Chapter Twelve, How It's Going Summary

The apartment seems cramped to the narrator, with his brother snoring on the sofa. He finishes the gram of cocaine and is feeling the rush of euphoria when the telephone rings. It is Allagash inviting him to a party.

The narrator leaves the apartment. With little money, he first stops at an ATM machine, but it is broken. With his last five-dollar bill, he takes a cab downtown and meets Allagash leaving a nightclub with a friend who has hired a limo. They ride further downtown.

The party is held in a converted loft. The host is an heir to a fast food fortune. Like Fitzgerald's Gatsby, he is nowhere to be seen, but great crowds of people wander the palatial halls of the loft. The narrator dances with a tall blonde woman who kisses...