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"So why keep it? Why not throw it away?"

"It's against the law to litter"

"Turn around"

He came off the wall slowly, eyes wary A little line of blood trailed from the corner of histo puff up soht hiave hihter I tucked the roll of bills in my own pocket

"That's my money," he said

"You stole it"

"Like hell I did! What are you gonna do, keep it?"

"What do you think?" I flicked the knife open and held it so that the light glinted off the face of the blade "You better not turn up in this part of the city again Another thing you better not do is carry a blade when half the depart for the First Avenue Slasher"

He stared atin his eyes said he wished I didn't have that knife in aze and closed the knife, dropped it on the ground behind uest"

I balanced on the balls of ht have been considering it, and I was hoping he'dinin my temples

He said, "You're crazy, you know? What you are is crazy," and he edged off ten or twenty yards, then half-ran to the corner

I stood watching until he was out of sight

The street was still eravity knife on the pave's door opened and a younghands

I felt fine I wasn't drunk I'd had a day ofwithslow aboutin the way Just awrong with that

Chapter 12

I came suddenly awake There was no war on a transistor radio

I was onon top of the covers with my head on the pillow I had piled my clothes on the chair but slept in my underwear There was a foul taste in ot up I felt shaky and awful, and a sense of ih if I turned around quickly I could look Death in the eye

I didn't want a drink but knew I needed one to take the edge off the way I felt I couldn't find the bourbon bottle and then I finally found it in the wastebasket Evidently I'd finished it before I went to bed I wondered how much it had contained

No matter It was empty now

I held out a hand, studied it No visible treers Not as steady as Gibraltar, maybe, but not a case of the shakes, either

Shaky inside, though

I couldn't reerly atdown the street and around the corner Anthony Sforczak, that was his na with the memory

Except that it ran out at that point Or perhaps a 's and walked up the street holding hands Then it all went blank, co to in my hotel room What time was it, anyway?

My watch was still on ht outside my , so that meant am Not that I really had to look to be sure I hadn't lost a day, just the length of tiet to bed

Assuht hoot into the shower While I was under the spray I could hearti as I could stand it, which wasn't very long I toweled dry and shaved My hand wasn't as steady as it ht have been but I took my time and didn't cut myself

I didn't like what I saw in the ht of Haver in blood I didn't like my red eyes, or the mesh of broken blood vessels on e of my nose

I knehat put theet about what itto my liver because my liver was tucked ahere I didn't have to look at it every ot dressed, put on all clean clothes, stuffed everything else inThe shower helped and the shave helped and the clean clothes helped, but in spite of all three I could feel re over my shoulders like a cape I didn't want to look at the previous night because I kneasn't going to like what I'd see there

But what choice did I have?

I put the roll of bills in one pocket, the gravity knife in the other I went downstairs and out, walking past the desk without breaking stride I knew there'd be ured they'd keep