Bienvenido a Chicago

Hulio pulled up to the pumps and got out of the car. I stayed in my seat, enjoying the exhilaration of being *away*, even if only for a day and a half. The door to the gas station convenience store opened and out walked a man in full mariachi regalia. He carried a brown paper bag of... something in his hand, and once he had gone three, four steps away from the door, he took a long, quick swig, then another, and another. Then he walked a few steps further, opened the freezer case holding those big bags of ice for sale, and stashed the brown paper bag and its contents deep down inside. He shut the doors to the freezer, ran his hands through his hair, spat on the ground, and --- apparently fortified-- strolled across the street to the Mexican restaurant.