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Show 55 "Gee, Andy, don't get so hot under the collar," Karl said, but Andy hadn't finished his tirade. "Sometimes I just want to get away from this lousy town, go someplace where they won't call me 'Hunky,'" he said. "A place that I could get a decent job where I wouldn't be the first one laid off when work's slow." Francis X Culley's head popped up above the Stulaks' back gate. "What are younz two talkin' about?" he asked. "Francis X, beat it!" Karl yelled. "How long have you been standing there?" "Long enough," Francis X replied. "What's bitin' Andy?" "Get your nebby little nose out from where it doesn't belong," Karl told him. "Go on home." Unperturbed, Francis X asked, "Younz two guys want to play ball when Andy gets through yellin'?" "Can't you see I have a sore foot?" Karl asked, raising his bandaged toes. "Now scram, you little...." Karl bit his tongue on the name he'd been about to call Francis X because he saw Jame Culley climbing the alley toward them. Francis X might be a royal pain in the behind, but he was, after all, Jame's brother. "Francis X," Jame called, "Ma wants you to come home and wipe the dishes." "Ah, why don't you wipe them?" Francis X whined. "You ain't workin' now, so you oughta help Ma once in a while." |