"He's drunk," Another man who Roufas couldn't see spoke. "You know how he gets when he's drunk."

"I'm not drunk!" Earl shouted, banging his fists on the table. "I'm not drunk, it's this little pissworm's fault! He-"

At this point, Earl had taken his vision off the messenger, who had taken that as a signal to escape. He was just beginning to leave when Earl whirled back around. "Where d'ya think you're going, huh?!"

Earl's fist swiped out at the ...