I put the hard rubber stopper in the drain of the dirty sink and turned on the cold water faucet. The anticipation of refreshing cool water running over my head was dashed by two blasts of brown liquid that shot out into the basin between deep groans inside the pipes. Disgusted, I turned the faucet off, walked back up the stairs and poured more methanol into the pan.

The second coat on the floor took longer to dry and seemed to go farther per pan full. When I reached the same imaginary diagonal line I stopped at before, I moved over about five feet and sponged the rest of the way into the corner leaving a five-foot-wide diagonal dry patch on the floorboards. There was only a small amount left in the white can by the time I finished priming this last triangle of floor. The sponge at the end of the mop was black and frayed from running over the long fallow floorboards. I took it, along with the rest, downstairs and sat them next to the plastic wrappers by the door.

I opened the door three inches and put my mouth and nose in the opening, gasping like a swimmer at the fresher, cooler air of the alley. After a few minutes, I sat on the steps again and lit another cigarette. I'd checked the whole building four times for anything that I'd left behind and I'd chain-smoked half a pack of by the time Henry came back.

He stopped the pickup close to the door. I threw the steel door open, tossed the stuff in the back and jumped in the cab.

"Step on it, let's get out of here," I said, slamming the door closed.

He looked at me with a sense of urgency on his face. "Why, is it gonna blow?"

"No, it's not gonna blow. Let's just get away from here." Sticking my head out the window, I ran ungloved fingers through my hair in an attempt to dry it. I looked back at the building as we drove off. "Everything is set."

Halfway back to the Ohio Hotel I pulled out two hundred dollars and gave it to Henry.

"What's the extra fifty for?"

"My alibi for tomorrow night."

"Cool. You were there all night.”

“I'm going to come by early tomorrow and leave by ten so I can be back by last call and get a ride home with you."

He pulled up in front of the hotel. "Like I told the man, you were there alone, as usual. I think this is your stop."

"Let’s hope the man doesn’t ask. Thanks for the help today.”

"Thanks for paying me, see you tomorrow."