IT WAS A GOOD DAY to be free of prison.The mechanical whoosh and greasy smell of the opening bus Aloysius Archer, as he breathed free air for the first time in a while.He wore a threadbare single-breasted brown Victory suit with peak lapelsthat he’d bought from the Sears, Roebuck catalogue before heading off towar. The jacket was shorter than normal and there were no pleats or cuffs tothe pants because that all took up more material than the war would allow;there was no belt for the same reason. A string tie, a fraying, wrinkled whiteshirt, and scuffed lace-up size ...Read More

ARCHER GOT OFF at Poca City seven hours later and too many stops in between to remember. People had on and people had gotten off. They’d had a dinner and bathroom break at a roadside diner with an outhouse in the back, both of which looked only a stiff breeze away from falling over. It wasnearly eight in the evening now. He stood there as the bus and the rube withtoo many queries and the remaining nervous folks clutching all they ownedsped off into the night chasing pots of gold along dusty roads with nary ahelpful leprechaun in sight.Good ...Read More

HE FOUND IT only a short distance from the hotel. Not on the main drag of Poca City, but a side street that was only half the length of the one he’d left – but it was far more interesting, at least to Archer’s mind.If the main street was for checker playing and marble musical babies, thiswas where the adults got their jollies. And Archer had always been a fan ofthe underdog with weaknesses of the flesh, considering how often he fell onthat side of the ledger.The marquee was neon blue and green with a smattering of sputteringred. He ...Read More

IT WAS FIVE MINUTES before nine in the morning. The sun was scaling the sky, which was a dazzling without a single cloud marring its surface. As Archer stood there on the pavement, looking up, he had started to doubt thatcumulus was even allowed here.Then he lowered his gaze and turned it to the Poca City Courts andMunicipality Building. Done in the rococo style and also decidedly on thecheap, the structure was easily big enough for the unwieldy name chiseledacross its imitation stone front that was bracketed by false spindle turretsand its middle filled in with even more curious ...Read More

POCA CITY HAD A REASONABLE NUMBER of distractions fraught with legal and other peril; however, Archer managed to avoid all that day. He wasn’t sure about the next day, though. His natural defenses did have their limits. And when he was presented squarely with choices of right and wrong, Archer could be reasonably counted on to miss the angel’s cue about 20 percent of the timeon a good day. But then again, he had been truthful with Ernestine Crabtree– he did not want to return to prison.He mostly walked the pavements, halting to eat a ham and cheesesandwich for ...Read More