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Show Why we Cry Butch a n d P e n n s t o r i e s 148 some reason. The brick walkway up to her front door is curved, and they have a miniature street lamp in the front yard. it's a stupid idea because it ruins what could have been a decent Sockball field. The front door has an "A" in it, and Mrs. Aikens opens the door and welcomes us in. There are a bunch of kids in the kitchen which spills out a large sliding glass door onto a patio. The kids in the kitchen are mainly girls and the kids on the patio are mainly boys. Lannie is out there nodding at Mr. Aikens over the bar-beque grill. Lannie can con anybody. Standing there with his black hair combed out of his face and his hands in his pockets, nodding at Mr. Aikens, he looks as if he's never punched little kids in the throat for a nickel. Cling won't be here; he dropped out of school "in first grade!" he says. Behind Lannie, I see Keith Gurber talking to the Starkey twins. They're all drinking orange soda pop. Max has one hand in the air, flattened as a plane, turning real slow figure eights. Keith is transfixed. Before I can get out of the kitchen, Carol Wilkes turns from where she's been filling bowls with potato chips and says, "Larry! What have you been doing all summer?" I look in her face, and it is a beautiful face, my favorite face in the whole grade school. Her eyes are taller than they are wide and her upper lip flips up a little. It makes her look like she's always about to flirt. "Not much, Carol," |