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Paul nodded “Then I’ll help you”

Ian chewed on the nail of his left index finger Paul noticed for the first tinawed almost to the nub Paul described his plan He would bail Ian out of jail and be a character witness for hio to a rehabilitation center Paul would help him with the expense if Ian could not afford it He would recoiven coot out of treatht

So that Ian would not have a chance to change his o back to Ian’s aparto to Paul’s house Ian’s car would not be an immediate problem The police had impounded it and would not release it until after the case ca, Paul wouldue

Paul paid Ian’s bail and drove hi As it happened, it was rather conveniently located to the jail, only a couple of blocks away, in the saot out Hein his own driveway

Ian fiddled with his keys “It’s a little tricky,” he said He turned the handle of the heavy gray door to the left and to the right He jiggled the key, turned it again, and finally it swung open “Oh, if you ever come here, the buzzer doesn’t work,” he said “My ’s in the front, you have to knock on it Most people just call with a cell phone”

Inside was a dark, narrow corridor Ian produced a second key and opened the door to his unit “Home sweet home,” he said

The apartment was just about the smallest Paul had ever seen It was laid out like talk-in closets in an inverted L shape The living room portion had a fold-out sofa—which was apparently Ian’s bed—a s table, and an old television, which rested on the floor There was only one decoration Taped to the back of the door was a picture of a mountain, which had been ripped out of a 1998 calendar The second part of the L was the kitchen, which doubled as the entryway Tacked onto the end of the kitchen was a bathroo on the edge of the counter, which was barely wider than the sink and stove, was a bottle of Jack Daniels with about a fourth re

“Did you drink all of that yourself?” Paul asked

“Who else?” Ian shrugged

“You drank it all tonight?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” Ian said He opened the bottle and poured the re contents into the sink and du that contained the trash He turned and saw Paul’s expression of triuesture

Ian gave a half set too excited,” he said “I’ve done this before”

“Well, hopefully you won’t have to do it again,” Paul said

Ian grabbed a green backpack from the sofa, reached underneath, and pulled out a cardboard box that contained his clothing As he was throwing underwear and shirts into the bag, Paul looked in Ian’s cabinets There were three packets of ramen noodles, a box of erator was half a bottle of orange juice and a bottle of ketchup

Ian see for more booze?” he asked