“There you go again.... Paste him in the slats.”
“Go it Herfy, I’m bettin on yer.”
“That’s it sock him.”
The Kid’s white screwedup face bouncing in front of him like a balloon; his fist gets Jimmy in the mouth; a salty taste of blood from the cut lip. Jimmy strikes out, gets him down on the bed, pokes his knee in his belly. They pull him off and throw him back against the wall.
“Go it Kid.”
“Go it Herfy.”
There’s a smell of blood in his nose and lungs; his breath rasps. A foot shoots out and trips him up.
“That’s enough, Herfy’s licked.”
“Girlboy ... Girlboy.”
“But hell Freddy he had the Kid down.”