“Once. Usually they wouldn’t know for sure that it was me. Or, I should say, they would know for sure, but they couldn’t prove it. So I mostly got bounced on my ass all over the place. I wouldn’t recommend it, but at least I’m well-traveled, occupation-wise anyway.”

“What do you want to do?”

“As little as possible,” he said. “Like what I’m doing now. Teach a little, travel a little, read a lot. How about you?”

“I’ve only had one real job, I guess. Been only one place. Haven’t read much at all.”

“What was the one job?”

“Inventory management and personal procurement specialist, I’d guess you’d call it.” We’d known each other enough that I wanted to tell him.

“Personal?”

“Someone tells me what they want and I go and get it.”

“How do they find you?”

“Not directly. I’ve got a go-between. He calls me and tells me what to get. I never know who it’s for.”

“Ever been caught?”

“Not yet.”

“You going back to it?”

“Just long enough to repay the guy who helped me out here,” I said.

“How long will that take?”

“I’m not sure. A few years, I suppose. Longer than I want, I know that.”

“Would it go faster with two?”

“I don’t know about that. It would make it seem faster, anyway. But I’m not asking for help.”

“You know what a SafeTight 4000 is?”

“No.”

“You might need some help,” Frank said and went quiet.

“You’re not going to tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“What the SafeThing is?”

“It’s one of the most popular home alarm systems around. The control panel to be exact. You’ve never seen one?”

“I don’t go that route. I have other ways to get what I’m after.”

“You never know though, when that kind of knowledge can be put to use.”

—

I was almost out of treatment, almost ready to leave, and Frank was worried about what was going to happen. The only thing I was worried about was where I was going to go. I had everything else covered, I thought. I’d work for Froehmer, I’d still see Frank, I’d stay clean. Everything would be all right. “You should still go to meetings,” Frank said.

“I’m going to tell you something that maybe I shouldn’t,” I said. “I’m not an addict.” I’d been saying I was for almost three months, but I never believed it. “I’m dependent on things, but I’m not addicted to them. I don’t need the meetings.”

“You can’t go back to your old life and think you’re not going to fall into the old routines, the old ways of doing things.”