Big Boy dropped his vigilance for a second, and Clifford clocked him across the skull with the blackjack. Rage was packed behind the blow, and now the motherfucker was stretched out on the floor bleeding.

Two of the dopers at the cutting table reached for the Glocks lying no more than an arm’s length away, but Clifford hit the room like a thermite grenade. He grabbed both cutters by their thin junkie necks and smacked their heads together. The cutters sank to the floor as if they’d been shot. Clifford heard the frantic scuffling of shoe leather. He grabbed both guns and went back to investigate. He found nothing but an open window and shadows of junkies running over the Cermak bridge. They were running over his bridge!

He returned to the cutting room, where he scooped up a bag of cash and two bags of powder. On his way out he fired five rounds into the ghetto blaster, putting an end to DJ Screw.

Back in the bridge house his ears rang from the gunfire. Still, he heard a pair of boats blaring their air horns from the river. He pushed the red button. The air horns gave way to the sound of sirens and the screeching tires of squad cars, blue lights flashing as they surrounded Hudson & Swain. Clifford secreted the Glocks, dope, and cash behind a trick door he’d discovered when he painted the walls, the stash hole where Magill hid his marijuana.

It took three hours for the police to clear the crime scene. Thanks to DJ Screw, Big Boy was going to pay through the nose for a lawyer and a bail bondsman. Well, he had it coming. You don’t fuck with the kid and live to tell about it.

When the cops were gone, Clifford went back to the stash and pulled out the dope for a taste. He’d started sorting the cash in piles of tens, twenties, and fifties when a euphoric glow replaced the adrenaline rush occasioned from his violent rip-off. He was calm for the first time in months.

The cash added up to $19,000. His rash actions had provided a way out of his financial bind. He took another taste of heroin, ran to the bathroom to puke, and then lingered with his head on the toilet seat. He closed his eyes and found himself in seventh heaven.