Thursday, December 26, 2013
took a blind chance and called. Now I had the opportunity to get my
shirt back. Eddie was with his girl in a house off Colfax. He wanted to
know if I knew where to find work and I told him to come over, figuring
Neal would know. Neal arrived hurrying. Temko and I were having a hasty
breakfast that I always cooked. Neal wouldn’t even sit down. “I have a
thousand things to do, in fact hardly any time to take you down Denargo
but let’s go man.” “Wait for my roadbuddy Eddie.” Temko found our
hurrying troubles amusing. He’d come to Denver to write leisurely. He
treated Neal with extreme deference. Neal paid no attention. Temko never
dreamed Neal in a few years would become such a great writer or even
that anyone would ever write his story as I am. He talked to Neal like
this--“Cassady what’s this I hear about you screwing three girls at the
same time.” And Neal shuffled on the rug and said “Oh yes, oh yes,
that’s the way it goes” and looked at his watch, and Temko snuffed down
his nose. I felt sheepish rushing off with Neal---Temko insisted he was a
moron and a fool. Of course he wasn’t and I wanted to prove it to
everybody somehow. We met Eddie. Neal paid no attention to him either
and off we went in a trolley across the hot Denver noon to find the
jobs. I hated the thought of it. Eddie talked and talked like he always
did. We found a man in the markets who agreed to hire both of us; work
started at four o’clock in the morning and went till six. The man said
“I like boys who like to work.” “You’ve got your man” said Eddie, but I
wasn’t so sure about myself. I just won’t sleep I decided. There were so
many other interesting things to do. Eddie showed up the next morning, I
didn’t. I had a bed and Temko bought food food for the icebox and in
exchange for that I cooked and washed the dishes. Meantime I got all
involved in everything. A big party took place at the Burford’s one
night. The Burford mother was gone on a trip. Bob Burford simply called
everybody he knew and told them to bring whiskey; then he went through
his address book for girls. He made me do most of the talking. A whole
bunch of girls showed up. I used the phone to call Allen and find what
Neal was doing now. Neal was coming at three in the morning. I went
there after the party. Allen’s basement apartment was on
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