“Just to put your mind at rest, I think you spent some money you didn’t have to spend, but it was money you held out so maybe it doesn’t matter.”

“Absolutely.”

“The point is I think you’re off the hook. He’s not going to hurt you.”

“I think you’re right. I’ll probably call you tomorrow. And Matt? Thanks.”

“Get some sleep,” I said.

I went upstairs and tried to take my own advice but I was wired. I gave up and got dressed and went around the corner to Armstrong’s. I would have had something to eat but the kitchen was closed. Trina told me she could get me a piece of pie if I wanted. I didn’t want a piece of pie.

I wanted two ounces of bourbon, neat, and another two ounces in my coffee, and I couldn’t think of a single goddamned reason not to have it. It wouldn’t get me drunk. It wouldn’t put me back in the hospital. That had been the result of a bout of uncontrolled round-the-clock drinking, and I’d learned my lesson. I couldn’t drink that way anymore, not safely, and I didn’t intend to. But there was a fairly substantial difference between a nightcap and going out on a toot, wasn’t there?

They tell you not to drink for ninety days. You’re supposed to go to ninety meetings in ninety days and stay away from the first drink one day at a time, and after ninety days you can decide what you want to do next.

I’d had my last drink Sunday night. I’d been to four meetings since then, and if I went to bed without a drink I’d have five days.

So?

I had one cup of coffee, and on the way back to the hotel I stopped at the Greek deli and picked up a cheese danish and a half pint of milk. I ate the pastry and drank a little of the milk in my room.

I turned out the light, got into bed. Now I had five days. So?

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I read the paper while I ate breakfast. The housing cop in Corona was still in critical condition but his doctors now said they expected him to live. They said there might be some paralysis, which in turn might be permanent. It was too early to tell.