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Show Acting Alone pa g e 129 "You mean it's used X-ray film?" asked Shannon, feeling like being sick. "Of course, my dear. Waste not, want not." For gross. People's bones. And radiation and stuff. Shannon closed the drawer and went back to picking at her dinner. Polly was asking questions with her pretty eyes. Why are you so sad, little sister? Plenty of reasons. Auntie Mae Bell had been so mean. Almost threw Shannon out of the house. Shannon hadn't known anything at all about that folder of G-man papers, or even what it was all about, until after Sammy went away. Spikey just laughed real mean, and he went, "Here, hold this paper and look mean. We'll all go in the living room and fess him out." Shannon thought it was just going to be a joke or something. Then they fessed him out and Sammy got up to go away. He acted like he figured Shannon wasn't coming with him, even before he even asked her if she wanted to. "Are you going to be okay, Shanny?" he said. At that Auntie got a real awful tone about her and yelled, "I purt-near raised her didn't I? 'Course she's gonna be okay with me! Where heck you get off at, askin whether she's gonna be okay?" Spikey chimed in. "Yeah. You never defended your country overseas or was decorated for valor or nothin, pilgrim." Shannon remembered wondering where that came from. So Sammy went away (forever?). He just mumbled something about "being too young for Nam and too old for Salvador," and disappeared. Then Auntie dragged Shannon out of cousin Spikey's earshot, got her |