The First Step: Hi' Steppin': The Isometrics of Isolation and Power of Depression

Paul Undes protagonist starts out in the lobby of the Tampa VA looking for shelter on the day of 9/11 from unabated crack usage. Unable to deal with reality on a person-to-person basis he reads from his journal to anyone who will listen. It is a crying out. From the VA he is transported to Safe Place a transitional housing facility but not before he goes home to try crack one last time so as to get his monies worth. At Safe Place his roommate kills himself from the stark truth of Pauls journal. Then he goes to Avon Park renown rehab center where he is kicked out for unabashed cigarette bumming. It doesnt stop there. Between the VA Safe Place and Avon Park he has acquired a glimmer of hope and a tentative acceptance of AA. He returns home attending AA religiously although not accepting the program as the final word. In fact he hates the word program. Its like going to the opera. The book ends with a gratuitous gift of a piece of ass from the blacks who have so mistreated him. The music in the background is a combination of Louis Armstrong and Glenn Miller as the latch on his bedroom door reads in true AA fashion Do Not Disturb Hes Hi Steppin.