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Show 184 a bay window looking out onto Drexel, with another window opening to 56th Street, it was a large, light, high-ceilinged room with an interesting clutter. He had a double bed, easy chair, desk, chest of drawers, and still had enough room to dance in. It must have been ten times as large as mine, ten times as light. I knew I'd never make it into this building. But he smiled and said sure, I was lucky, a room was just opening up, only $12 a week. I paid $15 a month at the Co-op, but I looked around once more and said to hell with prudence, I wanted light and air. But I was cunning. "It's not in the basement, is it?" "We don't have any rooms in the basement." "Good, good. Can I see this one? Is it upstairs or--" "It's on this floor." "Can I see it?" "It's just a room. What do you want to see it for?" "Just to see it." Damned if I was going to get conned. "It's furnished, it's got everything you'll need. A little smaller than this one, of course. This is the biggest one there is but the manager always lives here. That other one is about the same size as the rest of them. Plenty big." "I'll just take a quick look at it." "Well . . . there js_ somebody in there just now." "Oh. All right, I can come back." "It might be rented by then. These rooms rent pretty fast." "Maybe I can ask the guy who's in there if I can take a quick look. Which one--" "You say you live in that co-op on Ellis?" I could hear its unsavory reputation in his tone of voice and I hastened |