Casey’s face suddenly turned white, and he let go of Wallace, who slumped back down. It didn’t take much to guess he’d put his back out again.

‘Fuck,’ Casey shouted, walking in circles and grimacing from the pain. ‘Lousy stinking bastard.’

‘Did you just mess your back up again?’ said Rozalia, without a trace of sympathy.

Casey backed away towards the bar, grabbing hold of it with his other hand, and glared at us.

‘You know,’ I said to Casey, ‘I was trying to help just now. You didn’t need to be an asshole about it.’

‘Don’t bother trying to explain anything to him,’ said Rozalia, her expression sour. ‘Casey’s all about looking out for number one. Isn’t that right, Casey?’

‘You want to help?’ said Casey. ‘Then just leave me the hell alone. I’ll get Wallace home.’

‘You’re kidding,’ I said, looking at him. ‘Look at you. You can barely stand upright. How long has your back been like this?’

‘Fuck you,’ Casey snapped. ‘I can do my job better than the rest of you put together, this day or any other.’

I spread my hands and nodded at Wallace. ‘Go right ahead.’

Casey just glared at me.

‘Yeah, that’s what I thought,’ I said. I looked at Rozalia. ‘We’ll get him home.’

‘Thanks for volunteering me for the job, asshole,’ Rozalia muttered under her breath.

‘And you should take it easy,’ I said to Casey. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what his problem was, but when I stepped forward, taking hold of Wallace on one side while Rozalia took the other, he at least had the good grace not to say anything more.

But damn, Wallace was heavy.

‘Maybe if we leave him in the street overnight the rain’ll wash the smell away,’ said Rozalia, once we finally had Wallace on his feet between us. I couldn’t tell if she was kidding or not. Probably not.

Wallace swayed a little, but I felt confident he would stay upright so long as we remained on either side of him. We led him out through the front entrance and down the steps, Casey following after us the whole way and wincing with each step he took. Regardless, he appeared determined to accompany us the whole way.

Wallace belched mightily, and I struggled not to gag at the awful vapours emerging from the depths of his gullet.

‘Leave me alone,’ he slurred.

‘C’mon, big boy,’ said Rozalia, her voice strained from her exertion. ‘We’re going for a walk.’