death in the rain - 35. make yourselves useful

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part thirty-five of forty-four

once the supplies had been brought in from the two cars, mary and johnny explored the hideout. the hideout had two floors. there were five small bedrooms and a bathroom with a tub but no shower on the second floor. the first floor had a kitchen, a room with a pool table (but no cue sticks or balls), and a big front room with a fireplace, a big table, and some couches. mickey, hank, duke, and pee wee settled down to what they did best - playing pinochle, cribbage and rummy. hank looked over and saw johmmy, mary, and frankie sitting on the couches. “what are you kids doing , just sitting there - why don’t you make yourselves useful?” “doing what?” frankie asked, scowling at hank. mickey was sort of the leader of the gang, but hank was the meanest and bossiest to the three kids. “what do you mean, doing what?” hank retorted. “you have your kits, don’t you? get out and use them.” “i didn’t know we needed the money,” mary put in. “maybe you don’t need the money,” hank replied. “we can always use the money,” said pee wee. “we might be here a while, we might need money for smokes and beer.” “it’s the middle of the night,” said frankie, who was usually the quietest of the three kids. “and it’s a three mile walk to the town. i don’t think there are too many people walking around the little town at two in the morning, looking for a shoe shine.” “you never know until you try,” said hank, who was getting a little hot because the kids were talking back to him. “the bars might be closing, ever think of that.?’ “they would be closed by the time we walked into town,” said johnny. “it’s a dry town, hank,” said mickey. “we went over that before. there aren’r any bars. and it’s on you. duke just put down the nine of spades.” “i just don’t like the way they are sitting there,” hank grumbled. but he turned back to the game. “maybe they should get some sleep so they go out and make some money in the morning.” “they can sit there,” said mickey. “as long as they keep their mouths shut.” and that settled things, at least for the night. 36. be careful of the rosebushes