“I laid out the cards and began playing solitaire. Jim sketched. I thought of Uncle Roger, who was footing the bill: what I had said to him that day eight years ago, when he promised to give me my freedom and asked me what I was going to do with it? I’d said I wanted to stay out late and eat whatever I liked anytime I wanted to. And I wanted to meet people I hadn’t been introduced to. And I wanted to guess right…
“I looked around the Prefecture in the morning light. It was cold; I shivered. The paraffin stove that was supposed to heat the room had gone out and smelled awful. Everyone concerned was asleep; Jim, the Corsicans, even the guard was dozing. Was I fulfilling my childhood dreams? Well, I’d certainly stayed out late and eaten what I liked. And I was meeting people I hadn’t been introduced to. That was for sure. In at least two cases–Jim and Crazy Eyes–I had guessed right.
“I was now more or less in jail.
“Uncle Roger, I thought, you can’t say I’m not trying.”
Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado