"Hey, whadya... whadya doin'?" Chubby gasped weakly.

"Like I don't get enough mothafuckin' trouble," the one in yellow bitched. "Put on his fuckin' shoes!"

Tiny hastily obliged. They pulled Chubby up on his feet again and dragged him out of the room, Chubby's head rolling back, his tongue hanging out of his head. They cursed as they slowly carried him down the steep flight of stairs into the street, propping him up on the hood of a car, his head almost hanging to his knees. The spade in red threw Chubby's lime green sport shirt at him. Then they all split, the pimp in yellow screaming at Tiny. Blindly Chubby slapped the back of his pants for his wallet. It was still there. Staggering to his feet he clutched his shirt and made it to the traffic side of the car to hail a cab like a drunk. A police car stopped, two cops jumped out.

"S—Sooky?"

"What?" The cops supported him.

"Asthma," Chubby panted.

They helped him into the back seat and the car screamed uptown to Roosevelt Hospital.

***

An hour later, the phone in the back of the bar rang.

"Hey, Tom!"

"Yo!" He leaned back to see who was calling him.

"It's for you." Ray Buckley stood half out of the booth.

"Who is it, Ray?"

"Don' recognize the voice, some guy." He extended the mouthpiece as Tommy walked over.

"Hello."

"Tom."

"Who's this?"

"It's me."

It was Chubby. He was wheezing so badly it sounded like braying.

"Whassamatter?" Tommy's face darkened.

"I'm inna fuckin' hospital."

"Asthma?" He could hear only gasps and wheezes on the other end of the line. "What hospital?"

"Roosevelt."

"I'll be right down."

Tommy sat with Chubby on a wooden bench in a deserted room at Roosevelt Hospital. Between them stood two Styrofoam cups of cold coffee. Hunched over, Chubby stared glassy-eyed at the wall. The doctor had given him four shots of epinephrine to cut his asthmatic wheezing. He wanted Chubby to stay overnight, but Chubby refused. The doctor respected his wish but asked a nurse to hang around just in case.

"I can't even fuck no more, Tom. I got on top a her, an' I start gaspin' like I needed a oxygen mask." Chubby's hands were trembling from the speedy effects of the shots. He rubbed his forehead and yawned nervously.

"It's just an attack, babe, you had 'em before."

"No, no, it's gettin' bad, Tom. Soon I'll be like Jimmy O'Day. Can't fuck unless I got a nitro pill under my tongue."

"C'mon, Chubby, be right." Tommy opened a crumpled brown paper bag. "Here, Banion sent this for you."

Chubby accepted the pint of Haig & Haig with a grunt, setting it on the bench. "She was bored, Tom. I was just an old bag of shit to her." He shuddered and yawned again.

"Hey, c'mon, Chubby, she's just a Times Square pump."

"I know, yah fuck!" Chubby shouted.

The nurse popped her head in the door. "Is ev..."