Summary

The story takes place at an alcoholic rehabilitation facility near California's Sonoma Valley during the period between Christmas Day and New Year's Day. It is the narrator's second visit to the facility, which he refers to as Frank Martin's. Shortly after his arrival, he meets Joe Penny, who wants to be called "J.P." The men have only been at the facility for a few days. J.P. is there for the first time and is surprised to find his hands trembling so much from the sudden lack of alcohol that he cannot use them to make gestures as he talks.

The narrator is distracted by his own physical symptoms, the most worrisome of which is a nerve reaction that makes his shoulder and the side of his neck twitch. He feels that something is about to happen, and he wants...