On
Division,
between Ashland and
Damen,
Rite Liquors
sits and
serves the
neighborhood as both
a bar
and a
liquor store and
at eleven o'clock
I would purchase
tall beers for the
kitchen crew
and,
once we'd finished
with the
scrubbing and the
mopping
we'd go
back for more
and
watch for cops
passing at the
end of the
alley,
use
pastry bags to
funnel beer
and
when the guy
who worked the
counter came to
ditch the empty
bottles in the
dumpster we'd
try to start
conversations,

never break
bottles
and
if we
really felt like it we'd
hop the blue line
northwest,
drink beers and
smoke between
the
train cars and
then make our way
to some place that
played
loud music,
and the girls
looked sharp
and
tried to
act tough.

They never
knew what was
coming and
we'd
just
laugh and
laugh and
laugh.