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%u00a9Jack Fritscher, Ph.D., All Rights ReservedHOW TO LEGALLY QUOTE FROM THIS BOOKWhat They Did to the Kid 239Joe raised his head from his arms. He grimaced at her. %u201cNyaaa,%u201d he bleated.Louisa threw her can in the sink. %u201cMen!%u201d she said and left the kitchen.Joe sat uncaring. As quickly as Louisa disappeared, he could not remember why. Her gesture was already a joke to him. Even I had heard to the fourth power, in my three months in their attic, Louisa%u2019s endless stories. Yellow legal pad, number 4, page 16. She should have been a showgirl, she always said. Her mother had been in an act with Marie Dressler and Polly Moran, but pulled out right before they hit the big time in Hollywood. She could still turn an ankle with the best she said, even though%u2014without much connection%u2014her father deserted them leaving her with, cue the miniseries, no money or music lessons and at the mercy of her handy curious brothers. She had let Joseph Bunchek penetrate her secrets at the wake of one of her uncles. I had visions of them doing it on the casket, they were so open about everything. He knew she wanted what they all wanted, seed and cash, but she was easy and Catholic, so he married her a week later in Indiana. She followed him doggedly through the Navy camps on the East Coast during the war, dropping three babies in quick succession. She never forgave him for what it did to her hips and rear.%u201cKid,%u201d Joe said, %u201cyou still looking for a job?%u201d%u201cI got a test tomorrow.%u201d I looked at the clock. %u201cReally, I got to study.%u201dHe did not hear. %u201cI heard of one through Lou Lou%u2019s brother. You can make good wages. Union, like that. %u2019Course, you%u2019ll have to be able to work. Get your hands dirty. You ain%u2019t built like I was when I was your age.%u201dHe read my scar and rubbed it raw. He carried himself with authority.%u201cWhen I was your age, I was married, with two kids and knew whatfor. I didn%u2019t sit around schools all day. I took my back and my pack and hired out for what I could get. Not for what I was worth. I was worth a hell of a lot more than I got. Ask your daddy about the Depression.%u201d%u201cI have. Lard sandwiches. Snow. Six miles to school.%u201d I looked at my watch. %u201cGod, it%u2019s late.%u201d%u201cGo to bed, kid. We%u2019re in the same boat, don%u2019t you know.%u201d He stood up.%u201cWhat?%u201d%u201cMan-to-man. Some day I%u2019ll tell you.%u201d%u201cTell me now.%u201dJoe Bunchek hinted at the secrets.This time I was not going to lie as I always had and say, %u201cYou don%u2019t have to tell me. I already know.%u201dI needed the Buncheks.