I left things alone for a while. Sat looking calmly at the dark trees against the dark sky. I breathed carefully.

A little man tapped at my window. I rolled it down and smiled at him.

“Hi.”

“Are you a student here?”

It was Mr. Galvin. Two big men in dark uniforms with shining buttons stood behind him talking to each other.

“Yes. You’re the men’s counselor, aren’t you?”

“Are you on drugs? You’re bumping into a lot of things tonight.”

His hoarse voice was comforting.

“I’ve been drinking some wine. Maybe that’s it.”

“Well, move over and I’ll see if I can get this car untangled. I’ll park it and then you’d better find some place to sleep it off. You can’t drive like this.”

“Actually, when you come right down to it, I can’t drive at all.”

I slid over in the seat and leaned back. He brought in a lot of cold air. He slammed the door and fooled around with the steering wheel. Something he did made a loud thump and we were suddenly several yards from the Volkswagen.

“Are those cops that were with you?”

“Yes. There’s a report of somebody from the town out here selling drugs. That’s why it isn’t a good night for you to be bashing around.”

The car came to a stop between white lines. The little man looked at me sharply.

“Have you got someplace to sleep?”

“Sure. Thanks. You really rescued me.”

“Leave a note on that Volkswagen so the owner can contact you about the damages.”

“Right.”

He was still in the car when I got out and walked away.

There was a couch in the ladies’ restroom of the main building. I went up through the bright empty halls and sat on it. It was an old couch with black flowers. For fainting fits and period cramps. During the day there was nearly always somebody moaning on it, for twisted love or academic foul-ups, whatever. I stretched out. Examined the cigarette burns in the slipcover. Listened to the casual grunting and gurglings of the toilets in the next room.

There was a phone on the wall. After a while I got up and put in a dime. Dialed the infirmary.

“I haven’t slept for three nights,” I said. “If I come over there, will you give me something to make me sleep?”

They said all they could give me was aspirin. I hung up and went back to the sofa. Curled up and went to sleep. I woke up when people started coming in on their way to classes the next morning. Went over to the cafeteria to wait for the coffee machine to finish perking. My dark wool sailor’s outfit was rumpled and covered with gray fuzz. The pants were too tight, anyway. They rode up my crack and cut into my hip joints. I sat in the corner with a cup of coffee and picked at the lint.