After I had splashed the damnable thing with about a gallon of cold tapwater it finally gave up and surrendered and I put it away and zipped up my bermudas

I went back up to my attic room and got my latest scrapbook of poems

It was now time for me to do my daily writing.

It turns out that Emily finds the women’s hotel claustrophobic and depressing, so she looks for her own apartment.

I awoke with a slight hangover. That second Manhattan. Someday I’ll learn.

I went right up, tiptoeing so as not to arouse family or boarders.

This was a Cape May bar into which the gods of drunkenness had never guided me before, and it was nice, as bars go, small and dark and quiet.

Reluctantly but resignedly I walked over to where Steve sat. A quietly stunning girl who looked vaguely familiar sat next to his right, a nice looking clean-cut guy sat to his left. On that guy’s left was a local mechanic I know named Buddy Kelly, and on the other side of the girl was an [...]

It started to rain again as we walked up Perry Street. Fortunately Elektra had her umbrella, and she opened it up over both of us.

What can you do when someone just invites himself up? Say no?