Chapter 2
Both men were wrong. Dan Fields wasn't a booze fighter. True, there was a monkey on his back, but the monkey was Dan himself. Dan knew that many of the carnies of the Greater Universe Shows considered him an alcoholic because he refused to drink with them. But he cared very little for the opinions of others. By nature he was a secretive man, and he hugged his own secret next to his heart.
It was ironic in a way, perhaps even amusing. But it wasn't amusing to Dan the fixer. For that's what he was! that's what Patch meant in carnie lingo. The Patch was the man who fixed it with local authorities so the gaffed carnie games could operate unfettered. It was Dan's chore to arrange matters so the girlie shows could strip their performers to the bare navel, so they could put on the
