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Larry Karpinski, Karp, comes back to Bridgeport telling himself he’s just passing through, maybe closing a loop. That’s the lie guys use when they don’t want to admit they miss a place. But neighborhoods like that don’t do casual visits. The streets remember you whether you’re ready or not. And Billy’s still there — right where you’d expect — like time took a swing at him and missed. Seeing him again isn’t nostalgia. It’s a reminder that some people never put the old rules down, even when the rest of the world pretends they expired.

Billy Szczepanek didn’t grow up in a quiet house. It was loud, crowded, full of people learning early how to stand their ground or get stepped over. Love was there, sure — just not the gentle kind. Somewhere along the way, all that pressure had to come out, and one day it did. A moment that should’ve ended clean didn’t, and a name was born. Not as a joke. Not as a dare. Just something that stuck. Episode One traces how a kid from a packed house became the kind of man people whispered about — and how carrying a name like Billy Shitpants was never about fear… it was about whether you could carry the weight and keep walking.

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© Drew Zagorski. All rights reserved.
Published under the pen name Drew Glass.
The Make Right Man – The Legend of Billy Shitpants is a work of fiction and part of You Don’t Say… Stories from the Drew Zagorski Files, produced by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing.

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Some names you only say when the easy answers run out. The Make Right Man is a serialized story set in Chicago’s Bridgeport, where the streets remember, the bars keep score, and one nickname became the neighborhood’s quiet alarm bell. Larry “Karp” Karpinski comes home with his life thinning out at the edges, telling himself it’s temporary. Bridgeport doesn’t do temporary. He's wondering about an old friend, Billy Szczepanek—Billy Shitpants—and if he's still carrying the same gravity he had when they were young, still standing where time left him.

This series traces how a legend forms and what it costs to wear it. Told through Karp’s reflective voice and Billy’s measured, watchful one, the story moves through kitchens, parks, and front rooms where truth finally sits because it’s run out of places to hide. This isn’t a clean crime story or a hero’s tale. It’s about friendship that stands the test of time, family that holds even when it hurts, a love so deep it survives the worst that life can throw at it, and a neighborhood that knows some problems don’t fix themselves. When Billy’s name gets whispered, the clock starts. Every favor counts. Bridgeport watches—because it always does

Subscribe now, share with a friend who loves gritty, character-driven stories, and leave a review to help others find The Make Right Man. Tell us: what would your old neighborhood remember about you?

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• Follow us! | Instagram | Linkedin

© Drew Zagorski. All rights reserved.
Published under the pen name Drew Glass.
The Make Right Man – The Legend of Billy Shitpants is a work of fiction and part of You Don’t Say… Stories from the Drew Zagorski Files, produced by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing.

Send us feedback!

In thinking through which classic to watch this holiday season, I landed on the Mario Puzo - Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece, The Godfather. That got me wondering about Corleone, Sicily and who that city was actually named after. Professor Enzo Tontodonato of St. Bonaventure University took me down a very unexpected path, to the life and times of a 15th century "family" man, named 3 Ball Bartolomeo Colleoni.

• Support You Don't Say via Venmo or PayPal
• Follow us! | Instagram | Linkedin

© Drew Zagorski. All rights reserved.
Published under the pen name Drew Glass.
The Make Right Man – The Legend of Billy Shitpants is a work of fiction and part of You Don’t Say… Stories from the Drew Zagorski Files, produced by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing.