the share as exorcism; the spring-loaded sober temper — "It's been up in my head…"

Why the share exists, said in two idioms and a question: the temper that survives the drinking is itself read as a relapse-risk — a spring-loaded rage that, sober, feels like "trying to set myself up for a drink," the dry-drunk's tell. And the share's function is exorcism: the thing has been "renting space" in his head, and getting it out to the room is how he stops it running him back to the judge or the bottle. The point of the telling isn't confession, it's eviction.