Page 105 - Demo

%u00a9Jack Fritscher, Ph.D., All Rights ReservedHOW TO LEGALLY QUOTE FROM THIS BOOKWhat They Did to the Kid 93%u201cThat%u2019s expensive. Cost you like a quarter for a 7-Up.%u201d%u201cWe could pack it in our luggage.%u201d%u201cYou know what%u2019d happen. We%u2019d get like halfway there and run out.%u201d%u201cWe%u2019d get off the train and like buy some more.%u201d%u201cThe train%u2019d like pull off like without us.%u201d%u201cWe could borrow a couple bucks from your dad.%u201d%u201cHey, dad, like I wanna take a little vacation.%u201d%u201cWe could hitchhike down to the Keys. Take a month or so. Send back for the skis and get towed like a hundred miles. If you fell off, it%u2019d be like a cool munch for a barracuda.%u201d%u201cLullaby of Birdland, do wah doh.%u201dI punched the radio dial as hard as I could and turned Pat Boone up loud: %u201cOh, Rudy! Tutti Frutti! A Bop Bop A Loopa!%u201dRip pushed my shoulder. %u201cTurn it down, Tutti Frutti, hey,%u201d he yelled.I kept the volume up.Two blocks later, Mike%u2019s Ford pulled ahead of me into the cement driveway of Rip%u2019s house. I backed in up the drive, so my window was next to Mike%u2019s window, the cool way of talking car-to-car, like cops do. Rip and Kenny climbed out.%u201cBug man, you%u2019re like crazy,%u201d Rip shouted, starting across the trim lawn. He dropped his plaid trunks and mooned us.The three friends laughed so hard no one noticed I choked.%u201cSee you,%u201d Kenny said. He slapped his palm on the car.Mike stared at me, car to car.I turned off my radio. %u201cThey both...like...live there?%u201d%u201cKenny cuts through the alley.%u201d%u201cLike damn, they%u2019re crazy,%u201d I said. %u201cWorldly and crazy. But I like them. They actually live in the world.%u201d%u201cThey%u2019re fub duck,%u201d Mike said.%u201cAre they?%u201d%u201cFollow me.%u201d Mike backed down the drive. I swung after him, three blocks, driving under huge elm trees. Through the dappled shade of the afternoon, kids were already running with blazing bright sparklers. He pulled into the drive of a foursquare two-story house painted white.%u201cNine rooms and a bath,%u201d he said. Next door, the neighbors waved and lit off a string of exploding fire crackers.Mike%u2019s parents had more money than my parents. That was probably why they hadn%u2019t come to the Dells to meet my parents. We weren%u2019t rich enough. Annie Laurie warned me as I drove off, %u201cAlways act like you come