Thus ushered in, Ryan and Peter followed the lumbering hulk of a figure down a narrow, dimly lit corridor, approaching ever closer to the glowing source of noise and odor.

Peter just kept mumbling, “Bad idea, bad idea…”

“Shh,” came Ryan’s hoarse whisper, “Just shut it. I’m here for one thing and one thing only, to woo the most beautiful woman in Marin County, La Puta Dora.”

“I don’t think that means what you think it does.”

“I said shut it. If you ruin this for me, so help me…”

Peter, ever the wingman, just rolled his eyes in the darkness and said nothing more. He had plenty on his mind aside from his friend’s prurient quest, enough to keep him occupied and then some.

The short walk brought them into a hazy makeshift arena, a dirty place where any sort of fight imaginable might take place. Dogs, cocks, men, women, and those straddling that line all queued up for their share of violence, blood, and money. Ryan scanned the rough crowd for the object of his desires, full of hope and testosterone.