The staked Goat

things. About my toupee, about Larry, who had worn some, well, tight jeans to the game, and so on. They were drunk and really obnoxious, and we left just before the end of the game. On our way up the aisle, Larry said something to one of them, and that one tried to come after us, but we moved pretty quickly and lost him in the crowd.
    ”It was still nice weather so we had walked to Three Rivers stadium and were walking home. Just as we turned onto our street, I heard a car roar up behind and then slam on its brakes as it pulled even with us. It was the three guys from the game. I don’t know how they found us. There are a lot of bars down in the square, maybe they were headed for one of them, maybe it was just a wild coincidence. Anyway, the guy Larry had said something to at the game got out of the car and came running up to us. We were across the street from our place, perhaps five doors down from this place. The other two guys came up too. The first guy grabbed Larry—he was at least two hundred pounds—and slammed Larry against the car, screaming the usual ‘homo’ stuff at him. I said to let him go, and he didn’t, I said it loud and he still didn’t so I punched him hard, just above the kidney. You know what I mean?”
    I thought back to Marco at the courthouse elevator and said, ”Yes, I do.”
    ”Well,” said Dale, ”that was a really stupid thing for me to do. Maybe the guy would have been satisfied to just push Larry around and scream some more. But once I punched him, and he sank to the ground, the other two guys jumped on me. One pinned my arms, the other began punching me in the stomach. The second punch really hurt, and I cried out. Larry kicked the guy who punched me, and that guy turned and punched Larry hard in the face. Larry went backwards onto the hood of the car, blood everywhere. I was struggling, but weakly because of my stomach hurting so much. The guy I had hit staggered up. He and the guy Larry had kicked then started punching and kicking Larry, hard, viciously. I think I started screaming.
    ”I never even saw Al approaching us. I found out later he’d heard some yelling and looked out his front window. The next thing I knew, Al was behind the two guys who were hitting Larry. Al kicked one of them hard behind the knee cap, and he just went down. The other guy, the one I had punched, turned and swung at Al. AJ just let the man’s fist go by his head, then jabbed at the guy’s throat, just quickly and lightly”—Dale demonstrated—”like a snake striking. This guy started coughing and dropped to his knees. The other guy, the one on the ground, was just writhing, yelling about cramps.
    ”I realized the guy holding me had let go. He was watching Al and backing away. I ran over to Larry. He was conscious but in a lot of pain.
    ”Al ignored the third guy, instead he bent down and yanked the wallets of both of the men he’d hit. He flipped through them, reading, and then pulled out money from each.
    ” ‘Hey,’ said the third guy, ‘what the hell...’
    ” ‘Just squaring things,’ said Al, just like that. ‘Just squaring things.’ ”
    Dale and I looked at each other for a moment.
    ”Then Al asked the third guy if he was the driver. The guy said no, Al said, ‘You are now,’ and with that Al pulled open the rear door and tossed, and I mean just picked them up and threw, the two guys into the back seat. He flung their wallets in on top of them. By this time, the third guy was getting in on the driver’s side. I got Larry’s arm around my shoulder and pulled him off the hood. The keys must have been in the ignition because the third guy started it up right away. Al leaned into the passenger’s side and said, ‘I know who you two are and where you live. You guys and us are square now. Debt owed and paid. You give my friends any more trouble, I pay you guys a house call. Now get out of here!’ ”
    ”The third guy put the car in gear and took off, tires squealing. Al pushed the money into my pocket and drove us to the hospital. Larry needed some stitches in his lip and we were both black and blue for a time, but without Al, we’d have been... And then for Al to die... the way... the papers said.”
    Dale stopped and bowed his head. It was so quiet in the house that I could hear the refrigerator motor clicking and whirring.
    ”No,” resumed Dale, head still bowed. ”I have a few friends in the trades who owe me favors, too. To square things, twenty thousand