Having dragged the girl out of classes for a midday drink, Saskia had only been at school for an hour before she needed to get out. She had texted Alma to meet her at the bar nearest to campus, a run-down place where the girl looked out of place, the clientele mostly consisting of truckers passing through Rochester and guys who looked they they had slept there all night. But Saskia was mid-conversation with one of them, a burly guy who called himself Horse as Alma joined them, Saskia’s blue eyes flicking up to greet her. “This guy, he’s fuckin’ rad. Horse, tell her about the time you hit that guy over the head with the lamp. He says it was in this very bar. Wouldn’t you love to get in a bar fight today?” Saskia asked, as if brawling and scrapping were the dreamiest thing in the world. “Horse, we’re gonna buy you a drink. Whiskeys, all around barkeep!” she declared, Horse grinning behind the mask of his scraggly beard. “Sorry for the midday interruption. Needed a drink or I was going to fucking lose it. Pull out my two front teeth and call myself Slapjack, kind of crazy,” she told Alma casually, with a shrug. @almaputnam