out

My father was Godless

Your mother  Old Lady Lacey  Was nuts

As a kid I knew that

he looked down at his fist

a knuckle was split

he licked the blood

he smiled perversely

Good to see ya again Edwin

then he turned and walked away leaving the two men the priest on his back to contend with their circumstances

Father.  Hes not a man to be trifled with.

No  Neither was he as a boy

He just kept coming back for more Took away wee victories 

Wee victories

Here.  Let me help you up.

No thank you

He was on his own to get up more times than I can count

I never helped him up

Its the least I can do

afternoon, Saturday,  23  7. 16

0906,  Twosday,  2  8. 16

Old Man Lacey hightailed it one day

he was a boy he couldnt say when

he could only say that the fixture of the man over the hedges and chainlinked fence who sat in his backyard in a vinyl-strapped chaise lounge beside a low white-painted metal side table a sweating glass of beer on it was gone

gone as day passes or a slight breeze kicked up cooled his sweating skin and dissipated too

he didnt remember a big fuss among the adults an as-a-matter-of-fact acknowledgement at best

he was after all Old Lady Laceys husband and no one knew what kind of man might tolerate her

he understood later that scarcely a step behind the Old Man the coals still warm still shedding grey ash she beat it down to the courthouse and filed desertion and divorce papers

the clerk who lived up the street around the corner told his grandmother and mother that she dressed him down at the top of her lungs in her corrosive voice as a no-good a scoundrel a drunk a dillydaller then gasping eyes near-bulging took a curt breath and spewed a selfish Godless man

immediately afterwards Old Lady Lacey argued and tried to submit paperwork shed brought to the courthouse completed in a steady clear hand completed years earlier according to the date beside her signature to marry

Jesus Christ in absentia(her ace in the hole)

the clerk now bemused her foot casually at rest on the first broad step of the staircase to his grandmothers house sheepishly admitted she muttered to Mrs Lacey under her breath  Whos in absentia

she said Mrs Lacey offput shrilled and left declaring that the citys the states and the USs secular concerns and beliefs would not inhibit her  she would take the Lord as hers ecstatically  ecclesiastically  Matthew 19:6 she declared

And no man shall put it asunder

Mrs Lacey is one for the books she remarked  casually looking up she started My goodness she lives right next door

his grandmother turned ever so slightly and saw she was looking at her address stenciled on the postbox on the front porch railing  Yes she said Next door 

Ive said too muchI hope not too loudly  she hastily excused herself backed down the walk and turned to go down the street in the opposite direction of Mrs Laceys home

his mother touched his knee as he sat beside her  That my dear is a good reason and example why we do not speak of others  If you ever have something to say of someone you tell them to their face

hed been telling people to their faces since

he didnt have to ask Mother May I

it went without saying

it was a stellar lesson for a young boy to learn though unbridled by the example when notes began coming home from school pinned to his shirt  --  at school he protested Put it in my hand Ill be sure that my parents get it  --  his parents his grandmother were flummoxed by his audacity not that it was incorrect several teacher conferences principal conferences allowed his reasoning was sound but firm in his conviction he refused to step away he preferred the debate unfortunately disrupting the classroom

none of the other children sided with him or encouraged him

Authority must have seemed different to them he thought

he also overheard his father say too many times Who the hell do they think they are They put their pants on one leg at a time Theyre no different than me

a teacher confided Hes a terribly critical listener And thinker Anything he disagrees with his hand is up Not waving Just stabbed into the air and firm Like a stick in the mud Precisely a stick in the mud Its funny you rarely see a saying personified Hes impossible not to acknowledge He refuses to relent We have our hands full and youll have your hands full until he leaves home

he and Old Lady Lacey had nothing in common or between them except her leering her abject distaste of him or any of the neighbourhood kids and the abuse her son Edwin chose to level on him 

emboldened by this lesson hed rather climb her long scarecrow body cloaked in a drab housedress pull her unruly hair than ever again provide her satisfaction or deviant pleasure of a little boy fearing or upset by her

they tangoed until his parents could afford a house of their own

  

 

afternoon, Saturday,  23  7. 16

 1300,  Monday,  1 8. 16