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Show 104 with the wedding to count my pay." Karl felt sorry for Andy. Karl never had any cash of his own, but then he wasn't earning any money either, and when he needed to buy something, his parents gave him the money without complaint. "I can get the thirty cents easy enough," he said, "because tomorrow after school I'm supposed to shovel coal into Kratzer!s coal cellar. Jack Kratzer hurt his back, so Mrs. Kratzer asked me to do it. She said she'd pay me a quarter, and I can get the other nickel from my folks." Karl was glad Mrs. Kratzer had offered him the job -- it would give him an excuse to stay away from home for a couple extra hours after school. If he took his time shoveling the coal down Kratzers' coal shute, he wouldn't get home until after Kathleen had left for the nickelodeon. The Kerner family had been ill-at-ease since the night Maggie Rose insulted Mayo Culley. Hugo and Maggie Rose had made up their quarrel quickly, as they always did, but Kathleen stayed aloof, speaking to her mother only in curt answers to Maggie Rose's questions. For three days Kathleen's resentment toward her mother had kept Karl on edge, waiting for Maggie Rose to lash out in hot-tongued rebuke, but Maggie Rose had kept her temper in check. From time to time she glanced guardedly toward Kathleen, almost as if she wanted to apologize That would go against all Maggie Rose's inclinations, though. Mothers weren't supposed to apoligize to their children. A mother is always right, Maggie Rose firmly believed. That's why God made mothers. |
