The Basketball Diaries by Jim Caroll

The Basketball Diaries

Fall 1963 It was the warmest Oct. day out that I ever saw today, so we skipped practice (Tony and Yogi and I) and we decided to take a li ttl e ride do wn to the ferry and over to Stat en I sl and. After polishing off a hero at LUCY'S we hopped on the back fender of the 2nd Ave. bus and rod e dowT i to the ferry bas in. Once I fell off

bus hke that on a sharp tum and almost got my balls crushed under the back wheel but this ride was smooth enough and we got off and deposited our nickels in the turnstiles and w ere of f. Just as the b oat is pulling o ut o f t he dock, Tony takes out a bottle of CARBONA cleaning fluid and a few rags and suggests that we do a little sniffing to get high. I was up for this idea because Carbona is one of the finest cheap highs you can get, even stronge r than mod el gl ue. W e shpped up to the top deck of the s hip and wet ou r r ag s and raised them to our faces. After about four deep whiffs we were saiHng someplace else, bells ringing through my ears and httle lights flashing through my eyes. I pictured myself paddling across a river with black water, only the canoe was going backwards instead of forwards, with clouds that were fa ce s lau ghing spook y fu n hou se l aughs w hich wouldn t stop echoing. Mo re sn i f f s and mo re

visions, the ringing bell sound always getting louder the more I breathe the stuff into my lungs. I kept it up for about ten minutes, but by then I was getting too dizzy to handle it and I had to fling dovra the rag and make it to the side rail, sick as possible. I began puking wildly. My eyes felt hke bowhng balls and they were 94