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Show Throwing the Bread Butch and Fenn Stories 86 one year's supply of food - in case of earthquake, famine, or nuclear holocaust. There is bread and crackers and tuna fish and, among other things, tins of mandarin oranges, which are those little toy oranges, and which I crave. Evidently, Mrs. Fenn's plan is to feed her family tuna fish sandwiches right after the earthquake. As I said, the church advised her to store all of this food, and she is always advising Fenn to be prudent and provident. As a result, he is an utter spendthrift. He wheedles a huge allowance out of his father by whining about how much work and genuine danger are involved in mowing the yard, and I, in turn, swindle most of it away from him. The way I swindle him is simple: when Butch and Fenn tire of pulling each other apart and Butch leaves Fenn dazed on the lawn, I lift a smashed Almond Joy from my pocket and wave it in front of Fenn's face, saying, "Would you care to purchase half of this candy bar for a mere ten cents . . .?" Ten cents is the retail price of the whole candy bar. "Yes!" Fenn says, and I motion to Butch to write it down in the book. Butch keeps the records. Given the right circumstances, I can eat half of a dozen candy bars on Fenn's money- Butch moans every time Fenn says yes. When we're not playing baseball this summer, we're lounging on top of the little league bleachers in the park, arguing about who has the darkest tan. And I, of course, swindle Fenn. |