12. Horwitz, Boy Was He Touchy!

I always get the sicky kind of cabs if I go anywhere late at night. It was so quiet. New York is terrible when someone laughs on the street at night, you can hear it for miles. It makes you feel so lonesome and depressed. Me and the cab driver struck up a conversation. His name was Horwitz. I thought he might know about the ducks, so I asked him if he knew where they went in winter. He replied “How should I know a stupid thing like that?” He was sore about it or something. He was so damn touchy about it. He told me the fish stay right where they are in the lake, even when it’s frozen over, but I didn’t want to know about the fish. I thought about it, and said “They can’t just ignore the ice when it’s all frozen, they need food”. He said they take in nutrients through their bodies when they are frozen. He said it’s tougher for the fish in winter than the ducks. I let it drop, I was afraid he was going to crack the damn taxi up or something. Besides, he was such a touchy guy anyway.
I asked him if he wanted to come for a drink. He said he didn’t have any time. When I got out the cab he brought up the damn fish again. “If you were a fish Mother Nature wouldd take care of you, wouldn’t she? Right? The fish don’t just die when it gets to winter” He was so touchy that just about everything you said made him sore.

Ernie’s was really crowded; it was pretty quiet though because old Ernie was playing the piano. It was suppose to be something holy when Ernie played. Nobody’s that good. Whatever song he was playing he was really stinking it up. You should of heard the crowd though, when he finished. You would’ve puked. People always clap for the wrong things. It made me feel depressed and lousy again, I damn near got my coat and went back, but I didn’t much want to be alone. I ordered a scotch and soda. I started listening in on people conversations around me. There was a guy giving this girl a feel while telling her about someone who tried to commit suicide. That killed me.
This girl with very big knockers came up to me, “Holden Caulfield!” She had some Navy officer with her who looked like he had a poker up his ass. She asked me about D.B, my brother. She thought him being in Hollywood was a big deal. It drives me crazy though. I didn’t like her much, you had to feel sort of sorry for her. She went and me and the Navy guy told each other we were glad to have met. Which always kills me. I had no choice but to leave Ernie’s after I told her that I had to meet someone. It made me mad, though. People always ruin things for you.