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I said, "Say, Jacob, I want to thank you for what you did the other night Making that phone call"

"Oh, well," he said

"No, that was terrific," I said "I really appreciate it"

I went upstairs and got ready for bed I was tired and felt out of breath For a ain that odd sensation of having lost soht, Seven days You had seven sober days and one

Chapter 8

I bought the News the nextA new atrocity had already driven Kihts a young surgeon, a resident at Columbia Presbyterian, had been shot dead in a robbery attempt on Riverside Drive He hadn't resisted his assailant, who had shot hi their first child in early February

The call-girl slashing was on an inside page I didn't learn anything I hadn't heard the previous night from Durkin

I walked around a lot At noon I dropped over to the Y but got restless and left during the qualification I had a pastrami sandwich at a Broadway deli and drank a bottle of Prior Dark with it I had another beer around dinnertiht-thirty I went over to St Paul's, walked once around the block and returned toroom I made myself stay in my room I felt like a drink, but I'd had two beers and I decided that two drinks a day would beas I didn't exceed that quota I didn't see how I could get in trouble It didn'tor last thing at night, in my room or at a bar, alone or in company

The following day, Wednesday, I slept late and ate a late breakfast at Ar's I walked to the main library and spent a couple hours there, then sat in Bryant Park until the drug dealers got on my nerves They've so completely taken over the parks that they assu there, so you can't read a paper without being constantly offered uppers and downers and pot and acid and God knohat else

I went to the eight-thirty ot a round of applause when she announced that it was her anniversary, eleven years since her last drink She said she didn't have any secret, she just did it a day at a tiht that if I went to bed sober I'd have one day I decided, what the hell, I'd do that After the e instead and had uy and he wanted to buy me a third drink, but I told the bartender to make it Coke instead I was quietly pleased withto it

Thursday I had a beer with dinner, went to the 's but so a drink there and I didn't stay long I was restless, I walked in and out of Farrell's and Polly's without ordering a drink in either place The liquor store down the block froht a fifth of J W Dant and took it back to ot ready for bed Then I broke the seal on the bottle, poured about two ounces of bourbon in a water glass, drank it down and went to sleep

Friday I had another two ounces first thing when I got out of bed I really felt the drink and it was a good feeling I went all day without having another Then around bedtime I had one more and fell asleep

Saturday I awoke clearheaded with no desire for aet Knowing looks, knowing laughter Holier-than-thou sobriety Besides, just because I could controlit to other people

I had two drinks before bed I barely felt the I woke up a little rocky and poured enerous eye-opener to start the day It did the job I read the paper, then checked the e I went down there on the subway The croas alay I left at the break

I went back to the hotel and took a nap After dinner I finished reading the paper and decided to have my second drink I poured two or three ounces of bourbon into lass and drank it off I sat down and read some more but I couldn't concentrate very well on what I was reading I thought of having another drink but I reminded myself I'd already had two that day

Then I realized soo More time had elapsed since then than had separated it fro since left my system, and shouldn't properly be counted as part of today's drinks

Which meant I was entitled to another drink before I went to bed

I was pleased with having figured that out, and decided to rewardthe drink a respectable one I filled the water glass to within a half inch of the top and tookin my chair with it like a model in one of those Man of Distinction ads I had the sense to realize that it was the nunificant, not their size, and then it struck me that I'd cheated myself My first drink, if you could call it that, had been a short measure In a sense, I owed ed to be four ounces and drained the glass

I was pleased to note that the drinks hadn't had any discernible effect on me I certainly wasn't drunk As atio out, find a congenial spot, have a Coke or a cup of coffee Not a drink, because in the first place I didn't want any more and, just as important, I'd already had my two drinks for the day

I had a Coke at Polly's On Ninth Avenue I had a glass of ginger ale at a gay bar called Kid Gloves Some of the other drinkers looked faintly fa that afternoon in the Village

A block further don I realized so for days now, and before that I'd been off the sauce entirely for over a week, and that proved so Hell, if I could li evidence that I didn't need to limit myself to two drinks a day I'd had my problems with alcohol in the past, I couldn't very well deny it, but evidently I had outgrown that stage in h I certainly didn't need another drink, I could just as certainly have one if I wanted one And I did want one, as a matter of fact, so why not have it?

I went into the saloon and ordered a double bourbon ater back I remember the bartender had a shiny bald head, and I re it up

That's the last thing I re on abruptly and at top volume I was in a hospital bed