“A little wacko?” I said. I had experienced it directly, after all.
“More than a little. I sometimes had to calm him down. He drank too much and that"s when it would happen. That afternoon he"d been drinking a fifth of Jack D. Straight.”
“Drinking made him become violent?”
“Yeah. He"d hit her for saying, or doing things he doesn"t like. But he only needed some excuse after drinking. He was a mean drunk, in other words.”
“So, you saw him hit Margo?”
“Yes. And once he tried to hit Arline. I had to stop him.”
“How?”
He smiled at this. “I slugged him. One punch.” He made a fist and shook his head while looking down at his hand, smiling. “He has a glass jaw.”
“Did you know he had a police record?”
He shook his head. “Naw. But in hind sight, I really don"t wonder.”
“So, back to Arline,
