Hutch said, “But do you have any more of the Randolph’s?” Ben heard a pleading in his voice.

“Because there’s no back, that would mean that we only have what’s on the shelf.”

Hutch said, “Are you sure?” and the boy looked at him with ancient boredom.

“We can just get another kind,” said Evan.

“All the other kinds are more expensive,” said Ben, not turning away from the Chinese boy. “We said we’d get fifteen.”

“It’s fine,” said Hutch, “we’ll just go somewhere else for the other three.”

“But this is the place,” said Ben. The two of them turned and looked at him. “This is the least expensive place.”

Evan said, “Listen, we’ll get these twelve and two Beefeater, and so we get fourteen, not fifteen, it’s fine.” He retrieved the two additional bottles and put them on the counter. They turned back to the cashier. The boy’s hair was so black and smooth that it looked polished. “So we’ll just take these.”

“Can I see your IDs?” It arrived in Ben’s mind with the authority of a closing gate: one of them should have come in and bought it all.

They all handed up their IDs. The kid looked straight at Evan.

“When were you born?”

“Nineteen seventy-two.”

“What month?”

“…January.”

“Why did it take you so long to answer?”

“I knew it. It’s my birthday.”

“If you were twenty-two, you’d be annoyed that I was asking so many questions.”

“I’m just trying to ans—”

“Do you want our money or not?” said Ben. “We can just go to the place near the Common.”

“So why didn’t you?”

“Like he said, you’ve got the best prices.”

“That costs the same everywhere,” he said, glancing down at the bottles.

“Hey,” said Ben. He counted softly as he pointed to pairs of bottles. “One hundred and thirty dollars: Yes or no?”

“If our store loses its license, a hundred and thirty dollars—Who cares?”

“We’re twenty-one!” Hutch said. “You’re not going to lose your license!”

The boy laughed.

Out on the street, Evan put his hands on his knees. “Fuck! Fuuuuuck! What the fuck are we going to do? We can’t go back to school unwet.”

“We got unlucky,” said Ben. “There are other stores in Chinatown.”

“You said this was the place,” Hutch said to him quietly. “You said this was the place.”

“Teddy said this was the place.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter what he said.”

Ben looked up at the bright stripe of sky between buildings already in dusk. He had so few chances left. He knew Alice wouldn’t care if he was able to buy, but he wanted this to impress her anyway.

Evan said, “I don’t know, another place?”

Hutch tsked. “No one’s going to think we’re older than that guy thought we were, dude.”