The man stood tall and lanky in the moonlight. He had a thick mustache and four glinting earrings in his left ear. His nose was huge and knotty, like it had been busted half a dozen times.

“Thinking of using that there blade against me, your old pal Cecily Bob? You thinking of sticking good ol’ Cecily Bob?”

The man kicked my daddy twice, just sucker-kicked him down there on the floor like he was a sack of grain. In the moonglow I saw Pop’s nose was all bloody and his lip was busted from where it hit the windowpane.

“Well, well, Cecily Bob, is it? You done worked your way up in the ranks, ain’t you boy?” Pop chuckled, spat some blood on the floor. “First time I saw you they wouldn’t trust you to carry slop to the hogs without a chaperone.”

Cecily Bob grinned. “Wouldn’t say what I’m doing now is too different from my old days of slop carrying, would you?”

Pop let out a cackle.

“Touché, Cecily Bob. Still, you’d think Boss Authority would respect me enough to send someone worth a durn.”

Cecily Bob whipped a long, chipped knife out of his belt and held it to Pop’s throat.

“You best watch your mouth, Davey Boy, seeing as how I got the drop on you so easy,” he said, grinning. “Seeing as how you’re the one on the floor and I’m the one with the knife.”

“Hurry up in there,” called a weaselly voice from outside. “We ain’t getting paid by the hour.”

Cecily Bob stuck his head out the window and hollered back, “Hold your horses, a’ight? Patience is a . . . a whatsit?”

“A virtue,” hollered the outside voice. “It’s a virtue!”

“That wouldn’t happen to be my old buddy Mr. Hugo out there, would it?” said Pop.

How did Pop know these guys? Sounded like he hadn’t seen them in ages, like they were a part of his life before I was even born. Why were they back now, on the very day I came to see my daddy? What kind of jackpot did he get himself mixed up in?

“Aye,” said Cecily Bob. “Me and Mr. Hugo sure did miss you, Davey Boy. It sure is good to have you back.”

“Funny,” said Pop. “Never thought I’d hear old Mr. Hugo talk virtues.”

“And why not?” said Cecily Bob. He bent down over my daddy. “Virtues is what this is all about. Virtues and the payment of debts, I wouldn’t doubt it. A person ought to pay his debts now, shouldn’t he? Come on now, Davey my boy. A person’s got to pay Boss Authority back what he owes him.”

Cecily Bob, knife gripped in his teeth, sat on my daddy’s back and bound his arms and legs with a rope while Pop didn’t hardly say a word. I couldn’t understand why Pop lay there and took it.

“I don’t reckon my odds are stellar at getting myself out of this predicament, no sir,” said Pop. “I don’t reckon I got much of a chance at all.”