Chapter 1

Ethan was pissed. He knew that little shit was doing it on purpose.

If this was the Bronx he would have opened his window and told him to knock it the fuck off before he broke his foot off in his ass. But nooooo, he just had to move to West Bubblefuck Small Town USA, where that kind of thing was taboo. Ethan Junior, EJ, stirred in his sleep next to him. Any minute now he was going to wake up and then Ethan was really going to go off.

Fuck it, he thought, I’m going up there.

Ethan left the room and closed the door slightly, and then went to the door of his basement apartment under the Inn. He went up the stairs and entered the vestibule where the front desk was. Stacy, his front desk clerk – really his everything at the moment – glanced up when he passed by.

“Good morning, Ethan,” she said cheerily. But he did not hear her. She took one look at his face and looked away. He is going to blow his top again, she thought.

Ethan swung upon the door to the Inn, and the icy cold January morning wind hit him hard. He realized he was in pajama bottoms, slippers, and a sweatshirt. But he was too hot with anger to care.

“Yo! You!” he yelled at the garbage kid.

Jack was operating the incinerator part of the garbage truck right in the middle of the street....