Baccano!/Recap/1934 Peter Pan in Chains/Chapter Three

Dolce, a small bar in Chicago.

The elderly couple that runs the bar is the one that narrowly avoided the Flying Pussyfoot incident because of the wife's intuition.

On this particular day, the wife gets a bad feeling about opening the store, just like the time back in 1931. The owner complains that there was no mention of an accident of any sort about the Flying Pussyfoot, but the wife retorts that the train was taken out of service immediately afterwards.

Today is the 30th anniversary of Dolce's opening.

The owner brushes off the explosions that have been occurring around the city as something the local troublemaker Nice might have done. His wife still feels uneasy, but he insists on opening the store anyway and promises to not let in anyone suspicious.

He goes outside to change the sign from "closed" to "open", but runs into a pair of customers as soon as he opens the door. It's Sickle and the Poet, whom the owner recognizes as customers from the previous day. He lets them both in and opens shop.

On the Chicago streets, Graham is ranting again. He decides to take out his depression on Shaft, who is immediately struck with the monkey wrench. Graham then tells his gang that Shaft is taking them to a great restaurant he found, and if the food's not as good as he says it is, Shaft will be footing the bill. Shaft complains, but leads the gang to a bar called Dolce.

Christopher drives as Ricardo gives him directions. They discuss the explosions, which Chris believes is Rail's doing. The radio is covering news about the incident at Russo Manor and Placido's disappearance. Placido is believed to be the one behind the explosions and disappearances. Ricardo points out that there's no mention at all of the men in labcoats that were at the manor. She then admits that she gets the feeling that her grandfather is dead.

Ricardo thinks Chris should try and help Rail more, but, Chris thinks Ricardo should change her chilly attitude towards Rail first. Ricardo denies disliking Rail, but Chris thinks Ricardo and Rail are very similar and are competing for his attention. Ricardo is amazed at how Chris can say something like that with a straight face.

Chris adds that Ricardo and Rail are alike in the way that they both hate the world, but can't bring themselves to reject the world outright.

Ricardo continues to give directions. Chris wonders if the restaurant they're going to is really as good as Ricardo says. Ricardo assures him that this place has the best apple pie. Chris asks why they're going to this restaurant now, of all times. Ricardo answers that it's because this might be their last meal at Chicago.

Sitting at the counter at Dolce, the Poet goes on at length about the sense of taste, but is silenced by Sickle. The owner recommends barbecue ribs, so Sickle orders two, Kansas City-style. The Poet continues to pontificate, and Sickle reminisces about the events that had occurred so far. The operation had begun smoothly, but now Rail and Frank are both missing, the police are everywhere, and even Sham, Hilton, and Leeza are not responding to contact.

Sickle excuses herself and goes to the washroom. As soon as the ladies' door slams shut, a group of men enter the bar. The Poet, lost in thought, doesn't really notice them.

Shaft leads Graham and the gang to the restaurant. Graham comments that he'd like to take this place apart, realizes what he just said, and rants about how his destructive tendencies won't even let him eat properly. He concludes that he should apologize to the owner for saying he'd like to demolish the place.

Shaft sighs and opens the door to Dolce.

The only other customer they see is the Poet, sitting at the counter. The owner ushers them towards a table in the back, and Graham orders Carolina-style barbecue ribs for everyone. Out of the corner of his ear, he suddenly hears the Poet begin one of his recitals.

Mentally, the Poet goes over the current state of events. He had decided that in order to find out more about the current incident, he should try to figure out more about himself.

The Poet's eyes were modified so that they reflected light in a way that they gained hypnotic qualities. He cannot turn off this power, however, so he keeps his eyes covered and behaves strangely so that allies and strangers alike would think him strange and avoid eye contact. The Poet thinks that he could live a completely different kind of life if he didn't fear his Power Incontinence, but thinks his inhuman nature may be subconsciously trying to stop him from doing so.

He thinks that Sickle's attitude and Chi's manner of dress are also ways that they use to distance themselves from the rest of the world. The Poet, however, wants Rail and Frank, who are still young, and Christopher, who hasn't completely given up, to find happiness.

The Poet's stomach growls. He is then inspired to begin reciting the words that come to mind. Thankfully for him, Sickle is still in the washroom. The Poet doesn't particularly care that there are other guests--he thinks that talking to himself like this will ensure that they stay away from him.

Suddenly, Graham walks over and places several coins on the counter. He then demands a drink for the artist that is the Poet.

The Poet recognizes Graham from earlier and freezes. He did not take part in battle, but the Poet fears that the Wanted Poster's description may give him away. He then wonders what the chances are of them randomly running into each other in a bar.

Graham takes a seat beside the Poet and the owner serves them Tequila. Graham wonders why the Poet's gotten so quiet all of a sudden, and rants in apology for interrupting a work of art. The Poet responds with a tirade of his own, saying that he doesn't mind. Graham doesn't really get it, but tells the Poet to drink anyway. The Poet worries that once Sickle comes back, a fight will break out.

Graham suddenly excuses himself and goes to the washroom.

The washroom doors face each other. As soon as the men's room door closes, the women's room door opens and Sickle exits. The Poet tells her that they should leave, and pays the owner for their order.

Just as the Poet and Sickle are about to leave, however, they run into a familiar face.

Christopher greets them loudly with a beaming grin, mentioning that Rail had told him about their being in town but expresses his shock at the coincidental meeting. Sickle demands to know where Rail is, and Chris tells her that Rail's probably blowing things up as they speak in search of Frank. Sickle asks Chris why he's not with Rail right now, if Frank is on his own, and if he knows where either of them are. Chris asks her to slow down with the questions.

Chris suddenly notices something out of the corner of his eye, and catches the small monkey wrench flying in their direction. Graham, having just exited the men's room, goes over to his table to get his monkey wrench. He then wonders if this coincidental meeting was fate, and if he could fall in love with the woman in green again. The owner meekly tells Graham that it's dangerous to throw wrenches around inside. Graham tells the owner that he'll finish this before the ribs are finished.

Meanwhile, aboard a Chicago-bound transcontinental express, Isaac sings a song in the otherwise quiet 3rd class carriage. Suddenly, he spots a man in a suit behind him and asks if they are friends. The man tells him that they've never actually spoken before, but Isaac decides that from now on, they will be friends. Isaac tells him that right now, he's happy enough to befriend the entire world, and shakes his hand.

The man tells Isaac that he hasn't changed a bit. Isaac wonders what he's talking about, and the man tells him that he's a fan of him and Miria both, and that he'd been watching them from afar for some time now. The man namedrops a large number of people close to Isaac, who thinks this is completely amazing.

Isaac asks the man his name. The man calls himself a spy of sorts, and asks Isaac to call him Sham.

Jacuzzi's gang is back at their old Chicago hideout, an abandoned car factory.

Jacuzzi panics, worrying that Nice is now the prime suspect in the bombings. He blames himself for deciding to run away from the police instead of explaining themselves properly, but Nice reminds him that if they'd done that, Rail would have been in trouble.

Rail is injured, but currently asleep. One of the gang members had gone to get a Back-Alley Doctor acquaintance of theirs.

Nice realizes that the bombs that Rail was using are identical to the explosives they stole on the Flying Pussyfoot and sold off. This means that Jacuzzi and the gang might be responsible for releasing these bombs into the world.

A terrified Jacuzzi begins crying.

Meanwhile, back at Dolce, Christopher and Graham greet each other during the calm before the storm.

Christopher, still holding the wrench he caught earlier, tosses it into the air and holds out his hand to catch it without looking. It drops to the ground. He picks it up again and orders barbecue ribs, Memphis-style. The owner hurries to the back and gives his wife the order. Chris tosses the wrench again, and Ricardo reminds him to order something for her, too. The wrench Chris tossed falls on his head and drops to the floor.

Sickle gets angry and demands to know if Christopher knows Graham and who the kid is. Christopher claims that he's not in a situation to explain right now. Graham tells Chris that because he promised to end things before the barbecue ribs were ready, he is going to go all out. Chris agrees, and Graham tells him to step to the side so Ricardo and Sickle don't get involved.

Graham then throws his monkey wrench at Christopher. Chris dodges, but the wrench just flies past his side. Chris kicks the wrench up as he dodges, and the wrench loses power and flies into the ceiling.

Graham, who had begun running as soon as he had thrown the wrench, runs over tabletops and catches the wrench before Chris can get it away from him. He then slams the wrench down on Christopher's head as he drops to the ground.

Chris, however, blocks the monkey wrench with the smaller one he was tossing around earlier. Graham is reminded of a red-haired man who called himself Felix Walken, who had actually caught his wrench in mid-air and sent it flying back at an even higher speed. He gets even more fired up and continues fighting.

Graham jumps over a table and swings his wrench at Christopher's spine. Chris dives under the table before the blow connects and kicks a chair into the air to hit Graham's leg. Graham notices the sound of the kick and uses the chair as a stepping point and tries to break apart the table with his wrench. He then realizes that the table is flying towards him.

Graham is thrown back slightly, but gathers himself in time to see Chris coming at him. Graham blocks with his monkey wrench, but Christopher isn't using a wrench--he's kicking. Graham is momentarily stunned by the kick, which lands in his side, but manages to headbutt Christopher's face.

They step away from each other to take a breather and laugh. However, they are immediately knocked to the ground by Sickle, who is fed up with this nonsense. Chris asks her not to interfere, but Sickle makes it clear that she intends to destroy them both.

The Poet, watching from the side, sighs and begins another lengthy tirade in the hopes that the battle would end soon. He is nagged by a curious sense of suspicion about the meeting of these three parties in one location at once. The Poet wonders if this is all really just a coincidence.

It has been 10 minutes since the bar opened for business. The first of the orders is already in the oven, and the rest are lined up beside it. The owner and his wife are in the kitchen, wracking their brains for a solution. The owner tells his wife that he will try and calm down the customers, and tells her to keep cooking. He apologizes for not listening to her intuition and leaves the kitchen.

The wife gets a bad feeling from the customers, like some of them are not normal. She decides to call the police, but gets a bad feeling about the phone, as well. She picks it up anyway and realizes her fears have come to reality. The phone line is dead.