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Chapter 11 Part 1 Chapter 1 Brooklyn (3)

tree in brooklyn 贝蒂·史密斯 1310Words 2018-03-21
Francie went out to report to her brother. "He gave me 16 cents, and a penny for pinching my face." "The penny is yours," he said.This was an agreement between the two of them very early on. She put the penny in her pocket and gave the rest to her brother.Neeley was only ten years old, a year younger than Francie.But he's a boy; money matters are his business.He divided the pennies carefully. "Put eight cents in the piggy bank." That's the rule.Wherever they earn their money, they put half of it in a piggy bank.The piggy bank was a tin can, nailed to the darkest corner of the closet. "Four cents to you, four cents to me."

Francie wrapped the money in the piggy bank in a handkerchief and tied it with a knot.She looked at her nickel, glad that it was exchanged for a nickel. Neeley rolled up the sack, held it under his arm, and rushed into Charlie's Cheap, with Francie right behind him.Charlie's Bargain is an inexpensive candy store that's next to Kearney's trash dump, also for business from the dump.After the Saturday is over, the cash drawer in the candy store will be filled with greenish pennies.According to an unwritten rule, only boys can enter the store.So Francie didn't go in, but leaned against the door.

The boys, ranging in age from eight to fourteen, all looked alike, in baggy knickerbockers and caps with tattered brims.They stood here and there with their hands in their pockets and their thin shoulders hunched forward.They will be like this when they grow up, and they will stand like this in various places where they get together.The only difference is that when they grow up, they always have cigarettes in their mouths, as if they are always glued to their mouths.They spoke with accents, and the smoke at the corners of their mouths followed. The children stayed there anxiously, their thin faces turned first to Charlie, then to each other, then back to Charlie.Francie noticed that several of the children had shaved their heads for summer.The hair is kept short, the clippers are close together, and there are some scratches on the scalp.These lucky ones simply keep their hats in their pockets or on the back of their heads.Those who haven't shaved their heads are slightly curly and dragged to the nape of their necks like little dolls.They are very shy about it, and always put their hats tightly over their ears, and look like girls, except that they often come out of their mouths with some foul words.

Charlie's Cheap isn't cheap.The owner was not named Charlie either.It's just that he used the name, and said so on the awning over the shop's entrance, and Francie believed it.You pay a penny, and Charlie will let you draw the prize.Behind the counter was a wooden board with fifty numbered hooks hanging from it, each with a prize on it.Some of the prizes are pretty good, like roller skates, baseball gloves, a rag doll with real hair on her head, and so on.Other hooks hold notepads, pencils, and other items that can be bought for a penny.Francie watched as Neeley paid for the lottery.He took out a dirty card from the torn envelope.Twenty-six!Francie looked hopefully at the draw board.Neeley drew a penny eraser.

"A prize or candy?" Charlie asked him. "Of course it's candy, don't you think?" Always this result.Francie had never seen anyone win more than a penny.Indeed, the wheels of the roller skates were all rusted, and the doll's hair was covered with dust.These things seemed to have been waiting there for a long time, as if they were Little Blue Boy's toy dogs and tin soldiers.Francie made up her mind to herself that when she had fifty cents, she would definitely grab all the prizes and win all the prizes on the board.She figured it must be a good deal: roller skates, mitts, dolls and all, for fifty cents.Speaking of which, the roller skates alone are worth four times the price!And on that great day Neeley would come too, for girls seldom came to Charlie's shop.That's right, there were a few girls over that Saturday too...the bold, brash, precocious kind.These girls are carefree and like to fight with boys - neighbors say that these girls will definitely learn bad things in the future.

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