“Of course we couldn’t get grass or acid this far out in the sticks. The best we could hope for would be airplane glue or extract. But whatever we got, this would be one hell of a good place to trip.”

“I think I’ll put acid down anyway,” he said. “I’m through with tripping.”

“Man,” I said, “you can’t mean that. How would you live?”

“I’ll cut wood.”

“I was only putting you on with that bit,” I said. “This is an O.K. scene for a night or so, but it’s weird if you really get into it.”

“I still like it,” Jack said.

“Well, don’t forget, we’re pulling out tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah,” he said. Then he got down in front of the fireplace and began to light the smallest sticks for the fire. I watched him. And he didn’t even try to use the lighter fluid we brought. He just kept trying to do this Davy Crockett bit with a box of wooden matches. They didn’t work but he kept striking them and watching them burn out before the wood caught. It was really frustrating watching him. But I knew he was just waiting for me to suggest the fluid so he could start some shit. I just watched him. We didn’t even need the fireplace now but he kept on with this frontier jazz. I knew then that it was time for me to pack my things when we got back to the place.

IV

WE WERE JUST LAYING AROUND the fire after we had eaten the beans and I got to feeling kind of concerned about Jack again. I got to thinking about the last few months before the summer and how he had started to all at once cut people off, about how he cut off Katie.

He had had a good thing going with her. Katie was a real slave. She did all of those spade things for him like cooking, washing his things, keeping the loft clean, even sewing his sandals. A real slave. And she was nice to him in the sack too. From the sound of them, she must have been much better than Ellen. Sometimes at night, when she was sleeping over in Jack’s room, there were lots of good things to hear. They really had a good time and, I admit, sometimes, listening to them go, I got a little jealous of Jack. And many times, in my bed in the next room, I caught myself thinking about how nice it would be to try Katie for a change, just to see if Ellen measured up to her. But I never got a chance because Jack fucked it up for both of us with another of his weird ideas.